Sandy Ratcliff

Acting

Sandy Ratcliff

Born — Died

1948-10-02 — 2019-04-07

Place of birth

London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

26 titles

Born on October 2, 1950 in London, England, Sandy Ratcliff originally worked as a model and was touted by photographer Lord Snowden as 'The Face of the 70s' before she turned her attention to acting. She took the lead role in Ken Loach's 1971 film Family Life, and later appeared in the 1979 film Radio On, but she was best known for being one of the original cast members in the BBC soap EastEnders. As Sue Osman, Ratcliff appeared in the very first episode in 1985 and played the part of the cafe owner until 1989 when she was sacked due to her addiction to heroin. Ill health and personal problems dogged Ratcliff ever since she left the soap, including battling cancer and hitting the headlines …

Known for

Film credits

1970s · 9 titles

The Final Programme poster
5.4

Returning from Lapland, where he buried his father, a renowned scientist, Jerry Cornelius, comes back to London with the firm intention of taking revenge on his brother Frank and snatching his beloved sister Catherine from his clutches. Since the recent gigantic global conflagration, things have changed considerably. If he wanted to, Jerry could easily get hold of napalm to blow up Frank's hideout. But he prefers to join forces with the disturbing Mrs Brunner, who, with the help of three scientists – Smiles, Lucas and Powys – is trying to recover a mysterious microfilm left to Frank by his father...

The Final Programme

1973

Family Life poster
7.2

A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life and consider their daughter to be “misbehaving” whenever she’s trying to find her own way in life.

Family Life

1971

Play Things poster
NR

A young man volunteers to work with a children's play group in a deprived London area. Adapted by Peter Prince from his own novel.

Play Things

1976

Yesterday's Hero poster
4.8

Successful soccer player Rod Turner spirals into drunken self-pity until he develops a friendship with an inspirational orphan and a beautiful singer. Learning from them what truly matters in life, Rod regroups and returns to form.

Yesterday's Hero

1979

The After Dinner Joke poster
7.5

A comic extravaganza about a young woman's adventures in the world of big business charity.

The After Dinner Joke

1978

Radio On poster
5.9

A London radio DJ receives news of his brother's suicide and travels west to Bristol to find out more.

Radio On

1979

Story Without a Hero poster
NR

When Hell's Angels hit Muriel's seaside town she grabs daughter Karen and follows. Years ago her husband rode away on his bike and left her, but it's always possible that she might find him - or someone! As it happens both mother and daughter have unexpected encounters

Story Without a Hero

1979

No artwork available
8.0

A disillusioned husband and wife take a trip across the Channel, hoping to find themselves. In fact they find the French are not what they expected.

Cork and Bottle

1977

The Cornet Lesson poster
NR

A young woman wants to play the cornet in a Salvation Army band. She receives tuition, until the bandmaster questions her commitment to Christianity.

The Cornet Lesson

1973

Series credits

EastEnders poster
4.3

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

EastEnders

1985

Minder poster
7.2

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

Minder

1979

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

The Sweeney poster
8.1

Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.

The Sweeney

1975

Shoestring poster
7.7

Shoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 hour-long episodes. Eve opted not to return after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre, so the production team changed the setting to Jersey and created Bergerac, also following a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.

Shoestring

1979

Centre Play poster
7.0

Anthology series of half hour plays produced in BBC's Television Centre's studios.

Centre Play

1973

Target poster
7.0

A crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve.

Target

1977

Danger UXB poster
8.0

Danger UXB is a 1979 British television series developed by John Hawkesworth and starring Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, an officer in the Royal Engineers. The programme is titled and partly based on the memoirs of Major A. B. Hartley, M.B.E, RE, Unexploded Bomb - The Story of Bomb Disposal, with episodes written by Hawkesworth and four screenwriters. The series chronicles the exploits of the fictional 97 Tunnelling Company which, as a result of thousands of unexploded bombs in London during the Blitz, has become a bomb disposal unit. As with all his fellow officers, Ash must for the most part learn the techniques and procedures of disarming and destroying the UXBs through experience, repeatedly confronted with more cunning and deadlier technological advances in aerial bomb fusing. The storylines were primarily military, with a romantic thread between Ash and an inventor's married daughter, and other human interest vignettes.

Danger UXB

1979

Hazell poster
5.2

Hazell is a British television drama based on the novel series by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams (collectively known as P.B. Yuill), and starring Nicholas Bell as James Hazell, a 'smart parody' of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. The program ran for 2 series, from January 1978 to July 1979.

Hazell

1978

No artwork available
7.0

A series of anthologies highlighting the initial projects of directors venturing into television drama filmmaking.

Premiere

1977

No artwork available
NR

A series of six short TV plays by writers new to television.

Debut on Two

1990