
Acting
Sebastian Shaw
Born — Died
1905-05-29 — 1994-12-23
Place of birth
Holt, Norfolk, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
59 titles
Sebastian Lewis Shaw was an English actor, director, novelist, playwright and poet. During his 65-year career, he appeared in dozens of stage performances and more than 40 film and television productions. Shaw was born and brought up in Holt, Norfolk, and made his acting debut at age eight at a London theatre. He studied acting at Gresham's School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Although he worked primarily on the London stage, he made his Broadway debut in 1929, when he played one of the two murderers in Rope's End. He appeared in his first film, Caste, in 1930 and quickly began to create a name for himself in films. He described himself as a "rotten actor" as a youth and said his su…
Known for
6.2Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty
1986
7.2Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.
Theatre 625
1964
4.2An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
7.0A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.
Playhouse
1974
7.9Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
Return of the Jedi
1983
7.1Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975
Film credits
1990s · 2 titles
5.8True story about the tragic nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl.
Chernobyl: The Final Warning
1991
NRHalf man, half monkey, Chad was born in a lab and kept hidden from the world. A journalist, investigating a macabre mass-murder, discovers the mutant boy — a creature with the mind of a child and superhuman strength. But the reporter finds out the hard way that nothing, and nobody, can stand in the way of progress. (Re-titled for its American VHS release, "Monkey Boy" is an abbreviated film version of Lawrence Gordon Clark's 1991 mini-series "Chimera".)
Monkey Boy
1992
1980s · 8 titles
7.9Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
Return of the Jedi
1983
5.1On the isle of Rhodes, Katherine, an expatriate English photographer, lives with her daughter. A young local wants to encourage tourism, so he commissions a sculpture of the Unknown Tourist for the town square; the sculptor he brings to Rhodes is Kate's ex-husband. Also there to see Kate is Sharp, an aging antiquarian and her dear friend. He has something important to tell her. As Kate, her ex, and Sharp sort out things that go back years, two English tourists bumble about, one thinking he's fallen in love with Kate, his wife thinking she's found her own lover. A rare vase, a spy, old friendships, the statue's unveiling, and off-hand English sorting-out play into the resolution.
High Season
1987
8.5Timon loves to give parties and objects to friends, but when he cannot pay his creditors, his "friends" refuse to help him, and he becomes a misanthropic hermit.
Timon of Athens
1981
4.2Passion comes calling when a man suffering through an unhappy marriage in 1920s England runs into first love.
The Weather in the Streets
1983
NRIbsen's play is the story of Halvard Solness, Master Builder of a town in Norway. Solness is a successful architect but he's afraid of the being surpassed by those younger than himself. The arrival of a young woman called Hilda stirs up memories and feelings with stories of a promise he made her many years ago.
The Master Builder
1988
NRJohn Fothergill, aesthete and scholar, becomes the proprietor of the Spread Eagle, in Thame, Oxfordshire, with the intent of turning it into the most celebrated Inn in England, catering to the brightest lights in London's literati.
Fothergill
1981
The life and work of Anglo-Irish painter, Jack B Yeats (1871-1957)
Assembled Memories: Jack B. Yeats, 1871-1957
1985
Freed at last by death from tyranny of an elderly, querulous mother, Esme Fanshaw is persuaded to take a man, Amos Curry, into her house as a paying guest. At first wary of him, Esme becomes increasingly fond of this dapper little man with his mysterious summer occupation. When she finally learns the nature of this occupation she is at first shocked then sympathetic.
A Bit of Singing and Dancing
1982
1970s · 2 titles
NRCardinal Volponi tries to save his old friend, a priest-turned-militant communist, from being executed by the Nazis alongside 334 other hostages but struggles to reason with either the Vatican, the Nazis or his friend.
A Choice of Evils
1977
NRLavretsky returns to Russia from Europe and joins the group of admirers of his beautiful young cousin Liza.
