Some Recent Observations 1

ITEM 1
Watching Sheridan Smith's debut Jonathan Creek story "The Grinning Man" again recently on the Drama channel, I noticed something interesting that I hadn't spotted on its original broadcast.  This is the episode in which she falls into a large water tank trap beneath a bath in an old tower room in which she is staying to try and debunk a myth that nobody ever survives a night spent there. 

In the bit when she falls down into the water it is debatable whether anything much is really seen in the shroud of air bubbles - and in any case it could be stunt double doing it.  Afterwards when she is being hauled naked out of the tank by Jonathan Creek, it is definitely her, but the sequence is filmed in a very careful way so nothing revealing is seen.  Consequently I never added an entry for this one on the site. 

But now watching again more carefully I noticed an appearance of what certainly appears to be the tip of her right breast, including her nipple, seen for about two frames in a kind of shadowed profile in the gap created between Alan Davies' arm and body.

Incidentally, Drama's showing of Jonathan Creek: The Judas Tree was the unedited version including the very brief topless glimpse of Sofia Hayat which BBC1 edited out of its own broadcast.


ITEM 2
Recently I watched the 2000 Ray Winstone film Sexy Beast on Film Four so I could better describe the scene involving Julianne White which I'd only seen in clip form and screenshots.  I had no reason to doubt the identification made by others for this scene because the woman in it looks like Julianne White and she is definitely in the film.
 
Unexpectedly, however, upon watching the film properly in full it turns out it is not actually Julianne White at all.

The scene in question involves a well-spoken lady sitting topless on a couch in a VIP club in London where an orgy is taking place nearby.  She is talking to two men whom she introduces to one another.  She is not named and does not appear again in the film.

Julianne White is one of the main characters called Jackie, the wife of Ray Winstone's friend in Spain.  The London club scene is a flashback which serves to show how the two men we see there (Ian McShane and James Fox) met.  The similarity between this woman and Julianne White appears to be coincidental and is not part of the story.  The narrative does not make any link between Jackie and these flashback events and clearly if it had been her this would have come out in the story in some way.  Also the speaking voices of the two women are very different.  The club woman speaks in a refined manner whereas Julianne White has a more common sort of accent.

And it becomes fairly clear when comparing screen images from the film of the two actresses that whilst they are remarkably similar looking there are some readily apparent differences and are not the same woman.  (e.g. the parting of their hair is on opposing sides).  It is reasonably understandable however how the mistake could have been made for someone not watching the film fully.

The credits don't make it entirely clear who the woman actually is but the best bet seems to be Ana Maldonado Herreria as "Matronly Woman".  This term could describe her role in the sense of being dignified and stately - and there wasn't really anyone else in the film who could have been thus described. There is not much about her online to confirm this and she is probably a Spanish actress since it was a UK-Spain co-production, possibly her voice was dubbed.

Julianne White's Sexy Beast entry has now been removed from the site.  Happily I can be sure that Julianne White's other known scene, which appears in the ITV series The Knock from 2000 (series 5, episode 1), IS definitely her because that episode was on the True Entertainment channel last week.

Post Round-Up - December 2013

For those that don't always read the comments, here is a round-up of query posts that have been resolved or have moved on a bit.


Not The Nine O'clock News - Baby On The Bus Sketch (13 October 2013)
The possible name I had of Robina Gange was corrected to Robina Gauge.  Along with two uncredited appearances she made in consecutive episodes of Are You Being Served.

Are You Being Served has recently been showing every weekday afternoon on BBC2.  When they came around, I recorded the two episodes in question, "Mrs Slocombe, Senior Person" and "The Hero", to see if I could spot the same woman as seen in the sketch.  However I could not, and nor was there any obvious commonality of the same extra seen in both episodes.  So either she appeared without her face being clearly seen or Robina Gauge is someone else and not the woman in the Not The Nine O'clock News: Baby On The Bus sketch.

It would seem now that the only way to progress this query any further would be to find out if there were any other uncredited roles listed for that particular episode of Not The Nine O'Clock News.


Unidentified Actress in 1983 Drama STUDIO (20 October 2013)
SOLVED: The name of the actress playing Liz has been identified as Paula Kitt.

Actresses to be Identified #1 (3 November 2013)
SOLVED: The actress in the Living TV trailer has been identified as Helen Goldwyn, via her own words in an online interview she did.


Unknown Drama #6 (15 December 2013)
RESOLVED: Information received shows that Julie La Rousse did indeed appear in Scene: Ties.

Unknown Drama #6

Here is another preserved 1980s TV clip query posted on an internet forum site. This time the actress involved has been identified with reasonable confidence and a contender for the programme has also been pinpointed. All that is missing is some additional confirmations.

In the scene a red haired woman is laying naked on a nude beach and is jeered at by some lads on the promenade until she gets up to confront them and they run away. No character names are heard being used.

Responders to this post suggested that he woman looked like the barmaid from early Only Fools and Horses episodes who occasionally had some lines and was credited as Julie La Rousse. She appeared (sometimes uncredited) in several episodes of the sitcom from 1982-1983 during the 2nd and 3rd series. After comparing her image I would agree it seems likely to be her.

Responders also recognised one of the lads as being a young Sean Chapman. This also checks out as almost certainly correct, he is the one seen on the left in the picture below.
　
On Sean Chapman's credits there is one thing that seems like it could be a possible source for the clip.
He was in a 1982 episode of the BBC's SCENE series entitled "Ties".

