
Acting
Michael Jayston
Born — Died
1935-10-29 — 2024-02-05
Place of birth
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
85 titles
Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, was an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have included playing the Valeyard in all fourteen episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord (1986) and appearing in the Only Fools and Horses episode "Time on Our Hands" (1996) as Raquel's father, James.
Known for
5.3The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.
Coronation Street
1960
7.5The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
1997
7.9The 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
5.8Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.
Holby City
1999
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
5.7Crown 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
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
7.3Reflecting Peter O'Toole's theatrical legacy, this feature documentary is structured into four acts, each introduced by a quote about O'Toole that encapsulates his life during a specific period.
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2022
6.0The story of one of Britain's most celebrated actors of the 20th century, told by those who knew and admired him.
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
2024
2010s · 3 titles
NRThis is the definitive set of interviews with the team who brought the Colin Baker era of Doctor Who to life! This documentary includes the best in-depth interviews with Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), John Nathan-Turner (Producer) and Eric Saward (Script Editor) ever undertaken!
The Doctors: The Colin Baker Years
2019
10.0Interviewing cast and crew behind the scenes on UFO, this documentary lifts the lid on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's first venture into live action science fiction.
UFO From Earth to the Moon
2016
NRSheila Hancock stars as Ellie; a woman gathering her strength on the morning of the hardest day of her life. Unwaveringly, she prepares to perform her last act of love. As she navigates her feelings and the very practical considerations of getting this done, she finds that another big decision is to be made.
From This Day Forward
2019
2000s · 3 titles
8.5London has always been a source of influence, inspiration and curiosity - Finisterre tries to identify the dreams that London holds for so many. Presented and scored by Saint Etienne, the film enraptures with a journey through the ultimate city of possibilities - from John Nash and Berthold Lubetkin to Hendon FC and Hampstead Heath via the New Piccadilly cafe. A genuinely moving meditation on the capital in all its tawdry glory, with extra features and deluxe booklet
Finisterre
2003
NRThe Making of The Trial of a Time Lord was the umbrella title for a series of four 2|entertain documentaries. Each covered a different story within the larger fourteen-part serial The Trial of a Time Lord. An instalment of the series was found on each DVD of the The Trial of a Time Lord box set.
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
2008
7.2One-off comedy drama that follows the story of three World War II veterans: Harry, Frank and Albert. It is October 2000 and, at the age of 76, Albert's dying wish is to be buried on the little hill outside Hinderburg in Germany where he watched the Russians take position in the closing stages of the Battle for Berlin. The notion of Harry and Frank transporting Albert's body after his death is a crazy one, but life is short, friendship precious and, after all, the trio have known each other for more than half a century.
Albert's Memorial
2009
1990s · 3 titles
4.8Deceived that he had won the Prize, Connor MacLeod wanders through the world; however, he is awakened from his peaceful life when an entombed immortal magician, Kane, escapes and comes seeking the Highlander.
Highlander III: The Sorcerer
1994
5.9In the 19th century, an expert marine biologist is hired by the government to determine what's sinking ships all over the ocean. His daughter follows him. They are intercepted by a mysterious captain Nemo and his incredible submarine.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1997
6.5A woman has doubts about the intentions of her husband, even to the point where she thinks he might kill her.
Element of Doubt
1996
1980s · 9 titles
5.7Charged with genocide by the treacherous Valeyard at his trial, the Doctor receives help from an unlikely source to turn the tide of the High Council's rulings in his favour and reveal the Valeyard as a wrongdoer: the Master. For the Valeyard's own crimes are so atrocious, even the Doctor's archenemy will help him to ensure that the villain won't see the light of day again. Cornered, the Valeyard flees to the Matrix, where he can be the Doctor's judge, jury and executioner...
Doctor Who: The Ultimate Foe
1986
4.7As evidence for the defense at his ongoing trial, the Doctor presents an adventure from his future when he is travelling with a computer programmer named Mel. Answering a mysterious distress call from the space liner Hyperion III, they find that the passengers aboard include unscrupulous scientists, secret agents, saboteurs, thieves and a murderer. And lurking in the shadows are the Vervoids, the product of sinister botanical experiments, who will stop at nothing to destroy all non-plant life.
Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids
1986
4.9The wife of a greedy man comes back to haunt him after he scares her to death.
Dominique
1980
7.7As the Doctor's trial continues, evidence is presented showing his most recent adventure, one where he faces an old adversary, Sil. As a scientist conducts his unethical experiments to prolong the life of Sil's boss Kiv, the Doctor's memories of the events begins to return and an unpleasant surprise awaits him.
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
1986
4.6This heroic story follows the life of Karol Wojtyla, a Polish Roman catholic who ascends the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II. As a young boy, Karol is a bright and talented student. Archbishop Sapieha recognizes the very special, moving qualities Karol possesses and encourages him to consider the priesthood. Although determined to study Polish literature, Karol turns to the church; he is ordained and studies in Italy, France, and Belgium. Torn by fear and repression in post-Stalin Eastern Europe, Karol becomes a poisonous thorn in the communists' side. His deer reverence and commitment return him to Poland as Pope John Paul II.
