Acting

Ralph Arliss

Born

1947-09-11 (79)

Place of birth

Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

38 titles

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 5 titles

1970s · 7 titles

The Last Valley poster
6.5

People in a small German village in the last valley to remain untouched by the devastating Thirty Years' War try to exist in peace with a group of soldiers occupying the valley.

The Last Valley

1971

The Asphyx poster
6.0

Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question...What is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects?

The Asphyx

1972

The Quatermass Conclusion poster
4.2

Influenced by the social and geopolitical situation of the early nineteen-seventies and the hippie youth movement of the late nineteen-sixties, Quatermass is set in a near future in which large numbers of young people are joining a cult, the “Planet People”, and gathering at ancient sites, believing they will be transported to a better life on another planet.

The Quatermass Conclusion

1979

Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders poster
7.4

The blue crystal that the Doctor took from Metebelis III in a previous adventure is desperately sought by the Eight Legs, a race of mutated spiders, as the final element in their plan for universal domination. With help from an old mentor, the Doctor realises the only way to foil the plot is to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Doctor must risk death to return to the cave of the Great One and save the universe.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders

1974

Deadly Strangers poster
5.7

After she misses her train, a young woman is forced to hitch a ride back to town. After managing to get away from a lecherous trucker, she is given a ride by a good-looking but somewhat mysterious young man, who she comes to suspect may be a dangerous escapee from a mental asylum.

Deadly Strangers

1975

She Fell Among Thieves poster
5.3

While on a Pyrenees vacation in 1922, upright English gentleman Richard Chandos (Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange, Heroes) encounters the villainous Vanity Fair (Eileen Atkins, Cold Mountain). Mistress of the turreted Chateau Jezreel and leader of a motley band of criminals, she will inherit millions if she can force her stepdaughter to marry. Pitting his wits against this formidable adversary, Chandos determines to rescue the beautiful young woman. But Vanity Fair keeps one step ahead of him, a trick forever up her sleeve and murder in her heart.

She Fell Among Thieves

1978

Blood Relations poster
8.0

A nurse arrives at a small town to discover that the blood supply at the hospital is being raided by a small group of vampires.

Blood Relations

1977

Series credits

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Crown Court poster
5.7

Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.

Crown Court

1972

Z-Cars poster
7.3

Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

Z-Cars

1962

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

Prime Suspect poster
7.8

Highly skilled Detective Inspector Jane Tennison battles to prove herself in a male dominated world.

Prime Suspect

1991

Dempsey and Makepeace poster
6.8

Dempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. The leading roles were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, who later married each other on 18 November 1989. The series combined elements of previous series such as the mis-matching of British and American crime-fighters from different classes as seen in The Persuaders! and the action of The Professionals.

Dempsey and Makepeace

1985

BBC2 Play of the Week poster
7.0

An anthology of plays and novels adapted into feature length TV movies, broadcast on BBC2 from September 1977 to April 1979.

BBC2 Play of the Week

1977

Secret Army poster
7.8

World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistance and hiding from the Gestapo.

Secret Army

1977

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries poster
6.8

Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a British television anthology series produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network and broadcast between 1973 and 1974. The series presents standalone adaptations of classic mystery, crime, and supernatural stories drawn from literary sources including Dickens, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Balzac, Maugham, O. Henry, and others. Each episode is framed by original introductory and closing sequences performed by Orson Welles, who serves as the series’ host and sole recurring on-screen presence. These segments, written and directed by Welles (uncredited), function as stylized narrative framing devices rather than dramatic participation in the stories themselves. The dramatic content of each episode is performed by separate casts and directors, with no continuing characters or serialized narrative, establishing the series as a unified television anthology rather than a collection of standalone films.

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

1973

Return of the Saint poster
7.0

Follow the swashbuckling exploits of Simon Templar, a modern-day Robin Hood of sorts.