Cast: Tammi Jacobs (as Karen), Gillian Taylforth (as Sandra), Jacqueline Clarke (as Mother), Gordon Salkilld (as Father), Ray Burdis (as Graham), Julian Jones (as Colin), Sean Chapman (as Steve), Andrew Ashby (as Roy), Billy Fellows (as Eric).
IMDB Summary: "Karen and her older sister Sandra both take a trip to Brighton due to unforeseen circumstances"
BFI Summary: "Drama by Barry Purchese, aimed at teenagers, about two sisters who have different attitudes to boys, marriage and life, until a trip to Brighton causes each to think again."

The "Brighton" setting is the main reason it seems a good possibility. Because clearly the scene has a seaside setting and Brighton is known to have a nude beach. Julie La Rousse is not listed but since she does not actually have any dialogue that might be because she went uncredited (assuming it is this programme at all).

Of course given that the SCENE series was aimed at teenagers and shown during the daytime schools programming slot, it might perhaps seem a bit unlikely that such a scene would be included. It certainly wouldn't today in a drama aimed at teenagers (not even in post-watershed adult dramas most of the time). SCENE was however a thought-provoking series that covered a number of hard-hitting issues and perhaps they were simply more bold and daring back then.

At any rate this is currently the best (and only) possibility found. If it is indeed Julie La Rousse as suspected then the fact that she looks very similar to how she appears in her Only Fools and Horses appearances tends to support the year of 1982.

What is needed to add this one to the site as a fully fledged entry is some confirmation that Julie La Rousse was connected to it. Or an identification of either of the two lads seen with Sean Chapman who will hopefully be amongst the credited names - or, if not, a different identification may help to turn the spotlight towards another programme altogether.

Incidentally it's possible that "Julie La Rousse" is in fact some sort of a pseudonym, since her name pretty much translates to "Julie the Redhead" which seems to fit her too well to be a pure coincidence.
　
Here is my scene description prepared ready for the site when and if I'm satisfied everything ties together:-
Rear nudity and most of the front of her breasts are seen while she is laying on a towel on (Brighton's) nude beach as she looks up when she hears three rowdy lads jeering at her from the promenade - her breasts are against a towel so no nipple nudity is seen - then topless from a medium distance as she stands up holding a towel loosely around her waist and boldly walks over to the lads intending to confront them - this unnerves them and they scarper before she reaches them - then briefly topless as she turns back satisfied she has seen them off with rear nudity seen as she returns to her position on the beach.



　

Julie La Rousse in Only Fools and Horses

The lads from the clip with Sean Chapman on the left

Unknown Drama #5

(Updated May 2014, with full collage included)


Here is another unidentified clip from an 1980s TV drama. For this one I have a possible answer but have no way to confirm it.

This clip features a longish sequence showing a blonde stripper doing a topless routine on the floor of a men's club and doing a lap dance for one of the younger men who is a bit reluctant but is being encouraged by his vociferous older companion.  There is some general chitchat and laddish comments but no character names are mentioned.






Here are images of some men in the sequence who are seen close up



• A) Seems to be the leader of the group. It has been suggested that he might be the actor Tom Adams.
• B) The slightly green younger friend of A.
• C) Looks a bit like another actor called "Adams". Tony Adams who played Adam Chance in Crossroads. But this actor may just be a crowd extra reacting to the stripper. He is not heard speaking in the extract so I can't tell if he would be likely to be credited or not.

　
If "A" is indeed Tom Adams then I've found a seemingly good possibility involving him in a play that also seemingly affirmingly has an actress credited as playing a Stripper and a plot description that seems to be supported by what occurs in the extract.

West Country Tales was an anthology series on BBC2 that ran for 14 episodes over two series from 1982 - 1983. The stories were spooky in nature.

In Series 2 in 1983, there is an episode called "Tell It To The Marines" which stars Tom Adams.

The BFI database's synopsis for that episode is "Martin And his corporal are out for a night to remember. Martin's heart really isn't in it, however. The corporal picks up a lonely widow, but gives her Martin's name"

The listed cast are: Tom Adams (as Corporal), Andy Hart (as Martin), Jenny Barnes (as Widow), Samantha Jay (as Stripper)

If the clip is from this drama then the "night to remember" could be referring to the stripper scene, and Martin, whose "heart really isn't in it", could be Man "B" who seems to be playing it a bit like that. Beyond that however the clip extract reveals nothing else.

If "B" is Andy Hart then I can't double check his likeness via other work because he seems to have been in nothing else. Likewise Samantha Jay shows up in nothing else except for a 1981 episode of "The Innes Book of Records". (Although even if not the right thing then she was clearly playing some sort of stripper in the West Country Tales episode so it would still warrant a look).

As for "C" who looks like Crosssroads' Tony Adams. He is not listed on any credits seen for this episode and it could be someone who just looks a bit like him. According to IMDB Tony Adams was in original Crossroads from 1978 to 1988 and so may not have been free to do other stuff anyway in 1983.
　
With several things fitting together on this one it would seem a big coincidence if it doesn't turn out to be right, although that possibility remains. However, as things stand there seems to be no way to actually confirm anything so it will have to remain unlisted for now until or unless something corroborating is found.

Of course if it isn't Tom Adams in the lead role then the whole thing falls apart anyway.


　

Worthy Site Footnotes

This post is to give a creditable mention to scenes that cannot be properly described as topless but are nonetheless fairly revealing.

It's a shame not to give some of these scenes a mention on the main site especially when they can sometimes seem more revealing than a number of "proper" topless scenes of the carefully-filmed-and-edited variety.  But regrettably I think it would get a bit too subjective to choose whether such scenes were good enough to include or not and decisions would probably vary depending on how high-profile the actress was and whether she had already done any "proper" nudity that might make the mention seem superfluous.