From a Far Country
1981
6.2The Doctor is summoned before the High Council of Time Lords to stand trial for the charges of harmful interference to the course of events during his travels which have threatened the sanctity of the universe. Indignant at these accusations, the Doctor pleads his case to the Inquisitor with the hope that she will see him as a source of hope and goodwill for existence. However, his prosecuting attorney, a sinister Time Lord known simply as the Valeyard, begins a crusade against the Doctor with the motive of framing him as a villainous renegade.
Doctor Who: The Mysterious Planet
1986
Teenagers Sarah and Debbie run away from home and find themselves on the streets of London.
Somewhere to Run
1989
Jack Warden is back as quirky detective Harry Fox, who becomes a suspect in a murder case while on holiday in England.
Still Crazy Like a Fox
1987
NRDocumentary about Nagisa Oshima. It includes interviews with Oshima, Donald Richie, Roger Pulvers and Paul Mayersberg
The Man Who Left His Soul on Film
1983
1970s · 23 titles
6.1In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.
Zulu Dawn
1979
6.6Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.
Cromwell
1970
6.3An all-star cast highlights this vibrant musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale. One day, plucky young Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and discovers a world of bizarre characters.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1972
7.0Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
5.5Enigmatic asylum owner Dr Tremayne houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each patient went mad, be they a ritualistic 'luau', a time-travelling bicycle, a toy tiger, and a tree stump.
Tales That Witness Madness
1973
7.8A strait-laced British banker hires an eccentric private detective to follow his free-spirited American wife, whom he suspects is cheating on him.
Follow Me!
1972
5.9Offered a job as a presidential adviser, a professor is forced to dispose of those who knew him when he was a spy.
The Internecine Project
1974
5.1A demented art dealer and antique shop owner performs nightly rituals in honour of the African god Chuku, whom he believes will reward him with unimaginable wealth and power if he merely offers human sacrifice.
Craze
1974
8.5An Edwardian take on the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.
The Merchant of Venice
1973
6.0Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Macbeth
1970
6.5Set before the Battle of Trafalgar, this is the story of relationship between Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton during the Napoleonic Wars.
Bequest to the Nation
1973
6.0In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence and introduces the four men - father, uncle and two brothers - to his wife.
The Homecoming
1973
7.0The events around the signing of The Armistice at the end of the First World War.
Gossip from the Forest
1979
9.0Recently widowed Laura Vallance returns home to England after many years living abroad. She knows few people in England, but she desires rest and seclusion in her time of grief. However, she is more alone than she bargained for when she hires Roger Masters as her butler. With small doses of poison, the ruthless butler plans to keeps his wealthy employer incapacitated... permanently.
Ring Once for Death
1973
8.0Mark Walker is in the lucrative business of marrying wealthy older women and murdering them after the honeymoon. That all changes when he falls for cool blonde Stella McKenzie. He considers giving up his life of crime and finally marrying for love. The only obstacles in his way are a lawyer who suspects the truth, and temptation in the form of the perfect target for one more kill...
A Coffin for the Bride
1974
5.3While 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
NRThe rise of Charles Dickens, from poverty to prosperity, traced and reflected in his writings.
The Hero of My Life
1970
9.0Play dealing with the life of British Army lieutenant Siegfried Sassoon, and his protests against the inhumanity of the First World War
Mad Jack
1970
10.0King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
King Lear
1975
NRAn out of work man must take his son to a school poetry competition while accompanied by his friendly neighbours, of which, he's not too secretly been having an affair with the wife.
Competition
1971
Two university students, one a physiologist, the other an economist, have been sharing an apartment, but now one of them is about to depart for work abroad. They also share an enthusiasm for game-playing, and the most active communication between them is expressed through hilarious fantasy-like skits, replete with outlandish accents and parodied characterizations. The departing roommate also has a sometime mistress, a boozy older woman named Julia, whom he would like to bequeath to his friend.
Green Julia
1971
Adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde.
The Importance of Being Earnest
1974
Gantry lives with his adult daughter, Emily. He is working on a book and she is his assistant. His son, James, comes to visit. Gantry pours the sherry, then conversations start flowing, but Gantry has some unexpected news delivered to him.
The Last Romantic
1978
1960s · 2 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
8.0A scholarly king and his three companions swear off the society of women for three years, only to have a diplomatic visit from a French princess and her three ladies-in-waiting thwart their intentions.
Love's Labour's Lost
1965
Series credits
5.3The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.
Coronation Street
1960
7.5The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
1997
7.9The 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
5.8Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.
Holby City
1999
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
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
5.7Crown 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
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
7.1Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
1992
7.1Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
1992
5.2An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.
The Wednesday Play
1964
8.2Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.
Sherlock Holmes
1984
6.8A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
7.0ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967
The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.
Film '72
1971
7.9As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an MI5 agent operating in the aftermath of the war.
