Where Do I Know That Actor?

After nine seasons, the fan favorite DOC MARTIN has ended. Sadly, there was a far longer wait for the last two series on the airwaves of PBS North Carolina due to the changing broadcast world (read: streaming services). I was worried and all but assured we’d never get them. Thankfully that didn’t turn out to be true. And so now that we’ve aired seasons nine and ten and bid farewell to Portwenn, I wanted to look at the cast and see where we know them from. Note I’m just dealing with the last two series to keep it easier.

Martin Clunes stars as the irascible Dr. Martin Ellingham. Of course, he’s going to be best known as Cornwall’s hemophobic physician but he has been seen in other shows we’ve aired, most notably a handful of travel and nature documentaries like Man & Beast, A Lion Called Mugie, A Man And His Dogs, Heavy Horsepower, Islands Of Australia, Islands Of The Pacific, Man To Manta and The Lemurs Of Madagascar. About ten years back, he played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Arthur & George and 20 years ago he was Mr. Chipping in an adaptation of Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He appeared as Professor Flower in Gormenghast and Barmy in Jeeves & Wooster. Doctor Who fans may remember him as Lon in the classic Peter Davison serial Snakedance (his first acting credit back in 1981).

Caroline Catz co-stars as Martin’s wife, Louisa Ellingham (née Glasson). Catz has also been seen in DCI Banks as DI Helen Morton.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

Based on Frank Tallis’ Liebermann novels, VIENNA BLOOD is a crime drama set in Austria during the early 1900s. The series follows a young psychiatrist and student of Sigmund Freud as he assist the police in cases. But before the new season of VIENNA BLOOD premieres next year, we’re repeating the first series Mondays on the Explorer Channel. As such, it seemed a good time to look into the players of this unique psychological thriller. So let’s meet them…

Matthew Beard stars as Dr. Max Liebermann. If his name sounds familiar, it may be because he just played the dual roles of James Taylor and Fraser in Magpie Murders.

Charlene McKenna plays Max’s sister, Leah. About 15 years back, she appeared as the Marchioness in The Old Curiosity Shop.

Conleth Hill portrays Max’s father, Mendel. Another familiar name perhaps since he just played author Alan Conway in Magpie Murders. A few years back, he was Sergeant Upton in Arthur & George on Masterpiece Mystery.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

MAGPIE MURDERS is a new series from MASTERPIECE (under the MASTERPIECE MYSTERY banner) featuring a whodunnit surrounding a mystery author’s latest novel as well as the mystery within the novel itself. It’s written by Anthony Horowitz, based on the book by Horowitz. (FYI, Horowitz has written mysteries for the screen before and he may be best known to PBS viewers for creating Foyle’s War.) Several actors play multiple roles as characters in the main storyline and in the story-within-a-story. Of course, we wouldn’t be here if some of these talented actors weren’t recognizable from other series we’ve aired on PBS NC. Let’s see who’s who…

Lesley Manville stars as Susan Ryeland, a book editor at the top of her game. She was nominated for an Academy Award about five years back for The Phantom Thread but she has appeared on some Masterpiece series of note. She Robina Chase in World On Fire, Mrs. Rose in Cranford and Villy Cazalet in The Cazalets.

Conleth Hill plays bestselling author Alan Conway. He’s recently been seen in the series Vienna Blood as Mendel Liebermann and appeared as Sergeant Upton in Arthur & George on Masterpiece Mystery.

Tim McMullan portrays fictional detective Atticus Pünd. He’s been seen as James Reiss in King Charles III and as Arthur Valentine in Foyle’s War.