David Battley

Acting

David Battley

Born — Died

1935-11-05 — 2003-01-20

Place of birth

Clapham, London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

Was a British actor of stage and screen, mainly appearing in comedy roles.

Known for

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A 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

Minder poster
7.2

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

Minder

1979

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

Mr. Bean poster
8.0

Mr Bean turns simple everyday tasks into chaotic situations and will leave you in stitches as he creates havoc wherever he goes.

Mr. Bean

1990

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 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

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

Film credits

1990s · 3 titles

1970s · 14 titles

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory poster
7.5

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

1971

Follow Me! poster
7.8

A 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

Up the Front poster
4.4

In Frankie Howerd's third Up... film it's World War I and he plays Lurk, an absolute cowerd, er coward. He's evading the call-up for all he's worth. But one evening he's hypnotised by a drunken hypnotist (Stanley Holloway) into being brave, but he fails to be released from it. So with his yellow streak gone Lurk is down that army office before you can say "titter ye not." Off to war he goes, mingling with sexy spies like Zsa Zsa Gabor and before long, the spellbound recruit is heading hot-foot back to Blighty with the Germans' plan of attack tattooed on his bum, and the Germans are bringing up the rear...! Full of sauce, knowing real-life references and witty remarks to camera, this is a cheeky incorrigible final instalment.

Up the Front

1972

Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! poster
4.2

Based on the hit play. A British Government Minister puts forward a bill to battle filth in the UK but that doesn't stop him having an affair with both his secretary, Miss Parkyn and Wendy, the wife of a high-up reporter. Opponents to the bill - mainly some hippy girls, lead by Johnny, kidnap the Minister's best friend and co-founder of the bill, Barry Ovis just as he was getting married to his fiancee, Joan. Barry escapes, just before the police raid the hippies hiding place - to claim that Ovis was in a orgy and get the bill defeated - and dashes back to his and Joan's flat followed by Inspector Ruff, who is investigating the kidnap and Damina, one of the hippies. Meanwhile, the Minister is also trying to use the flat to carry on his affairs with both Wendy and Miss Parkyn. The Minister, Barry & Joan tries to keep the truth from Ruft, Wilfred Potts, an old and honest MP, Birdie, the Minister's wife and stop the hippies, and this causes no end of trouble.

Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!

1973

The Old Curiosity Shop poster
4.8

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

1975

Up the Chastity Belt poster
4.2

A funny thing happened to Lurkalot, serf to Sir Coward de Custard, on the way to Custard Castle. Lurkalot sells lusty love potions and rusty chastity belts in the market place, but on this day Sir Graggart de Bombast arrives to sack the castle, and to get the lovely Lobelia Custard in the sack! Lurkalot must help Custard cream the knight in pining armour...

Up the Chastity Belt

1972

That's Your Funeral poster
4.2

Two funeral parlours fight one another for business, one of whom is more shady than the other.

That's Your Funeral

1972

No artwork available
1.0

All kinds of misfortune befall Moll Flanders in 18th-century England; but she's a great survivor.

Moll Flanders

1975

No artwork available
NR

A man who feels trapped by his life volunteers to become an exhibit in a zoo.

A Man in the Zoo

1975

The London Connection poster
7.8

A missing formula, a defecting Eastern European scientist kidnapped, car chases, foot chases, air chases, the British secret service, and a couple of American tourists caught right in the middle.

The London Connection

1979

Rentadick poster
4.2

Armitage runs a chemical company that is on the verge of producing a gas that causes temporary disability. Clearly the military want it but it is also sought by a group of Japanese. Both Armitage and Madam Greenfly hire different people in the same detective agency to guard the gas and steal it respectively... confusion, double crosses and hilarity ensue...

Rentadick

1972

Blinker's Spy-Spotter poster
9.0

Blinker, so named because he blinks whenever he has a bright idea for a new invention, is the son of an eccentric Professor who is developing a top secret Pulsar Crystal X. Blinker's inventions help him to be a successful goalkeeper and to keep an eye on The Masons gang - and some real crooks.

Blinker's Spy-Spotter

1972

The Snow Queen poster
NR

The Devil makes a mirror -and it shatters.This is the story of what happens to little Kay when one of the pieces finds its way through his eye and into his heart. The powers of evil are unleashed ... the Summer Garden Witch - the Robbers in the Wood - but above all - the mysterious elemental figure of The Snow Queen. Only Gerda - Kay's friend - helped by birds and animals - has the power to overcome them all.

