Tony Selby

Acting

Tony Selby

Born — Died

1938-02-26 — 2021-09-05

Place of birth

Lambeth, South London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

91 titles

Congenial character actor, Tony Selby was the epitome of the down-to earth, friendly Londoner of stage and screen. He starred in films such as Alfie, Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall, Villain and even Superman, but it is the small screen that was his more natural home; he headlined Get Some In (1975) as the memorable bully Corporal Marsh, and had a main part in Love Hurts (1992-94) opposite Adam Faith and Zoe Wanamaker. Perhaps his greatest contribution had been guest appearances where his charisma, which could be menacing when he chose, saw him pop up in several high profile and popular series - from his recurring role as the roguish Glitz in Dr Who, to Casualty, Lovejoy, Holby City, …

Known for

Midsomer Murders poster
7.5

The 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

EastEnders poster
4.3

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

EastEnders

1985

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

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama 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

Play for Today poster
6.6

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Play for Today

1970

Film credits

2010s · 3 titles

1990s · 2 titles

1980s · 9 titles

The Secret Garden poster
7.7

When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.

The Secret Garden

1987

The Union poster
NR

A dramatised impression of the events surrounding the Electrical Trades Union ballot rigging case of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Union

1981

Doctor Who: The Ultimate Foe poster
5.7

Charged 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

Doctor Who: The Mysterious Planet poster
6.2

The 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

Doctor Who: Dragonfire poster
7.2

As trouble brews on the space trading colony of Iceworld, the Doctor and Mel encounter their sometimes-ally Sabalom Glitz and a new friend who goes by the name "Ace".

Doctor Who: Dragonfire

1987

Give Us a Break: Hustle Bustle Toil and Muscle poster
NR

Mickey and Mo head to Liverpool for the chance of a big score

Give Us a Break: Hustle Bustle Toil and Muscle

1984

In the Secret State poster
7.0

A Government Department with data on us all in its computers is not functioning quite as its ex-Head intended. Frank Strange sets out to clear his own name and finds he is investigating a murder.

In the Secret State

1985

Theban Plays: Antigone poster
9.0

In a final battle for the control of Thebes, Oedipus's two sons kill each other. Creon issues an order that no one is to bury Polynices upon pain of death. But Antigone is determined that her brother's body will have the proper rites of burial.

Theban Plays: Antigone

1986

If You Go Down in the Woods Today poster
6.3

A Boy Scout troupe led by their scoutmaster (Sykes) is on a field trip to a seemingly-peaceful English woodland. However, the woods are actually teeming with strange characters, some of whom turn out to be disguised police officers and others criminals. The police are searching for £2,000,000 in stolen banknotes and hope that the criminals will lead them to them. The criminals, on the other hand, are aware that the police are looking for them and doing their best to avoid betraying the location of their stash.

If You Go Down in the Woods Today

1981

1970s · 13 titles

Superman poster
7.2

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

Superman

1978

Carry On Loving poster
5.7

The Wedded Bliss computer dating agency aims to bring together the lonely hearts of Much-Snoggin-in-the-Green. Its owner, Sidney Bliss, has enough complications in his own love life, but still produces a pamphlet called 'The Wit to Woo'. The strange collection of hopefuls lead to some outlandish matches—and jealousies are bound to lead to trouble.

Carry On Loving

1970

Villain poster
6.1

In 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses the line by blackmailing Members of Parliament.

Villain

1971

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall poster
5.0

London, 1940. Aspiring jazz musician and future comedy legend Terence 'Spike' Milligan reluctantly obeys his call-up and joins the Royal Artillery regiment at Bexhill, where he begins training to take part in the War. But along the way Spike and his friends get involved in many amusing — and some not-so amusing — scrapes.

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall

1973

The Break poster
NR

Two strangers break into a man's house and subject him to a series of terrifying - and humiliating - mind games.