Liza
1978
1960s · 4 titles
6.6Peter Hall's film adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, filmed in and around an English country house and starring actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1968
6.8World War II, 1940. When the Nazi hordes invade and occupy Great Britain, the English citizens are soon divided between those who choose to submissively collaborate and those who are willing to fight.
It Happened Here
1966
NRDr Saint's offer of a free place in his comfortable old-folks' home appears entirely philanthropic to Miss Claythorpe. However, he is suspiciously vague about the treatment that goes with it.
Walk's End
1966
An adaptation directed by Claude Whatham for the BBC's Theatre 625 slot. Essentially a recording of John Barton's acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Catherine Lacey (the Countess), Ian Richardson (Bertram), Lynn Farleigh (Helen), Clive Swift (Parolles) and Sebastian Shaw (the King), it was broadcast on 3 June 1968.
All's Well That Ends Well
1968
1940s · 8 titles
6.8An aspiring composer, in the British Air Force for WWII, is downed in Italy and rescued by an Italian girl. He returns home to his wife, inspired to write an opera and aware that he's fallen in love with his rescuer.
The Glass Mountain
1949
6.6Two Englishmen train with the Royal Air Force, ending with a bombing raid on Berlin.
Journey Together
1945
5.8An inventor of a deadly weapon to be used against the allies is injured in a crash. Surgeon, Sir James (Sebastian Shaw) saves his life but learns of the inventors plot.
Three Silent Men
1940
6.2A series of murders in the West End of London baffle the officers of Scotland Yard and draw the interest of a crime reporter to the case.
East of Piccadilly
1941
6.2Inspector Bradley of Scotland Yard is on the trail of the murderous ringleader of a smuggling organization in London.
The Flying Squad
1940
8.0Commissioned by the Ministry of Information and specifically target working class audiences; ‘Now you’re talking’ follows a plant worker, who lets slip vital information about some overnight research on a captured enemy aircraft. This inevitably leads to this most important of secrets falling into the lap of the enemy.
Now You're Talking
1940
7.6A British coastal command pilot is charged with neglect when it is thought that he has sunk a British submarine rather than a German U-boat. Unable to live with his actions, he volunteers for a deadly mission. His girlfriend meanwhile tries to prove that he is innocent.
Landfall
1949
The armaments production programme is being sabotaged by a gang of Germans. A few arrests are made but the destruction of a vital plant goes on. Test pilot 'Bulldog' Bill Watson plunges headlong into the mystery.
Bulldog Sees It Through
1940
1930s · 18 titles
6.3London's jewel thieves are under the thumb of a mysterious fence, who ruthlessly exposes any thief who crosses him. Desperate, Scotland Yard re-hires ex-Inspector Barrabal who, as a known drunkard, is ideally suited to go undercover with a faked criminal record (which may spoil his chances with lovely Carol Stedman).
The Squeaker
1937
6.4A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
The Spy in Black
1939
5.6Actor Edmund Davey becomes a star overnight when his wife and co-star teams up with the secretary of a noted stage critic to produce a glowing review of his 'Othello'.
Men Are Not Gods
1936
10.0The daughter of a Cockney drunkard marries a young aristocrat who is presumed killed in action in WWI. When she gets the news she goes to stay with her aristocratic in-laws.
Caste
1930
6.5Farewell Again is a multiplotted British comedy/drama about soldiers on leave and the people they've left. Given a six-hour pass after a tour of duty in India, several British Tommies (among them Robert Newton, Sebastian Shaw and Anthony Bushell) try to unravel their domestic tribulations before having to ship out again. American expatriate Tim Whelan was the directorial hand who kept the various plot threads from entangling, while another Hollywood vet, James Wong Howe, manned the cameras. The film became instantly dated with the advent of World War II, but in its own time Farewell Again was a box-office smash. The film was issued in the US as Troopship.
Farewell Again
1937
6.2An ex-con searching for a hidden jewel is assumed by a group of people to be investigating them.