The Snow Queen

1976

The Museum Attendant poster
NR

Michael Abbensetts’ first play for TV is a powerful, funny and shocking exposé of the racism faced by a black museum attendant in his place of work.

The Museum Attendant

1973

1960s · 7 titles

Crossplot poster
5.6

A successful London ad-exec hires a beautiful Hungarian girl to pose for some modeling shots, little realising that she has overheard an assassination plot and is now being hunted by some dangerous killers.

Crossplot

1969

Hotel Paradiso poster
6.0

Monsieur Feydeau has writer's block and he needs a new play, so he takes an opportunity to observe his upper class neighbors of 1900 Paris. There is Monsieur Boniface with hard domineering wife Angelique; also, Monsieur Cotte with beautiful but neglected wife Marcelle. Henri Cotte traces architectural anomalies (mostly "ghost" sounds in the drain pipes) and plans a night at the Hotel Paradiso, which happens to be the chosen romantic rendezvous spot of Marcelle and Monsieur Boniface. One wife, two husbands, a nephew, and the perky Boniface maid, all at this 'by the hour' hotel and consummation of the affair is, to say the least, severely compromised (not the least by a police raid). All of this is under Feydeau's eye, and his play is the 'success fou' of the next season.

Hotel Paradiso

1966

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

Alice in Wonderland (1966) is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe.

Alice in Wonderland

1966

Another Day, Another Dollar poster
10.0

A new steward on a large passenger liner finds himself subject to "charges" levied by the senior bar steward.

Another Day, Another Dollar

1967

No artwork available
NR

Farce in which the nouveau riche Mrs Frush buys Thark, a large country house, from Sir Hector Benbow but then complains that the house is haunted. An assortment of characters go to the house to investigate.

Thark

1968

No artwork available
6.5

Hill plays a caterer who gets drunk on the job and proceeds to make a disaster of a middle class couple's dinner party.

The Waiters

1969

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Franchise Trail

1968

Series credits

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A 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

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A 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

Minder poster
7.2

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

Minder

1979

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

Mr. Bean poster
8.0

Mr Bean turns simple everyday tasks into chaotic situations and will leave you in stitches as he creates havoc wherever he goes.

Mr. Bean

1990

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 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

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

Sykes poster
6.7

Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.

Sykes

1972

Sykes poster
6.7

Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.

Sykes

1972

Sykes poster
6.7

Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.

Sykes

1972

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes poster
7.5

An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

1971

As Time Goes By poster
7.6

Two lovers are reunited after decades apart following a mutual misunderstanding.

As Time Goes By

1992

Murder Most Horrid poster
6.9

Comedienne Dawn French tackles dark, tongue-in-cheek thrillers as her various characters embark on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another, she is involved with murder — either committing the crime or even getting bumped off herself!

Murder Most Horrid

1991

Centre Play poster
7.0

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

Centre Play

1973

The Darling Buds of May poster
7.9

An 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

Mystery and Imagination poster
5.8

Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 on ITV and produced by ABC and Thames Television.

Mystery and Imagination

1966

The Wonderful World of Disney poster
7.9

Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different titles since 1954. The original version of the series premiered on ABC, Wednesday night, October 27, 1954. The show, which was hosted by Walt Disney until his death and then from 1996 to 2002 by then-CEO Michael Eisner (with one-off hosts or no hosts during other periods) has since aired continually as either a weekly program or an irregular series of specials on several networks and streaming services, most recently on ABC and Disney+. The show is the second longest showing prime-time program on American television, behind its rival, Hallmark Hall of Fame. However, Hallmark Hall of Fame was a weekly program only during its first five seasons, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than forty years.

The Wonderful World of Disney

1954

Churchill's People poster
5.0

Churchill'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

One Foot in the Grave poster
7.7

One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series. The series features the exploits of Victor Meldrew and his long-suffering wife, Margaret. The programmes invariably deal with Meldrew's battle against the problems he creates for himself. Living in a typical household in an unnamed English suburb, Victor takes involuntary early retirement. His various efforts to keep himself busy, while encountering various misfortunes and misunderstandings are the themes of the sitcom. Despite its traditional production, the series supplants its domestic sitcom setting with elements of black humour and surrealism.