The Break

1974

The Changeling poster
8.5

Sexual passion breeds violence in the Thomas Middleton and William Rowley written tale of a beautiful woman who falls in love with a sea-captain. Filmed with lush production values and at a leisurely, very British pace, Helen Mirren is riveting as Beatrice-Joanna, a young lass already torn by love and commitment.Beatrice-Joanna (Helen Mirren) is betrothed to Lord Alonzo de Piraquo (Malcolm Reynolds) but is in love with Alsemero (Brian Cox). She hires her father's manservant, De Flores (Stanley Baker), to kill Alonzo but after he has done so, she realises De Flores wants her as a reward.The Changeling was an instalment of the BBC's Play of the Month series and is a production for television of a 1622 Jacobean tragedy of the same name, written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.

The Changeling

1974

A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts poster
8.0

Three a.m. A crash of breaking glass ... the slow creak of a door opening ... is it a burglar? Raymond Collis finds out the hard way.

A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts

1978

I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill poster
8.7

Returning home to her flat, Ann Rogers passes a stranger leaving the building. A few moments later she discovers her neighbor lying dead in the hallway, the latest victim of a serial killer. Ann could be able to identify the killer, but the killer also knows her face and knows he needs to silence the witness... TV episode from the series, "Thriller" was also released as feature film on home video starting in the 1980s.

I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill

1974

The Square of Three poster
9.0

An army private decides one day that he's not taking any more orders, precipitating a crisis of confidence for the Medical Corps major assigned to investigate his case.

The Square of Three

1973

No artwork available
8.0

During the shooting of a First World War film entitled The Somme a tragic series of events unfolds for the cast and crew. The film was withdrawn from distribution shortly after it's release and is considered to be lost and may have been destroyed after the director died.

Nobody Ordered Love

1972

Soap Opera in Stockwell poster
8.0

A baby is snatched from outside a launderette. The manageress and customers try to work out who was responsible. Part of the Black and Blue series of TV plays.

Soap Opera in Stockwell

1973

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

Gambitt's Move poster
NR

Angie, an unemployed single mother moves into a new rented home. She then receives an unwelcome visitor from her past.

Gambitt's Move

1975

1960s · 21 titles

Alfie poster
6.5

A young man leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life.

Alfie

1966

Witchfinder General poster
6.5

England, 1645. The cruel civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians that is ravaging the country causes an era of chaos and legal arbitrariness that allows unscrupulous men to profit by exploiting the absurd superstitions of the peasants; like Matthew Hopkins, a monster disguised as a man who wanders from town to town offering his services as a witch hunter.

Witchfinder General

1968

War-Gods of the Deep poster
5.0

A chance discovery leads American mining engineer Ben Harris and acquaintance Harold to discover a lost city under the sea while searching for their kidnapped friend Jill. Held captive in the underwater city by the tyrannical Captain (Vincent Price), and his crew of former smugglers, the three plot to escape...

War-Gods of the Deep

1965

The Early Bird poster
7.5

Norman Pitkin is the assistant helping to run a small, old fashioned dairy which is threatened by a larger, modern organisation. Pitkin does his best to save the dairy (and his horse) and the usual chaos ensues

The Early Bird

1965

Before Winter Comes poster
6.0

Drama/Comedy set in a refugee camp in occupied Austria after World War II. A shrewd multi-lingual interpreter who mediates between Russian and British military brass enters into a friendly rivalry with British Major Giles Burnside, who is in charge of assigning the displaced persons into either the American or Russian zones.

Before Winter Comes

1969

Nobody Runs Forever poster
6.0

Detective Scobie Malone accepts a mission to fly to London to arrest Sir James Quentin, a high-level commissioner wanted down under for murder. But when Malone arrives, he finds that the amiable Quentin is not only the key in groundbreaking peace negotiations, but also the target of an assassin himself.

Nobody Runs Forever

1968

Poor Cow poster
6.4

Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.

Poor Cow

1967

Press for Time poster
5.9

Norman is quite happy selling newspapers outside Westminster station but his Grandfather (the Prime Minister) wants to get him "a more responsible job". A few favours are called in and Norman becomes the newest reporter at the seaside town of Tinmouth. After causing chaos at a local council meeting and causing the demolition of a new house he tries to organise a beauty pageant. A slapstick tale of corruption in high and low places

Press for Time

1966

The Entertainer poster
6.2

Archie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay in show business.

