Legendary actor and comedian Brian Murphy graduated from National service in the RAF to join the now iconic Joan Littlewood’s theatrical workshop alongside future stars including Barbara Windsor, Harry H Corbett and Victor Spinetti. Supporting roles in Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green came calling before Brian received his career defining role as the downtrodden George Roper in ITV’s Man About The House in 1973. After six series the characters of George and Mildred proved so popular that Thames commissioned a self titled spinoff which followed the lives of the dysfunctional married couple and a comedy classic was born. In later years Murphy appeared as Alvin Smedley in the long running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.

Author and actress Linda Regan was born into entertainment as the daughter of bandleader and impresario Peter Regan. Following appearances in cult shows of the 1970’s including Minder and On The Busses, Linda secured the part as April Wingate in Perry and Croft’s holiday camp sitcom Hi-De-Hi in 1984. As an author, Linda has become a leading figure within the crime thriller genre and is synonymous with her DI Barnham and Sergeant Grainger series. Together they make a formidable partnership with over a century of film and Television accreditation and it was fascinating to obtain this insight into the world of Television comedy by this pair of sitcom legends.

Judy Buxton - Women in Entertainment Season