Foyle's War
2002
7.0Anthology series of dramatic works.
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
7.7A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders.
UFO
1970
6.6The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987
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
7.0Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.
Thriller
1973
7.0Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.
Thriller
1973
7.5What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programs of all time.
Remembers…
2022
NRBehind the Sofa was a series of videos included in each release of The Collection Blu-ray sets featuring cast and crew members from the show watching serials from the correspondent season.
Doctor Who: Behind the Sofa
2018
7.5The activities of the staff at The Junior Gazette, a children's weekly newspaper produced by a group of school pupils.
Press Gang
1989
7.0Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972. The series starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, a reluctant professional killer for a shadowy branch of the British Government's intelligence services known as 'the Section'.
Callan
1967
7.9An idyllic picture of 1950's rural England as seen through the lives of the Larkins, a farm family living in Kent. The show revolves around Pa Larkin, a man of a kind and mischievous nature with a penchant for getting into scrapes and talking his way out of them with equal equanimity; and his daughters, as they deal with growing up and discovering the joys and sorrows of young love.
The Darling Buds of May
1991
5.0Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.
Churchill's People
1974
7.6Outside Edge is a British sitcom created and written by Richard Harris, based on his eponymous 1979 stage play. Two couples with contrasting attitudes – the uptight and conservative Roger and Miriam Dervish, and the bohemian and adventurous Kevin and Maggie Costello – attend the local Brent Park Cricket Club who meet every Saturday. Other members include lecherous womaniser Dennis Broadley, timid and naive Nigel, snobbish solicitor Alex Harrington, and browbeaten husband and later father Bob Willis, along with a number of others who regularly appear throughout.
Outside Edge
1994
7.5Compelling crime anthology looks at some of Britain's most notorious murder trials, in which both male and female defendants stood accused of the murder of women. Presented by Robert Morley, seven hour-long dramas reconstruct sensational trials which shocked Britain, offering in-depth analyses of individuals' motives and methods.
Lady Killers
1980
9.0A BBC anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories over 45 episodes in three seasons that ran from 1964 to 1969. As with many BBC programmes made before the early 1970s, many of its episodes no longer exist. Of the eighteen episodes from the first season only twelve are currently known to exist; likewise six of the sixteen editions from the second run are considered lost, and just one of the final ten survives in the archives.
Detective
1964
7.5Murder in Suburbia was a British detective drama that ran for two series in 2004 and 2005. Detective Inspector Kate Ashurst, a graduate of a posh girls' academy, has a sharp, analytical mind; her working-class partner, Detective Sergeant Emma Scribbins, relies on her instincts. Together this sassy, sexy investigative team uncovers the dark urges behind suburban Middleford's placid façade.
Murder in Suburbia
2004
7.6Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a seven-part BBC2 spy drama written by Arthur Hopcraft, adapted from John le Carré's eponymous 1974 novel. The serial, which stars Alec Guinness, Alexander Knox, Ian Richardson, Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, Anthony Bate, Ian Bannen, George Sewell and Michael Aldridge, was broadcast from 10 September to 22 October 1979. George Smiley, the ageing master spy of the Cold War and once heir-apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
1979
6.7Cluedo was a UK television game show based on the board game of the same name. Each week, a reenactment of the murder at the stately home Arlington Grange of a visiting guest was played and, through a combination of interrogating the suspects and deduction, celebrity guests had to discover who committed the murder, which of six weapons and in which room it was committed, whilst viewers were invited to play along at home.
Cluedo
1990
10.0The Power Game is an ITV drama spin-off from The Plane Makers (1963–65), created by Wilfred Greatorex. Broadcast for three 13-episode series, Patrick Wymark reprised his role as Sir John Wilder, who here ruthlessly pursues boardroom machinations and tangled relationships.
The Power Game
1965
7.2The ups and downs of small time London gambler Robby Box, and the effect that his poker addiction has on his long suffering girlfriend Jan Oliver and family.
Big Deal
1984
6.2The Edwardians is an eight-part miniseries broadcast in 1972–73. An anthology, each 90-minute episode explores influential figure(s) of the Edwardian era: Charles Rolls and Henry Royce; Horatio Bottomley; E. Nesbit; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Robert Baden-Powell; Marie Lloyd; Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; and David Lloyd George.
The Edwardians
1972
7.0Drama about a small-time gangster Thomas Gynn (Dennis Waterman) from London who discovers a new life up north in Yorkshire. Helping widowed, self-sufficient businesswoman Sally Hardcastle (Jan Francis) when her car breaks down on the motorway, Thomas reluctantly accepts an offer of a lift to Leeds. Over the coming months, the two become involved in a series of misadventures that soon find them being drawn closer together.
Stay Lucky
1989
6.0C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987. A spin-off of the series The Gentle Touch, Maggie Forbes leads an all-female detective agency called "Eyes" that secretly operates as a Home Office team known as C.A.T.S. (Covert Activities Thames Section).
C.A.T.S. Eyes
1985
