
Acting
Ian Mercer
Born
1962-01-01 (64)
Place of birth
Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
40 titles
Known for
7.6The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.
Shameless
2004
7.1Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
1992
6.5Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.
Peak Practice
1993
7.6Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.
A Touch of Frost
1992
7.2A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.
Waking the Dead
2001
8.2The heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. A remake of the 1978 series.
All Creatures Great & Small
2020
Film credits
2010s · 5 titles
6.6When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past, he's not sure if it's love...or if she's a ruthless con artist using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011
5.9Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
The Legend of Tarzan
2016
6.7An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reforms and protest against rising levels of poverty.
Peterloo
2018
6.3British Prime Minister Winston Churchill suffers from a stroke in the summer of 1953 that's kept a secret from the rest of the world.
Churchill's Secret
2016
6.4In 1952, as England prepares for the coronation, two very different men have one thing in common—a face.
The Scapegoat
2012
2000s · 7 titles
7.2After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2003
7.2When a group of rebellious deejays decides to defy the ban on government-censored music, they take to the seas to broadcast music and mayhem to millions of adoring fans.
The Boat That Rocked
2009
6.4A family in financial crisis is forced to sell Lassie, their beloved dog. Hundreds of miles away from her true family, Lassie escapes and sets out on a journey home.
Lassie
2005
6.6Yorkshire, 1974. Fear, mistrust and institutionalised police corruption are running riot. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions. When young Clare Kemplay goes missing, Eddie and his colleague, Barry, persuade their editor to let them investigate links with two similar abductions that draw them into a deadly world of secrecy, intimidation, shocking revelations and police brutality.
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974
2009
6.4A psychological, heart-wrenching love story that provides a unique and inside look at Charles Darwin. Torn between faith and science, he struggles to finish his legendary book "On the Origin of Species," which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.
Creation
2009
6.9Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983
2009
7.3Drama illuminating Dr James Niven's efforts to protect the people of Manchester from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic as millions of soldiers returned home from the Great War.
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
1990s · 4 titles
4.0Back in the 'bad old days' when the physically and mentally disabled were locked away in institutions a legend grew of someone who could stand up to the authorities and help them. This charming story is how a group of disabled people went to chase that legend. To assist them John is forced to come to terms with his daughter and her friends.
Skallagrigg
1994
9.0Teenage Manchester City supporter Alison wins a competition to go on a date with the team's Calvin Clark. Her jealous friend Gary disrupts their night out, leading to violence and the misguided kidnapping of the star striker on the eve of his transfer to Hamburg.
Shooting Stars
1990
Clarence Flamer hosts a late-night talk show on regional radio station North Star Sound. A phone call he takes one night leads to his discovering a mortgage scam being run by a group of estate agents. His attempts to delve deeper have tragic consequences.
Night Voice
1990
9.0Simon Willerton's suicide in 1990 brought to six the number of young prisoners who hanged themselves in British prisons in just over six months, prompting public debate over conditions in remand prisons like Armley where overcrowding was so severe that no new inmates could be admitted. Simon faced a burglary charge over the theft of a hot-water bottle from an unoccupied flat. Less a hardened criminal than an immature, gawky teenager who never fitted in, Simon and his tragic death inspired this teleplay.
Criminal
1994
1980s · 5 titles
8.8In the Moss Side, Manchester "race riots" of 1981 a struggling punk band are tempted by a sinister entrepreneur to perform at a major gig in support of British extreme Right political organizations.
Oi for England
1982
5.0An entertaining short film about two women who are hitch-hiking with little to no luck until a kind truck driver helps them. The ride does not turn out to be as simple as it seemed.
Showdown at Spiggots Store
1984
5.3Mobsters and the IRA chase a stagestruck London cabby (Tim Curry) who has found a briefcase full of cash.
Blue Money
1985
NRSteve thinks there is a fortune in reclaimed bricks. But how will his ambition affect his girlfriend, Maureen, and his mates, Brad, Dez and Snapper?
Brick Is Beautiful
1986
8.0A sculptor is working to finish off a memorial to the Royalist years - just as Cromwell's men are approaching the surrounding cathedral walls.
Pity in History
1985
Series credits
7.6The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.
Shameless
2004
7.1Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
1992
6.5Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.
Peak Practice
1993
7.6Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.
A Touch of Frost
1992
7.2A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.
Waking the Dead
2001
8.2The heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. A remake of the 1978 series.
All Creatures Great & Small
2020
7.6Inspector Robert Lewis and Sergeant James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.
Lewis
2007
6.0Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.
ScreenPlay
1986
7.4D.C. Rachel Bailey and D.C. Janet Scott have a robust and engaging friendship which enables them to draw upon each other’s strengths and investigate murders for the Manchester Metropolitan Police.
Scott & Bailey
2011
6.6The wise-cracking Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.
Cracker
1993
6.5The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series of standalone contemporary dramas aired during the afternoons of 2003–07 on BBC One, featuring well-known actors in one-off stories. A daytime drama strand showcasing a variety of genres, from comedy to mystery, it was part of a long tradition of afternoon plays on BBC Radio 4, which would go on to influence the television version.
The Afternoon Play
2003
7.7Seasoned politician Francis Urquhart tries to establish his legacy before retirement by negotiating an end to the Cyprus, but the island hides secrets from his past that could destroy him.
The Final Cut
1995
7.2The true story of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition to the the South Pole and his epic struggle to lead his crew to safety after his ship was crushed in the pack ice.
Shackleton
2002
7.2Red Riding is a British crime drama limited series written by Tony Grisoni, based on the book series of the same name by David Peace. Comprised of the novels 1974 (1999), 1977 (2000), 1980 (2001), and 1983 (2002), with the first, third, and fourth of these became three feature-length television episodes, Red Riding 1974, Red Riding 1980 and Red Riding 1983. Three epic tales of murder, corruption and obsession. Utilising recurring characters and events, the Red Riding Trilogy recounts three series of gruesome crimes over a turbulent decade in Northern England.
Red Riding
2009
7.7The Monocled Mutineer follows the rebellion that took place at the notorious Etaples Training Camp in northern France on the eve of "The Battle of Passchendaele" in 1917. After the mutiny, the dashing Percy Toplis takes flight, dressed as a British officer, soon to embark on a love affair with beautiful young widow, Dorothy. A solder in the First World War, the real Percy Toplis was a rake, rogue and master of disguise who became the most wanted man in Britain. This controversial BBC dramatisation of high romance, hilarious impudence and savage retribution was adapted by Alan Bleasdale from the book by William Allison and John Fairley.
The Monocled Mutineer
1986
7.0Common As Muck is a gritty BBC comedy drama serial focusing on the lives of a crew of bin men and their management staff. It ran for two series. The first series was screened in 1994 and the second in 1997. Both were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama.
Common As Muck
1994
4.5An English teacher begins to hear a low humming sound that no one else around her can hear.
The Listeners
2024
5.6Prophet John Wroe preaches of the coming Apocalypse and appeals for seven virgins to 'serve' him in his home. This series is their story. Based on the novel by Jane Rogers.
Mr. Wroe's Virgins
1993