A while ago I did experiment with adding a handful of entries which I flagged as "Noteworthy Non-Nudity" scenes but I quickly realised that it wouldn't really work and so did not continue.

For this post I've selected a couple of collages depicting scenes that might have made it.

Laura Aikman in BloodMonkey (2007)

I can't tell for sure if she is wearing a bra under her shirt although it doesn't look like she is.

Anna-Louise Plowman in My Life In Film (BBC3/2004)
This scene almost made it but it was just a bit too carefully filmed.  Nonetheless it is her most revealing scene that I know of.




I have more examples if this posting theme is of any interest (?). 
(Since I hardly get any comments I don't really know what people think of this blog)

Some Uncredited Roles To Be Identified #1

Here are two scenes which remain as outstanding queries as far as identifying the actress involved goes. Usually with uncredited roles there is nothing to go on which helps in any way, but for the two I've listed here my research has uncovered some possibilities to consider.
　
　
Grease Monkeys (BBC3/2003)
Comedy Drama Series

UPDATE: This has now been solved - see post 18th Jan 2014 - Grease Monkeys Update.

　
　
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (C4/2010)
Stand-up and sketch show
Episode 2

In episode 2 of this 6-part series, there was a Doctor Who pastiche entitled "The Time Travelling Professor" in which a college professor and his student companions travel in time and become stranded in the past. One of the companions called "Terrence" is seemingly a man replete with a beard but in the end turns out to be a woman and opens up her shirt to reveal she has breasts.

She had some dialogue, however, the cast list only included two female names who are both known and neither were the one playing "Terrence".
Listed Cast for episode 2: Frankie Boyle, Jim Muir, Tom Stade, Robert Florence, Thaila Zucchi, Laurence Saunders, Kirstin McLean, Kevin Guthrie, Albert Boat.
The name "Albert Boat" only appears in episode 2 and I can find no references to this person being in anything else, so it is possible it could be a pseudonym.

On a casting website I found one uncredited actresses called Eleanor Gibson listed for "The Frankie Boyle Show" in 2009 (which the Kaleidoscope guide says was the working title for Tramadol Nights). She lists herself as being a "supporting artist (in) various sketches". Because of the male disguise makeup the woman in the sketch was wearing it's not possible to spot a clear resemblance (or conversely be able to definitely rule her out) and so this is currently only a very low possibility based purely on her being the only uncredited role I've found for this series. There were other sketches throughout the series with miscellaneous parts that she might alternatively have been part of, and the likelihood is probably greater that it is not her although the possibility remains.

Here is a face picture of "Terrence" from the sketch. If anyone does have information on who it was playing "Terrence" that would be useful.

Unknown Drama #4

This query is for an unknown drama from another retained clip.  The actress involved was identified by the clip collector as model Mandy Montgomery.

The clip includes the opening moments of the programme which has a graphic informing us that subtitles are available on Oracle p888.  This helps slightly by narrowing it down to an ITV or Channel 4 programme shown prior to the end of 1992.  Oracle was commercial television's equivalent of the BBC's Ceefax until it was replaced by the service called "Teletext" at the start of 1993.

That puts an upper bound on it although in fact it is likely to be from much earlier than this.  If it is indeed Mandy Montgomery she was best known in the 1980s as one of the glamorous "Grumblegirls" who appeared on the Grumbleweeds TV show which ran from 1983 to 1987 (the other girls were Sally Wilde and Tracey Dixon).  So it seems likely the unknown drama is from a similar period.  Furthermore two other known clips posted at the same time were from 1985.

From the one and only online picture I was able to find of Mandy Montgomery it certainly looks like it could be her so there is no reason to doubt that identification which I can only assume was publicised at the time.  If she was listed in the programme's end credits then that credit has not made it to IMDB or other sources that I have checked.

From what is present in the clip it seems to involve a group of twenty-something friends (who may be involved in arranging parties) staying at a manor house belonging to grandmother of one of the group.  It has a present day setting.  They have a party and later there is a bit on the lawn outside at night in which the two of the girls drunkenly strip - although this is seen from a distance with their backs turned with only some side of Mandy Montgomery's left breast seen.

At the very end of the clip there is a snippet of a seated man and woman in another location and on the wall behind is what looks like an election poster with the name "Blyberg" on it - this may (or may not) be from the same programme.  (It could be an overrun to the start of another clip).

There are some good face shots of some of the actors and actresses in it during the party scene but I don't recognise any of them.  I thought one of the actresses perhaps resembles a young Michelle Holmes but I can't find anything she was in from the mid to late 1980s that this might be.

If any of the actors or actresses seen in the screencaps below can be identified that may well be enough to zero in on the title of the programme.

Mandy Montgomery from the Programme + a poster image of her



Other Actors in the Programme



Possibly from the same programme

Uncredited Model in Various 1990s Programmes

There is a bit-part actress/model whom I have noticed cropping up in a number of programmes from a certain period in the 1990s up to 2000.  Some of the roles have involved topless nudity and others have just been glamorous/sexy roles - but she has never been credited for any of them.  She has a quite distinctive "Frances Barber" type of look to her and it seems to me it is the same woman each time.

Here is a log of her appearances that I have noted:-

Screen One: Two Golden Balls (BBC1/1994) - one-off drama

She is one of five auditioning actresses hoping to get a part in the porn movie being made, all uncredited and non-speaking.  She has no nudity in this.

