Barry Foster

Acting

Barry Foster

Born — Died

1927-08-21 — 2002-02-11

Place of birth

Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

87 titles

Barry Foster was an English actor who had an extensive career in film, radio, stage and television over almost 50 years. He was best known for playing Kaiser Wilhelm II in Fall of Eagles (1974), Order Wingate (1976), the title character in the British crime series Van der Valk (1972–1992) and Bob Rusk in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972).

Known for

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An 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

Bergerac poster
7.0

Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.

Bergerac

1981

Omnibus poster
7.2

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.

Omnibus

1967

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
4.2

An 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

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

Film credits

1990s · 5 titles

1980s · 15 titles

The Whistle Blower poster
5.8

A war veteran tries to investigate the murder of his son who was working as a Russian translator for the British intelligence service during the Cold War. He meets a web of deception and paranoia that seems impenetrable...

The Whistle Blower

1986

Maurice poster
7.6

After his lover rejects him, Maurice attempts to come to terms with his sexuality within the restrictiveness of Edwardian society.

Maurice

1987

To Catch a King poster
7.0

Robert Wagner plays an American who owns a Lisbon nightclub and Teri Garr is a slightly dippy chanteuse who has stumbled across a Nazi plot to kidnap the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, living at the time (1942) in Portugal.

To Catch a King

1984

Heat and Dust poster
6.0

Anne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.

Heat and Dust

1983

Three Kinds of Heat poster
5.4

Three friends persecute a gang of criminals from Harlem to the parties of the High Society of London.

Three Kinds of Heat

1987

A Woman Called Golda poster
7.7

The story of the Russian-born, Wisconsin-raised woman who rose to become Israel's prime minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A Woman Called Golda

1982

Beyond the Next Mountain poster
10.0

The story of how the Gospel of John changed the course of history for a tribe of headhunters.

Beyond the Next Mountain

1981

Succubus poster
9.0

A family settles in an old castle with plans to, among other things, turn its former cemetery into a swimming pool. However, soon they find out that, in ancient times, pagan rituals took place there involving the sacrifice of young virgins. When an evil entity starts luring young boy Mark into killing himself in order to become the next sacrificial offering, something must be done to save him. Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin who wrote many episodes of Dr. Who.

Succubus

1987

After Pilkington poster
7.4

The quiet life of Oxford professor James Westgate is shattered when he is introduced to Penny, the wife of his crass new colleague.

After Pilkington

1987

How Many Miles to Babylon? poster
NR

Wealthy Alexander Moore and working-class Jerry Crowe are childhood friends and in 1914 find themselves in the same Army unit - Alex as an officer and Jerry as a private. They still remain close, however, until Jerry is court-martialed for desertion, and Alex is put in charge of the firing squad.

How Many Miles to Babylon?

1982

The Rear Column poster
NR

Set in the jungle of the Congo Free State in 1887–88, the story begins after explorer Henry Morton Stanley, has gone to relieve Emin Pasha, governor of Equatoria, from a siege by Mahdist forces. He leaves behind him a 'rear column' with supplies at the Yambuya camp on the Aruwimi River and instructs them to wait until the Arab slave trader, Tippu Tib, has brought 600 more porters before following on to Equatoria. The play follows the story of the men left waiting in the camp. The officers depicted in the play are based on historical figures.

The Rear Column

1980

Hotel du Lac poster
4.2

Romantic novelist Edith Hope so horrifies her friends that they banish her to the solitude of a Swiss hotel. She decides to work out her exile by observing her fellow guests.

Hotel du Lac

1986

Random Moments in a May Garden poster
NR

A middle-aged couple give a dinner party to their friends. In the room is a photograph of another group of people, taken in a garden in May.

Random Moments in a May Garden

1981

Danger on Dartmoor poster
6.2

The adventures of children lost in fog on Dartmoor, who encounter a wild dog, an escaped convict, and other dangers.

Danger on Dartmoor

1980

Rabbit Pie Day poster
NR

As World War II draws to a close thousands of Russian soldiers overtaken by the Allied advance in Europe find themselves in England - and they like it. The major of one particular camp foresees problems should they have to go back; but as he says, 'They're only going home, after all!' - but home to what?

Rabbit Pie Day

1980

1970s · 11 titles

The Wild Geese poster
6.8

A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.

The Wild Geese

1978

Frenzy poster
7.1

London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.

Frenzy

1972

Ryan's Daughter poster
7.1

In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married schoolteacher in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.

Ryan's Daughter

1970

Sweeney! poster
6.7

When one of Regan's snouts complains that his girlfriend's recent suicide was murder, the flying squad detective feels compelled to investigate. He uncovers a conspiracy that reaches the heart of the government, and finds himself fitted up, suspended and under the scrutiny of Special Branch.

Sweeney!

1977

The Last Word poster
4.7

Leo, the owner of the stocking product "Discrete", has driven his company into the wall; the company is virtually bankrupt.

The Last Word

1975

A Quiet Day in Belfast poster
6.3

Andrew Angus Dalrymple's realistic portrait of a British soldier, his Irish lover and her twin sister amidst the strife of Northern Ireland.