Return of the Saint

1978

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

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense poster
6.5

A short-lived anthology television series from Hammer Studios. Though similar in format to the 1980 series Hammer House of Horror, the Mystery and Suspense series had feature-length episodes, usually running around 70 minutes without commercials. Co-produced by Hammer Studios with 20th Century Fox Television, it is known in the United States as Fox Mystery Theater. Unlike 1980's Hammer House of Horror, all episodes feature American actors as either the leads or in key roles. It first broadcast in the UK on ITV in 1984, though was not simulcast and was shown in different timeslots throughout the various regions.

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense

1984

Paul Temple poster
7.2

Paul Temple is a British-German television series . It features Francis Matthews as Paul Temple, the fictional detective created by Francis Durbridge, who solves crimes with the assistance of his wife Steve. Paul Temple used overseas locations in France, Malta, Germany and elsewhere.

Paul Temple

1969

Survivors poster
7.9

Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977. It concerns the plight of a group of people who have survived an accidentally released plague – referred to as "The Death" – that kills nearly the entire human population of the planet.

Survivors

1975

The Jewel in the Crown poster
6.5

In India, during the final years of British rule in World War II, an unjust arrest for rape sets off questions of identity and personal responsibility being explored against a background of war and personal intrigue.

The Jewel in the Crown

1984

Lytton's Diary poster
7.3

Lytton's Diary is a 1985–86 British comedy-drama programme created and written by Peter Bowles and Philip Broadley. Produced by Thames Television for ITV, it originated as a single play on the anthology programme Storyboard before expanding into two popular series, known for their mix of glamour, intrigue, and social commentary. Bowles stars as Neville Lytton, a suave and successful Fleet Street gossip columnist for the Daily News. Lytton navigates the world of high-society scandals, political corruption, and personal challenges, balancing his professional life with his love life and his ambition to write a novel.

Lytton's Diary

1985

Quatermass poster
6.8

In the near future, a now-elderly Bernard Quatermass investigates the disappearance of his granddaughter and a mysterious cult.

Quatermass

1979

A.D. poster
5.4

A.D. is a 1985 television drama miniseries created and written by Vincenzo Labella and Anthony Burgess, based on Burgess' historical novel The Kingdom of the Wicked. The five-part serial is considered the third and final part of a trilogy, preceded by Moses the Lawgiver (1974) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977). Set just after Jesus' Crucifixion, the lives and adventures of His disciples are explored, and events in Rome during the reigns of Emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

A.D.

1985

Call Me Mister poster
6.0

Australian ex-cop Jack Bartholomew goes to Britain when he discovers he's heir to a family title; when he doesn't get on with his new family, he starts working as a private detective.

Call Me Mister

1986

The Enigma Files poster
6.0

The Enigma Files is a British television detective drama that ran for a single series of fifteen episodes in 1980. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Lewis is tasked with investigating unsolved crimes.

The Enigma Files

1980

It's Murder. But Is It Art? poster
9.0

It's Murder. But Is It Art? is a 1976 six-part comedy thriller serial written by David Pursall and Jack Seddon, and produced for BBC One. It stars Arthur Lowe, John Gower, Dudley Foster, Arthur Howard, and Anthony Sagar. Eccentric artist-turned-detective called Phineas Drake investigates when beautiful blonde Tina Kent is discovered murdered in the drawing-room of Brigadier Austin Binghop. Insp. Hook is convinced that Binghop is the culprit and takes him into custody. However, Mr Drake thinks otherwise and places himself in considerable personal jeopardy – with the trail leading him to the house of Chelsea socialite Mrs MacPherson. Barring some low-quality, off-air recorded monochrome trailers from the time, the entire series is believed to be lost.

It's Murder. But Is It Art?

1972

God's Wonderful Railway poster
7.0

Three generations of the Grant family live and work on the Severn Valley branch of the Great Western Railway, from the Victorian era to the Second World War.

God's Wonderful Railway

1980

Retrace poster
7.0

The story revolves around the disappearance of the father and mother of the three main characters, Harry, Zillah and Joe Fisher. The trio of intrepid youngsters are on the hunt for their parents in a drama where things are never as they seem.

Retrace

1996