Touch and Go (BBC2/1998) - one-off drama
She plays a topless woman in a brothel corridor gesturing to Martin Clunes as he walks by.

Roger Roger (BBC1/1999) - an episode from series 2
She plays a topless dancer at a wild hedonistic party.

The Secret World Of Michael Fry (C4/2000) - 2-part drama (25/Apr/2000; 02/May/2000)
She plays a sex worker and is referred to with the character name of "Diane" although she is not credited.  She has no nudity in this one.

+

Holby City (BBC1/2000) - ep: Into The Woods (9/Mar/2000)
A site contributor, who has also noticed the same woman, has told me he has also seen her in this episode of Holby City playing a stripogram - she had several lines of dialogue in it but again was not credited. (I have no images from this one).


It's possible she is a well known nineties model who I just don't know about, so if anyone can put a name to her that would be useful.  Or if you have spotted her in anything else then I can add them to the list.

Actresses to be Identified #1

Here are a couple where an actress with a speaking role still (as far as I know) remains unidentified.


Skins
Series 1, Episode 1, (Jan 2007)
The identity of the actress playing the woman in the house opposite to Tony who parades around naked remains a mystery.  She has some dialogue and her husband calls her Miriam - however she is not mentioned in the end credits.

A bit confusingly there is another completely different off-screen "Miriam" mentioned in the same episode (a schoolgirl friend or sister of one of the guest characters) which seems an odd scripting conflict since there was no story reason for it.  It's possible perhaps that the name wasn't scripted and the exhibitionist woman was called "Miriam" because that was her real name used for convenience - but that's only a wild guess.

She seemed to be a capable actress (rather than a model) but I've never noticed her in anything else.  The actor playing her husband was John Arthur and he was credited as "Middle Aged Teacher" although he was in another scene as well with a larger role.  Neither she nor he appeared in any subsequent episodes.

Dialogue that mentions the other Miriam:
ABIGAIL: (to Tony) Are you sill coming to my party tonight?  It would be safe if you did.  My parents are in Cloisters.
TONY: Sounds great.
ABIGAIL: After 8.30 because Miriam has to get back from her cello recital.

Miriam's dialogue:
HUSBAND: For God’s sakes, what are you doing, Miriam? Why do you have to get up so early?
MIRIAM: Just getting ready.
HUSBAND: Anybody would think you wanted the neighbours to see you. Do you hear me, woman?
MIRIAM: Yes, darling.

Miriam's Face

UPDATE Sept 2014 - She has now been identified as Louise Downie
See Blog Post: Now Identified: Uncredited "Miriam" Character from Skins Episode 1




Living TV Trailer
(The earliest reference I have to this was in Nov 2000, so it may be from then or a bit earlier)

A young woman dashes from her ground floor flat wearing just her briefs to collect her morning post from the communal front door mat.  But her flat door slams shut behind her and she is left stranded in the communal hallway severely underdressed - then to add to her woes there is a ring on the front door bell and she hastily decides to hide in the understairs cupboard until it is all clear whilst a male tenant from upstairs comes down to answer the door - but the caller turns out to be a meter man and her hiding place is where the meter is located and when they open the cupboard door they discover her and she tries to act nonchalantly about her predicament.

This was a specially made trailer meant to encourage viewers to watch the Living TV satellite channel.  It was not (as far as I can tell) a trailer for a specific programme.

UPDATE: She has been identified as Helen Goldwyn (see Comments)

Chrome Compatibility Issue Sorted

If you're a Chrome user you may like to know that the Rare Films part of the site should now display OK. 

I've always used Internet Explorer and I only recently tried the site out in Chrome and discovered the "card" style formatting I had used on the Rare Films section was being completely ignored by Chrome making the information look like an disorganised mess.

The problem turned out to be semi-colons I had put between each class element in the style sheet which Chrome wasn't liking.  Admittedly I thought they needed to be there because the example I originally worked from had them and Internet Explorer was, and still is, fine with them.  But I took them out and it now seems to be OK on Chrome and still works exactly the same on IE.

There are a number of other slight differences in the way the two browsers render other parts of the site but those are not so ungainly and don't affect usability.

Unknown Drama #3

From another mystery clip.  Neither the title of the programme nor the name of the actress are known here. 

Dialogue

(A man and blonde woman walking through a computer centre)

Man: ... You didn't program THAT through one of your computers.

Woman: Program what, Jack, I don't know what you're talking about.

(Clip jump)

The same man is standing looking at a naked brunette woman leaning against a pillar. The picture then fades into them making love together on a bed with the woman seen topless.  A French speaking woman's voice is heard talking over the scene - maybe it's meant to be the brunette woman's thoughts?
At the end it fades into a close up of a woman's face - she may be the brunette woman or possibly someone else.

The man's character name of "Jack" is used.  From the brief dialogue heard, Jack sounds like he could be American (or maybe putting on an American accent) , the blonde computer room woman sounds English.

It is probably something from the 1980s.  An assumption is 1987 since other known clips posted at the same time as this one were from that year.  I assume it's a TV show although there's a chance it could be a film.  It may turn out that the topless woman is a French actress and not a candidate for inclusion on the site but it would be nice to solve it anyway so that can be established.

The key to solving it is probably the identification of the man and from there hopefully finding something in which he played a character called "Jack". And then seeing who else was in it.

UPDATE - May 2014
A further collage of the scene added ...