A Quiet Day in Belfast

1974

Practical Experience poster
NR

'I'm unusual. I really want to be an architect. Always have done. Always wanted to build fine buildings and fine cities where people can work and eat and sleep and be happy. But the rules of the game say before you can do that you've got to start a firm. Employ people. Turn it into a career. I like architecture. I hate careers. The minute you make it a career you build a ladder and people want to climb it. Sometimes they stand on your fingers. It's hard to draw with flattened fingers. Spoils your draughtsmanship.'

Practical Experience

1976

Orde Wingate poster
NR

The story of the military career of Orde Wingate, one of the most controversial and unorthodox Allied commanders of World War II. The guerrilla tactics he developed while in Palestine helped prepare the future leaders of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Orde Wingate

1976

Old Times poster
5.0

Kate and Deeley are married and live in the country. They are joined by Kate's friend, Anna, and talk of the past. Although it is a past they have shared, their memories of it are not always the same.

Old Times

1975

No artwork available
NR

Retired British solider Richard Hannay is recruited by British intelligence in an attempt to recover three hostages taken prisoner by a shadowy criminal organisation

The Three Hostages

1977

Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization poster
6.3

Nirad C. Chaudhuri expounds his views on culture, history, religion and society from a comparative perspective.

Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization

1972

1960s · 11 titles

Battle of Britain poster
6.8

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

Battle of Britain

1969

Inspector Clouseau poster
5.0

Detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau is borrowed from the Surete on special assignment for Scotland Yard in hopes that a fresh outlook will help the government recover the loot from the Great Train Robbery, which is being used to underwrite a new crime wave. What they don't count on, however, is having more than one Clouseau on the job.

Inspector Clouseau

1968

Twisted Nerve poster
6.8

Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.

Twisted Nerve

1968

King and Country poster
7.1

During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.

King and Country

1964

Robbery poster
6.6

In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.

Robbery

1967

Surprise Package poster
6.5

Comic crime caper, set on a Greek island, starring Yul Brynner and Mitzi Gaynor.

Surprise Package

1960

The Family Way poster
6.7

Young newlyweds Arthur and Jenny Fitton want nothing more than to get their marriage started on the right foot. But before they can depart for their honeymoon in Spain, they have to spend their first night together at the home of Arthur's parents. The couple are prevented from having any intimacy, but it only gets worse. They find out that their trip to Spain is canceled, which sets the tone for a rocky few weeks.

The Family Way

1966

Where the Difference Begins poster
7.5

A family gather together as their mother lies dying. Death brings conflicts into sharp focus - not least between brothers Edgar and Richard…

Where the Difference Begins

1961

The Guru poster
6.0

Britain's top pop artiste, Tom Pickle, travels to Bombay, India, circa 1960s to learn to play the sitar from renowned maestro Ustad Zafar Khan.

The Guru

1969

Playback poster
NR

A young policeman becomes involved with a glamorous German woman in London, to his cost.

Playback

1962

The Interior Decorator poster
10.0

An interior decorator takes a millionaire's wife on a guided tour of her new home.

The Interior Decorator

1965

1950s · 8 titles

The Battle of the River Plate poster
6.4

In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.

The Battle of the River Plate

1956

Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst poster
7.3

While sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire. In charge, Lietenant Commander Kerans was not however prepared for his crew and his ship to remain as a hostage for the Chinese to use as an international pawn.

Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst

1957

Dunkirk poster
6.9

A British Corporal in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile, British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo, the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help, others were less willing.

Dunkirk

1958

The Siege of Pinchgut poster
6.3

An escaped prisoner is trying to clear his name.

The Siege of Pinchgut

1959

The Baby and the Battleship poster
6.4

After a quayside mix-up with the Italian family of his fiancée, Able Seaman Knocker White finds himself literally left holding the baby. Unable to return it before his ship sails he enlists the help of best mate Puncher Roberts to smuggle the child aboard. But babies are surprisingly demanding and gradually the whole crew is drawn into helping keep it fed and washed - and undiscovered. Even so, the officers above deck start to puzzle over the increasingly strange happenings on board.

The Baby and the Battleship

1956

Sea of Sand poster
6.5

A small British army team is sent deep behind enemy lines to destroy a German petrol dump as part of the preparation for a major attack in the North African campaign. Sea of Sand was distributed in the US in a shortened version, Desert Patrol.

Sea of Sand

1958

Sea Fury poster
6.1

The captain of a tugboat harboured off a Spanish village is lured into a romantic involvement with a young girl at the behest of her father, in the hope of getting his hands on the vessel. Meanwhile, a handsome English sailor, signs on to the boat and before long he and the girl fall for one another. Meanwhile a sinking freighter carrying explosive cargo has to be salvaged....

Sea Fury

1958

Worm in the Bud poster
NR

An elderly man living on his own in Belfast rouses the suspicions of his neighbors.

Worm in the Bud

1959

Series credits

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An 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

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An 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

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An 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

Bergerac poster
7.0

Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.

Bergerac

1981

Omnibus poster
7.2

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.