The Entertainer

1960

The Devil a Monk Would Be poster
NR

A community of monks decides to solve its financial predicament through the sale of a potent cure for rheumatism made from rare herbs and one hundred per cent proof alcohol.

The Devil a Monk Would Be

1967

Jazz Boat poster
6.4

An electrician boasts about being a cat burglar to impress his comrades, but his lie spins out of control when he's sought to participate in a jewel heist.

Jazz Boat

1960

Up the Junction poster
7.0

The lives and loves of three young working class women, set in the pubs, terraced houses and factories of Battersea, South London.

Up the Junction

1965

Tomorrow, Just You Wait poster
4.0

Jimmy is young, earning good money and going out with a smashing girl. What more could a man wish for?

Tomorrow, Just You Wait

1965

A Tap on the Shoulder poster
7.0

Ken's Loach's first production for The Wednesday Play is a story of a group of criminals planning a robbery, with the unwitting aid of a wealthy, well-connected society acquaintance. But who is the greater villain?

A Tap on the Shoulder

1965

Present Laughter poster
8.0

An aging and self-obsessed actor finds himself in a situation bordering on farce when he is besieged by the demands of his estranged wife, women who want to seduce him, and a crazed playwright.

Present Laughter

1967

Three Clear Sundays poster
6.0

Ken Loach production for The Wednesday Play, reflecting contemporary debates surrounding the abolishment of capital punishment.

Three Clear Sundays

1965

A Night Out poster
NR

Albert, a shy and repressed young man who lives with his mother, is persuaded to go for "a night out" with his workmates; it turns nightmarish.

A Night Out

1967

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

In Search of Gregory poster
5.1

Young Catherine Morelli, who lives in Rome, goes to Geneva to find romance at her father's wedding. There she begins a near nymphomaniac pursuit of a mystery man called Gregory.

In Search of Gregory

1969

The Gentleman Caller poster
5.5

Visiting unemployed brothers Clack and Ged, social security inspector Mr. Hicks finds few reasons for sympathy. However, the tables are turned on the investigator: Clack defends Ged as 'a paying member of the welfare state' rather than a case for charity, and events take a sinister turn.

The Gentleman Caller

1967

Silent Song poster
9.0

Life in a Trappist monastery offers a life of contemplation and hard labour.

Silent Song

1966

Series credits

Midsomer Murders poster
7.5

The 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

EastEnders poster
4.3

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

EastEnders

1985

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

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

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama 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

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama 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

Play for Today poster
6.6

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Play for Today

1970

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

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

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

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

Minder poster
7.2

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

Minder

1979

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

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

New Tricks poster
7.3

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.

New Tricks

2004

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

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

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

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

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

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

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

Thriller poster
7.0

Thriller 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

New Scotland Yard poster
6.3

New Scotland Yard is a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television for ITV from 1972 and 1974. It features the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with the assorted villains of the day.

New Scotland Yard

1972

Centre Play poster
7.0

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

Centre Play

1973

Centre Play poster
7.0

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

Centre Play

1973

The Detectives poster
6.9

The absurd adventures of two defective detectives, who - despite unbelievable incompetence - somehow manage to solve their cases (or be nearby when the cases are solved) and retain their jobs.

The Detectives

1993

Callan poster
7.0

Callan 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

Department S poster
5.5

Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King, Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse.

Department S

1969

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

Rose and Maloney poster
6.4

Investigators Rose Linden and Marion Maloney, of the Criminal Justice Review Agency, take on claims of miscarriages of justice, assessing whether there are grounds to reopen old cases.

Rose and Maloney

2002

The Good Life poster
7.7

Tom and Barbara Good escape the rat race and pursue a self-sufficient lifestyle in Surbiton, much to the concern, frustration and sometimes envy of their neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. Entitled ‘Good Neighbors’ when shown in the USA.

The Good Life

1975