 

 

UPDATE - April 2017
This drama has been identified as Man on the Screen from June 1987.
http://toplessreview.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/query-solved-unknown-drama-3-man-on.html

 

 

Unidentified Actress in 1983 Drama STUDIO

Another unsolved identification from a retained early-1980s TV clip.  This one came with a clue that it was about a music studio in a big house.

This was enough to unearth a possibility called "Studio" which the BFI Database entry describes as a "drama series set in a residential music recording studio built on a peninsula which attracts a diverse group of musicians and others".  It was a 7-part ITV series from 1983, co-written by Anthony Minghella.

The short clip features a young man and young woman laying down on a matress in some kind of conservatory.  Conveniently they mention each others names as "Liz" and "Danny".

Dialogue
Liz: .... love from their own daughter.
Danny: Love, Liz?
Liz: I Love you Danny
Danny: Why?
Liz: I've always loved you
Danny: But you've been going out with Vinn and Jenkinson since junior two
Liz: But I was repressed weren't I? That prefab of ours was just a seething pit of repression, me dad torturing the budgie and me mum knitting prayer mats.
Danny: But Liz, I love Maureen.
Liz: But I've left home! She'll never leave home.
Danny: Yeah, but I might go back.
Liz: Get Owt! Nobody ever went back to Little Binley! Not alive anyway.  You don't know how lucky you are, Danny, not only have you managed to break away, but you've also attracted a person of similar strength and .... (clip ends)

The Kaleidoscope TV Guide gives the character names of the regular cast and one of them is "Danny" played by Graham Fellows. Online pictures of him appear to match the actor seen in the clip so that seems good enough to confirm it as being from this series.  BTW. Graham Fellows was also known as the late 1970s pop act "Jilted John".

Liz/Elizabeth was not one of the main cast listed and so was probably in just one of two episodes.  The Kaleidoscope Guide lists each episode's additional cast but does not show any character names for them.  The BFI database only shows character names for the episode 1 cast (none of which are Liz), and IMDB hardly has any cast coverage for this series at all.

So "Liz" must have been one of the additional names listed for episodes 2-7

These are: (per episode)
   2: Tracy Dixon, Brenda Castle, Diane Whitley, Paula Kitt.
   3: Margo Random, Josefina Cupido, Michele Copsey, Caroline Dennis, Jean Munroe-Martyn.
   4: Paula Kitt, Susannah Self, Diane Whitley
   5: Dinah May, Georgina Goold, Suzanne Blewett
   6: None
   7: None

Tracy Dixon: She was presumably the Page 3 girl with that name and if so it is not her
Brenda Castle: IMDB: a few small TV roles from 1980-1984 & 1990
Diane Whitley: IMDB: 3 small TV roles and 2 film roles (1983-1993)
Paula Kitt: IMDB: 4 small TV roles
Margo Random: IMDB: An American actress and musician - unlikely to be her
Josefina Cupido: There is a singer with this name
Michele Copsey: IMDB: 5 TV roles 1978-2003 and 2 film roles.  She had a topless scene in Reilly Ace Of Spies, but available screenshots from that scene aren't clear enough to be able to tell if it's her or not.
Caroline Dennis: IMDB: 9 TV roles 1983-1999
Jean Munroe-Martyn: (no info found)
Susannah Self: There is an opera singer called Susannah Self, but unclear whether she was active in 1983.
Dinah May: She was Miss GB in 1976, and pictures of her don't look like "Liz"
Georgina Goold: (no info found)
Suzanne Blewett: (no info found)

Conclusion: A better credits source, or original episodes needed to establish which actress was playing "Liz".

Liz and Danny

Part of another scene on clip shows Graham Fellows (in blue shirt).
The girl standing does not appear to be Liz.

Not The Nine O'clock News - Baby On The Bus Sketch

There is a Not The Nine O'clock News sketch which features a woman who comes home laden with gift-wrapped presents as she greets her husband (Rowan Atkinson) who looks at her quizzically because her left breast is hanging out of her blouse and she doesn't seem to realise.  She looks down and exclaims with alarm that she has left the baby on the bus and rushes back out of the front door.  The woman is not Pamela Stephenson who usually played the female roles and the identity of this actress is unknown.

Referring to an episode guide site informs me that this "Baby on the Bus" sketch appeared in series 1, episode 5 which was broadcast on 13/11/1979.  Since she speaks it seems possible she might have been credited.  However no reference sources checked show any additional cast for that episode.

Regular visitors to the main site might have noticed the name "Darkman" appearing as a contributor.  From the early 1970s to early 1980s Darkman kept written notes on female nudity seen on TV including the programme name, actress name and the broadcast date.  He shared his notes with me and while they didn't actually describe the scenes beyond the type of nudity seen (e.g. "topless") they have proved an invaluable resource with his identifications and observations, made live without the benefit of being able to re-watch a video recording, nearly always proving correct whenever one of the programmes he listed becomes available for viewing by some means.  Most of his information appears on the site already when a named actress's involvement in a stated programme can be confirmed.  But a few have been omitted where that has not proved possible.

One of these unused entries was one he made for Not The Nine O'clock News, in which his notes state that an actress called Robina Gange was seen topless in an episode shown on 13-Nov-79.

This happens to match the date of the episode featuring the "Baby On The Bus" sketch.  Her name must therefore have appeared on the end credits.  Of course, without seeing the full original episode, it is not possible to be 100% certain whether or not there were any other sketches featuring a miscellaneous woman that might have alternatively accounted for that credit, or whether the baby on the bus woman was the only possible additional female performer it could have been.

