WHAT NEXT? Stars of Drop The Dead Donkey

Now playing DCI Banks (9pm, ITV), Stephen Tompkinson got his big break in newsroom satire Drop The Dead Donkey, back in 1990. Here, we catch up with some of his co-stars…

Jeff Rawle By the time he played news editor George, Jeff was a TV veteran – he’d even starred in 1970s series Billy Liar. A versatile actor, he’s been a romantic lead (Faith In The Future, 1995-98), the Home Secretary (Spooks, 2005), a serial killer (Hollyoaks, 2010-16) and, most recently, a comedy icon (Steptoe And Son, 2016).

Haydn Gwynne As Alex (1), George’s assistant, Haydn earned a Bafta nod in 1992 – the year after she left the show. She’s at home on stage – Haydn originated the role of dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot The Musical in the West End (2005) and on Broadway (2008) – but returned to TV comedy in recent royal spoof The Windsors. Neil Pearson For a few years, Neil was juggling the roles of lothario Dave (2) in Donkey (1990-98) and cop Tony in Between The Lines (1992-94). He repeated the feat recently, starring in both Waterloo Road (2014-15) and In The Club (2014-16) – and he’s currently in cinemas as the heroine’s boss in Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016). Victoria Wicks Once known as newsreader Sally (3), Victoria is a director of a company that promotes the work of H.E. Bates – her grandfather, who wrote Darling Buds Of May. Recently, she’s been in feature films The Imitation Game (2014) and High-Rise (2015).

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