Omnibus

1967

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Screen Two poster
7.1

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Screen Two

1985

Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
4.2

An 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

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

Sunday Night Theatre poster
3.5

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Sunday Night Theatre

1950

Sunday Night Theatre poster
3.5

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Sunday Night Theatre

1950

Sunday Night Theatre poster
3.5

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Sunday Night Theatre

1950

ITV Saturday Night Theatre poster
7.0

Anthology series of dramatic works.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

1969

Public Eye poster
8.2

Public Eye is a British television drama broadcast from 1965 to 1975 on ITV1. Produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four, the programme follows the investigations and cases handled by the unglamourous enquiry agent Frank Marker.

Public Eye

1965

No artwork available
NR

BBC anthology drama series that ran over four seasons and replaced the previous BBC Sunday Night Theatre series.

Sunday-Night Play

1960

Maigret poster
7.1

BBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret, a French police detective who preferred to watch and listen in order to solve crimes. The series ran from 1960-63 on British television.

Maigret

1960

Van der Valk poster
6.2

Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. It starred Barry Foster in the title role as Dutch detective Commissaris "Piet" van der Valk. Based on the characters and atmosphere of the novels of Nicolas Freeling, the first series was shown in 1972.

Van der Valk

1972

No artwork available
NR

Drama 61-67 is anthology drama series which took a different title, based on year of transmission, each year. It alternated with Armchair Theatre from ABC in the Sunday evening slot. The series was described at the time as epitomising ATV drama.

Drama 61-67

1961

The Troubleshooters poster
7.3

The Troubleshooters is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. During its run, the series made the transition from black and white to colour transmissions. The series was based around an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.

The Troubleshooters

1965

Doomwatch poster
6.4

Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC 1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist, responsible for investigating and combating various ecological and technological dangers. The series was followed by a film adaptation produced by Tigon British Film Productions and released in 1972, and a revival TV film was broadcast on Channel 5 in 1999.

Doomwatch

1970

No artwork available
NR

Thursday Theatre is a British television anthology programme produced by and aired on the BBC from 1964–1965. The productions ranged in duration from 75 to 95 minutes. Out of the 23 episodes, 13 are believed lost, and one is incomplete.

Thursday Theatre

1964

Espionage poster
10.0

Pulled from actual case histories and utilizing newsreel and documented narratives, the activities of spies from various countries are depicted as far back as the American Revolution and as recent as the Cold War.

Espionage

1963

Dalgliesh poster
6.9

Centred on the cases of P. D. James' gentleman detective Adam Dalgliesh. In addition to his career as a policeman, Dalgliesh is also a published poet and an intensely private man.

Dalgliesh

1983

Sir Francis Drake poster
5.1

Sir Francis Drake was a British adventure television series starring Terence Morgan as Sir Francis Drake, commander of the sailing ship the Golden Hind. As well as battles at sea, sword fights, the series also deals with intrigue at Elizabeth's court, often caused by Spaniard, Mendoza.

Sir Francis Drake

1961

Smiley's People poster
7.7

Called out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what happened. He begins to follow up the clues of his friends past days, discovering that the clues lead to a high person in the Russian Secret service, and a secret important enough to kill for.

Smiley's People

1982

No artwork available
7.0

A series of anthologies highlighting the initial projects of directors venturing into television drama filmmaking.

Premiere

1977

Chillers poster
6.7

A 1990 horror anthology series, with host Anthony Perkins presenting and screening tales based on Patricia Highsmith's short stories that display a sinister atmosphere, and delve into the darkest depths of human nature.

Chillers

1990

Roger Roger poster
9.0

Roger Roger is a BBC television comedy-drama written by John Sullivan. The series was about a mini-cab firm called Cresta Cabs. The pilot aired in 1996 and there were three subsequent series on BBC1 in 1998, 1999 and 2003.

Roger Roger

1998

No artwork available
NR

Anthology of plays written by new writers, set in a function room above a public house.

Function Room

1985

Death of an Expert Witness poster
6.5

When Dr. Edwin Lorrimer, a forensic scientist working at a private laboratory is found killed, Detective Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh is sent to investigate. Dalgliesh had been in the area a few months previously investigating the murder of a young woman found in an abandoned car. There are several suspects: Lorrimer's subordinate, Clifford Bradley, who despises him; the new head of the laboratory, Maxim Howarth, who is jealous of his sister's relationship with him; a colleague, Paul Middlemass, who had a fight with Lorrimer. There is also a gruff and likely unethical policeman who was on the grounds of the laboratory at the time of the killing and a local pathologist who is raising his two young children after his wife leaves him for another man. When one of the suspects is also murdered, Dalgliesh learns a key piece of information.

Death of an Expert Witness

1983

Divorce His, Divorce Hers poster
6.7

The dissolution of an 18-year marriage, seen first from his point-of-view and then from hers.

Divorce His, Divorce Hers

1973

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Nicholas Nickleby

1957

No artwork available
NR

The series follows the lives of the Barnes family, who live in the stockbroker-belt of suburbia.

A Family Affair

1979