Unfortunately that's where the trail to adding a site entry ends because no credits reference sources checked have any mention of a Robina Gange ever working on anything meaning her likeness cannot be compared to another appearance in order to see if it's her.  So either this Not The Nine O'clock episode was the only thing she ever did, or it was a pseudonym that was not used again.

From "Baby on the Bus" sketch

UPDATE
See the post Not The Nine O'Clock News - Baby on the Bus - The Verdict for an resolving update about this sketch.

Pagan Queen Misidentification

The Pagan Queen (2009) is another film that was subject to a mistaken identification when clips were first seen - and a quick websearch shows that this misidentification still seems to perpetuate.

In this case it's a scene that was said to be Vera Filatova, who has most recently been seen as a regular in the BBC1 sitcom "Me and Mrs Jones"

The scene in question involves a young woman lying on her back on some rocks to lure an enemy male soldier into approaching - and when he does she sits up and stabs him to signal the start of an ambush attack by the warrior women led by Vlasta (Lea Mornar).

This woman has no speaking part and is not named or credited.  A good view of her face is seen earlier in the film while she is travelling in a wagon with Libuse (Winter Ave Zoli) - but she does not speak here either.

Vera Filatova (whose character was of a different tribe to Vlasta and was not involved in the battle scene at all), was one of the main characters in the film and did not have any nudity.

Above two: From the scene

The same uncredited extra sitting with Winter Ave Zoli

This is Vera Filatova as she appears in The Pagan Queen

Unknown Drama #2

Here's another puzzling one for which neither the actress nor the programme title are known. It is probably from the late 1980s or early 1990s.

The suggestion has been made that the Man in the clip looks a bit like Paul McGann.

The actress that needs to be identified is the one with frizzy flame-red hair.

In the clip the following things are seen and heard:-

• The Redhead and Man are lying in bed together, the sound of wind and a tolling bell can be heard. The Redhead sits up topless in bed and looks around in a panic calling out "Daddy" several times as if fearful of something (she is not talking to the Man here, but someone else she thinks might be in the room).
• (another scene or later in same scene) The Redhead is lying on her front in bed beside the same sleeping man and the sound of a tolling bell is heard outside as she laments to herself "We're accused of murder!"

Then there is sequence of images:-

• A different actress (with dark hair) is seen dead on the ground and the Man cries out her name "Julia!" (Maybe she's the person they are accused of murdering?)
• The Man is seen banging furiously on a door
• Someone in a rowing boat in the middle of a lake is shot dead
• The Man is seen dancing with the Dark Haired girl - and calls her "Julia" again
• A hanging jacket is seen in flames
• "Julia" is seen dead laying on her back impaled by a stake
• The Redhead and a man (not sure if the same one) are seen kissing passionately in a train compartment
• The Man and the Redhead are seen making love in bed while an echoing male voiceover says "Will you take this man, will you take this woman - I Will, I Will."

Very little can be gleaned from the confusing clip other than there being a character whose name sounds a lot like "Julia" and a man in it who looks a bit like Paul McGann.

Nothing currently listed on Paul McGann's credits seems to fit the bill. The man certainly has a resemblance to Paul McGann but it might well be someone else.

Does anyone know if Paul McGann was ever in something like this, or can suggest an alternate identification for the actor seen?

Here are some images from it - leave a comment if you recognise anyone or have any suggestions of what the programme title might be.

The Redhead - to be identified

The Paul McGann-like Man

"Julia"

Some other images seen

UPDATE - May 2014
This query has now been identified as being Hilary Trott in Zastrozzi: A Romance.

See the comments section and the blog post Clip Identified: Zastrozzi, A Romance for fuller details and a full collage.

Killing Bono (2011) ID Emendation

Q: Why haven't I added a site entry for that Joni Kamen scene in "Killing Bono"?

A: Mainly because I'm pretty sure it's not her. The clip in question, which involves a topless girl having sex on a bed astride Neil McCormick (Ben Barnes), was identified from the outset as being Joni Kamen by various websites and probably still is (I just checked the public pages of the Mr Skin site and that still attributes the scene to Joni Kamen). There seems to be no basis for making this ID as being her that I can replicate, and it therefore appears to be little more than a hopeful guess.

It's unfortunate that the film's end credits are shown in a particularly unhelpful way. The cast are presented in alphabetical order meaning the main stars are merged in with small bit parts with no differentiation. This means nothing can be inferred from a credit's position or prominence. All the credited parts are given character names yet some of these names are never mentioned in the dialogue. The name of the girl in the sex scene is one of those not mentioned.

Just prior to the sex scene Neil and his brother Ivan McCormick (Robert Sheehan) are in a dance club where they meet and go off in separate pairings with two girls they meet. Robert Sheehan talks to a girl in a blue dress with straight hair, and Ben Barnes dances with a girl in a red dress with permed hair. It is Ben Barnes and the red dress girl who end up in the sex scene that immediately follows. So the Joni Kamen ID completely falls apart here because it is clear from publicity photos of her that she is the girl in the blue dress with Ivan and not the girl in the red dress. And so the girl in the red dress who ends up in the sex scene with Neil must inevitably be someone else.

In case there's any lingering doubt here is a "map" of the two girls as they progress through the scene.

Joni Kamen is given a character name in the credits ("Joss") yet she doesn't speak and has a next-to-nothing role. You'd think therefore that the sex scene girl, who has a similar level of role, and was Joni Kamen's friend in the club, would also be credited and given an unused character name.