One Foot in the Grave

1990

Bless This House poster
7.5

On Howard Road, travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott and his wife Jean constantly battle to comprehend the permissive ways of their teenage children Mike and Sally.

Bless This House

1971

Bless This House poster
7.5

On Howard Road, travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott and his wife Jean constantly battle to comprehend the permissive ways of their teenage children Mike and Sally.

Bless This House

1971

Bless This House poster
7.5

On Howard Road, travelling stationery salesman Sid Abbott and his wife Jean constantly battle to comprehend the permissive ways of their teenage children Mike and Sally.

Bless This House

1971

Redcap poster
8.0

Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television for ITV. John Thaw stars as Sergeant John Mann, a member of the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police. It ran for 26 episodes over two series between 1964 and 1966, being about 50 minutes in a 60 minute time slot. Surprisingly for a 1960s ABC Weekend Television programme, 23 of the 26 episodes still exist.

Redcap

1964

Super Gran poster
6.4

Adapted from Forrest Wilson's books, the children's programme revolves around a grandmother with super powers and her arch nemesis, The Scunner Campbell.

Super Gran

1985

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of 1920s set plays and musicals, transmissioned from 10 September to 10 December 1968 on BBC One.

The Jazz Age

1968

The Protectors poster
8.0

Ex-insurance investigator Ian Souter sets up his own security agency — the SIS (Specialists in Security) — alongside ex-cop Robert Shoesmith and secretary Heather Keys - and fight crime.

The Protectors

1964

Mixed Blessings poster
6.8

Mixed Blessings is a British sitcom produced by LWT for broadcast on the ITV network between 1978 and 1980, It was created by comedy-writer Sid Green and starred Christopher Blake and Muriel Odunton. White Thomas Simpson and Black Susan Lambert are a young couple who wed without their families' knowledge, forcing them to navigate the challenges of introducing their families to their relationship. The show explores themes of cultural differences and family dynamics within the context of a mixed-race marriage.

Mixed Blessings

1978

No artwork available
NR

Series of plays based on Irish short stories.

The Sinners

1970

No artwork available
7.0

A situation comedy about divorcee James Shepherd, a charismatic vet, who struggles to run both a successful surgery and a home for his two teenage children.

Close to Home

1989

The Climber poster
7.0

When Harry Lumsden, a humble bakery worker, adds up the results wrong of an IQ test, he mistakenly thinks he is a genius. Filled with a new sense of self worth Harry decides to set about improving all aspects of his life and especially his "career".

The Climber

1983

The Beiderbecke Tapes poster
6.8

The Beiderbecke Tapes is a two-part 1987 British television comedy-drama serial written by Alan Plater. The second installment in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, it stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne. When a tape recording of a conversation about nuclear waste inadvertently falls into Chaplin's hands, he and Swinburne find themselves being pursued by national security agents.

The Beiderbecke Tapes

1987

No artwork available
7.0

Fitz finds out he has a son from a holiday fling at Butlins in Clacton. When he turns up Fitz has to be a father for the first time.

Relative Strangers

1985

Rutland Weekend Television poster
6.3

Comedy sketch series purporting to show the programming of a low key regional television service. Written by Eric Idle of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' fame. A popular feature was the music of Neil Innes (one time member of the eccentric Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band), especially his Beatles parody The Rutles. They later featured in their own film: 'The Rutles (All You Need Is Cash)'.

Rutland Weekend Television

1975

Don't Rock The Boat poster
5.0

Don’t Rock The Boat follows the adventures of widower Jack Hoxton,who runs a riverside boatyard with his two grown-up sons: Les and Billy.Jack meets a young girl Dixie who puts the spring back in his step. When he decides to marry her ructions ensue, as up until the marriage his sons had run a perfectly well-ordered, resoundingly all-male establishment. Now with the arrival of Dixie, a former conjurer’s assistant and chorus girl, things have changed. Now the boys have a stepmother who’s barely older than they are.

Don't Rock The Boat

1982

No artwork available
9.0

That's Your Funeral was a BBC sitcom from 1971. The show was about a North of England funeral director called Basil Bulstrode. It used numerous urban legends about the funeral industry in its storylines. The show only lasted for one series before being axed. A very similar theme was used far more successfully in the ITV sitcom In Loving Memory.

That's Your Funeral

1970