The Lad
1935
6.5The wife of a candidate for Parliament is having an affair with the brother of her husband's rival. Her lover is running for election on a promise of building a railway that the community needs, but a wealthy landowner won't give permission for the railway to be built over his land. When the landowner is later found dead, suspicion falls on the adulterous candidate.
The Ace of Spades
1935
The manager of a gambling club tries to swindle the owner.
The Way of Youth
1935
1939 BBC studio production of Peggy Barwell’s play Prison without Bars, set in a girls’ reformatory, which was adapted from a German play by Gina Kaus and Otto Edgar Eis. An inmate of a girl's reformatory competes with its superintendent for the affections of its young doctor.
Prison Without Bars
1939
Jack Brewster is a pennyless English lad who learns that he has inherited 6 million pounds sterling from a recently deceased relative. But soon learns that he must spend 500,000 pounds in 60 days to inherit the rest of the money, or forfeit the entire inheritance.
Brewster's Millions
1935
7.5Financier Sir Charles Hendra, on the brink of ruin, contemplates ending his own life. After pondering the difficult decision, Charles decides to invite twelve similarly desperate individuals to dinner so they can all discuss their problems. Will his generosity change the course of their lives?
Tomorrow We Live
1936
A sausage-making tycoon rents a castle from an impoverished aristocrat.
Birds of a Feather
1936
10.0The Foreman of an Old Bailey jury refuses to accept circumstantial evidence and helps solve murder case.
Jury's Evidence
1936
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony
Julius Caesar
1938
No synopsis available yet.
Little Miss Nobody
1933
6.0At a firm of contractors, a partner is accused of murdering his brother following a takeover bid.
Three Witnesses
1935
The heir to a London department store must learn the business by working his way through various menial jobs incognito first. However, a crooked manager has arranged for a cracksman, just out of prison, to join the staff. Each is mistaken for the other.
Department Store
1935
A British adventure film directed by George King
Adventure Ltd.
1935
Series credits
6.2Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty
1986
7.2Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.
Theatre 625
1964
4.2An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
7.0A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.
Playhouse
1974
7.1Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975
7.0An 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
7.1Out of the Unknown is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Each episode was a dramatisation of a science fiction short story; some were created for the series, but most were adaptations of already published stories. The first three years were exclusively science fiction, but that genre was abandoned in the final year in favour of horror and fantasy. A number of episodes were wiped during the early 1970s, as was standard procedure at the time.
Out of the Unknown
1965
7.0Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatising the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the British. Among his exploits, in the early 20th-century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983
NRA series of dramas featuring staged theatre plays.
Theatre Night
1985
8.0Village Hall is an anthology drama series produced by Granada between 1974–75. It is entirely set in a village hall, with each episode highlighting a different use to which the space is put by locals.
Village Hall
1974
8.3Extensive archive footage and sound effects, linked with contemporary classic music of the era, brings to life the vast history of World War I, concentrated by the commentaries by Michael Redgrave, and some of the finest actors of the 20th-century.
The Great War
1964
6.0A journalist investigates the death of his girlfriend at a fertility clinic where she worked and uncovers a plot to create a new breed of human based on crossing the genetics of man and ape.
Chimera
1991
8.0Dead of Night is a British television anthology of supernatural fiction, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in 1972. It ran for a single series; of its seven 50-minute episodes, only three—'The Exorcism', 'Return Flight', and 'A Woman Sobbing'—are known to survive in the Archives. Another programme made by the same production team under Innes Lloyd, 'The Stone Tape', intended to be the eighth episode, does survive in the Archives but was not broadcast under the Dead of Night banner.
Dead of Night
1972
7.5The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1979 BBC miniseries based on the novel by Charles Dickens. It was directed by Julian Amyes, and adapted by William Trevor. A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.
The Old Curiosity Shop
1979
NRA new Earl, Michael Anstey, returns to England having inherited the family estate and is determined to restore Chelworth House to its former glory.
Chelworth
1989