After carefully going through the whole film and noting down which female characters' names are used in the dialogue, I am left with only two possibilities: - Joni Kamen as "Joss", and Lisa McAllister as "Erika". Neither of these names are used anywhere in the film. Since I know the girl is not Joni Kamen I am left with the name of Lisa McAllister.

But Lisa McAllister is an established actress who has high-profile roles in some other earlier films and so I wouldn't really have expected her to be in a small topless bit-part. However there are no big roles in the film that could be her that I didn't account for.  Elsewhere in the film there are a pair of non-speaking dressed massage girls one of whom might be Lisa McAllister - but this would have been an even smaller role for her - and why credit one massage girl and not the other and even give her a character name that's not used in the dialogue? That being said one of the massage girls does have a skin blemish on her upper left arm similarly placed to one seen on Lisa McAllister in a 2005 film. So this cameo could be where she makes her appearance. And if so that would account for her credit.

Note similar arm blemish

　
If that's the case then it can only mean the sex scene girl was uncredited. Even though her friend, who did less in the film (Joni Kamen), was credited.

Following that line I have found some other credits on casting websites for uncredited parts in "Killing Bono".  How possible any of these names are I cannot say.

• Female Fan: Carla Bryson
• Hot teenage girl: April McGrory
• Party girl: Emma Reid

Briefly back to Lisa McAllister. If she is not the massage girl and that skin blemish is a coincidental red herring, then it must be said there is a degree of resemblance between her and the sex scene girl. Unfortunately the girl's face is only really seen from a low angle. But I found a moment in "The Number One Girl" when Lisa McAllister is pulling a similar facial expression for comparison purposes.

It might have been hoped that a DVD release would have had deleted scenes or a commentary track that might explain why there were at least two credited actresses given character names who had little more than non-speaking bit parts. Perhaps they filmed for bigger roles that were cut in the final edit. Unfortunately the DVD has no extras.
　
So in conclusion, I know that the purported ID is incorrect, however I cannot say with any certainty who she actually is.

Unknown Actress in The Detective (BBC1/1985)

This query is for an unidentified actress who appeared in two nude scenes in the 1985 BBC1 Drama serial "The Detective" which starred Tom Bell and also featured an early role for Hugh Grant.

The source of this lead comes from two retained clips posted on a forum.  The name of the programme was relatively easy to work out from the actors involved, but the name of the actress seen in the clip has proved harder to determine.

There are two different scenes both situated by a heated indoor swimming pool in the Home Secretary's mansion.

• In the first scene the mystery actress is seen swimming in the pool while her boyfriend Andrew (Hugh Grant) is standing by the side talking to Detective Ken Croker (Tom Bell) who has arrived to talk to Andrew's father the Home Secretary - at the end of the scene the actress gets out of the pool with rear nudity and some side breast seen - she doesn't speak in this scene
• In the second scene, on another day, the girl is sitting topless at the edge of the pool in the water with Andrew when Croker returns and they tease him until he agrees to take a dip.  She is then seen naked from behind as she climbs out just as Croker jumps in after changing into some spare trunks.  Later in the clip she is seen topless standing on the side drying herself with a towel as Andrew allows Croker to see (offscreen) his hereditary birthmark located on a particularly private part of his body - this is a plot point that Croker had come to surreptitiously check up on - in this scene she speaks several lines although her character name is not used in the clip.

Since she speaks there seems a good chance she would be credited.

I have located and read the book by Paul Ferris from which the series was adapted.

Here is where the clipped scenes occur in the book which runs to 237 pages.

• Page 134: Crocker makes his first visit to the pool and briefly meets Andrew - at this point there are two girls swimming (unnamed).  Dialogue matches clip.
• Page 147: Crocker returns to the pool and has a longer conversation as he tries to get a look at Andrew's birthmark.  In the book Andrew is naked too, although in the clip Hugh Grant wears trunks.  The naked girl is named here as "Celia" and most of the dialogue is similar to the clip.

So if she was credited it seems quite likely she would be called the same name as in the book "Celia".

Unfortunately the credits available on both IMDB and the BFI database are incomplete. The Kaleidoscope Drama Research Guide has a fuller (possibly complete) cast list broken down by episode but it does not show character names for the lesser players.

Hugh Grant (as Andrew) was in episodes 3, 4, & 5.  The relative position in the book for Andrew's first appearance (which is the first clip) tends to suggest that scene could be in episode 3.  The second scene could be later in the same episode or maybe in episode 4.

Clearly she appears in one or more of the same episodes as Hugh Grant.  The unknown actresses listed on the Kaleidoscope entry for those three episodes whose character names are not known are:-

• ep3: Julia Stockwell, Shelley Wiggins
• ep4: Julia Stockwell
• ep5: None

Since the two scenes more likely span two episodes, then clearly the name that seems to best fit the facts is Julia Stockwell.  However this seems to be the only thing she has been in so her likeness cannot be compared against appearances in other things.  Similarly for Shelley Wiggins if it were to be her - her name does not crop up in anything else either.

You may think I've pretty  much solved my own query with that name of Julia Stockwell as the most likely identification, but there is still doubt with that other name of Shelley Wiggins also being a possibility - and in order to add an entry to the site I have to be really sure.  It might, for example, turn out that she was uncredited and Julia Stockwell was someone else in it.

It would seem that the only way to solve this query is from the original end credits of the programme itself where hopefully there will be someone listed called "Celia".  Or alternatively maybe there is another non-nude scene featuring her in which her character name (if different) is mentioned.

So if anyone knows anything more about Julia Stockwell and/or Shelley Wiggins, or knows of a better credits source, or has kept a recording of the series that can be directly checked, please let me know.

"Celia"

with Hugh Grant

UPDATE - May 2014
Added full collage of the scenes ...

UPDATE - Aug 2014
See blog entry Query Solved: The Detective (BBC1/1985) for an update

Some Recent Discoveries

ITEM: You may have thought that former "Spooks" and "Vexed" actress Miranda Raison had never done any nudity.  But I have recently been informed about the discovery of an early topless appearance she made in a Dutch TVM from 1999 called "Suzy Q" starring Carice van Houten (who now appears in Game of Thrones), Miranda Raison plays Marianne Faithfull and there is a scene in which she is seen topless from the side with the full side of her left breast seen while standing in a shower talking to Suzy.

ITEM: Amanda Hale (most recently seen in "The White Queen") has a rear nude scene in a recent UK short called "Scrubber" (2012) directed by actress Romola Garai.  In the scene Amanda Hale is seen in a full length shot standing in a bath under a running shower, without moving as she contemplates matters.  To be fair her face is mostly turned away and only the side edge is seen as she looks to her side, but from what can be seen it appears to be her doing it and there is no strong reason to suspect otherwise.

This short can be found on the DVD "The Joy of Six" which is a collection of six recent British shorts, although none of the others contain any nudity.

ITEM: You may also be interested to know that British actress Amber Rose Revah, who has just been seen starring in the BBC1 crime whodunit "What Remains", had a topless scene in series 1 of French TV's "Borgia" series.  Not the American Showtime series "The Borgias" starring Jeremy Irons, this is instead French TV's take on the same set of characters.

Descriptions of these scenes will eventually make it to the main site.

UPDATE - MAY 2014

Now available - collages from these three items.

Suzy Q

Scrubber

Borgia

Mystery Maryam d'Abo film

Here is another mystery clip and perhaps surprisingly so, because it is an unknown topless scene featuring Maryam D'abo.  The scene does not correspond with any of the films she is currently known for appearing topless in.

The scene was clipped in 1994 (either from TV or a video).  The dialogue is in English but it may have been dubbed, so it could be a French film originally.

In the scene she is topless as she sits down next to a man after taking off her top with her right breast briefly seen and then topless while sitting talking to him.  They are in part of a church or somewhere with stained-glass windows.

Dialogue
Maryam D'abo (MD): Everything will be as it was before and yet nothing will be the same
MAN: What are you talking about
MD: I'm going to spend this night with you, but it will never happen again
MAN: Never, but why? Afraid of your husband is that it?
MD: Why no I'm not frightened, we talked about you
MAN: What did you talk about?
MD: We talked about you and I
MAN: And he knows that we're here together?
MD: But of course, he agrees too
MAN: He agrees that you sleep with another .. (clip jump) And you then, you agree with him as well?  Go on I'm listening
MD: I've already told you
MAN: It makes it bearable with the old fogey
MD: Niseem(?). That's enough
MAN: That's right! Get dressed, I don't want you anymore

The name "Niseem" is a spelling guess, but in the context it is used it sounds like she is saying his name.  However none of the pre-1995 films she is listed for on IMDB have a character name listed similar to that.

Has anyone seen this scene identified before, or know the name of the actor, possibly a French actor?



Maryam d'Abo



Unknown Actor

UPDATE - MAY 2014
Added full collage of the scene along with new research ...

Further research has uncovered a couple of possibilities which fit the date criteria.

A credits list on her agents website shows two French-made TV movies that don't appear on IMDB.  And her direct Spotlight link (given on the agent's site) also shows the same two films with a bit more information (her character names)
(It should be pointed out that neither credit list represents her complete filmography.  Nether, for example, mention "Xtro".)

In summary the two newly uncovered credits are:-

Title: Coup De Loeur - The Consul's Wife
Character: The Consul's Wife
Year: 1985
Television Channel: Antenne 2 (France)
Director: Pierre Lary

Title: The Scarecrow
Character: The Daughter
Year: 1984
Television Channel: Antenne 2 (France)
Director: Maroun Bagdadi

No further information can be found on either of these productions which don't seem to be mentioned anywhere else, not even in connection with the directors' credits.  If the clip is from one of them then the seeming obscurity might explain why the scene is not already widely known about.

It may be neither of these but if it were to be then possibly The Consul's Wife has better resonance since the credit shows she was playing "the consul's wife" and in the clip her husband is mentioned as if he was possibly an important man.

Unknown Drama #1

To start things off here is a query that needs solving.

The source is a short clip that was posted on an internet forum.  One of many posted by a diligent enthusiast who kept clips on tape in the early 1980s and retained them to the current day.

Unfortunately a record of the actresses' names and the programmes they come from were not kept and a number of clips remain mysteries.  Some have been identified using reference sources by means of character names and/or by recognising other actors in the clip.

Here is one that remains unsolved. 

A 13 second clip. It is a British drama, probably from the early 80s and seems to be about spies or espionage.  A woman is in a bath and a man who has probably come in uninvited, is sitting in the room talking to her.

(Dialogue heard)
Man: (clip starts midway in sentence)  ... Edmond(?) is going to expose the whole thing.  I impersonated him in London, it is Bernard who has been doing the forging, he wants to ... (clip ends).

As the man is talking he looks out of the window and another man is seen looking up as if he is keeping surveillance on them.

The character names mentioned have not helped pinpoint it.
So if anyone recognises the woman or either of the two actors that might provide the vital lead that will solve this one.



The Woman



The Man

The Man Outside

UPDATE - May 2014
Added full collage of the scene ...