How Liar was a lifesaver for Ioan

Ioan Gruffudd spent 18 months out of work before landing the role of surgeon Andrew Earlham in ITV’s Liar. ‘I didn’t have a single role which paid the bills and that’s a long time to keep writing outgoing cheques, without receiving incoming ones too,’ says Ioan, who has two children with actress Alice Evans. ‘I felt crushed when Forever, the American series I’d been appearing in, was cancelled.’

Philip Glenister was relieved that an alligator in a scene for his new comedy, Sky 1’s Living The Dream, was created with CGI. ‘I had to crawl away from an 8ft piece of plywood,’ says Philip, who plays a British father who moves his family to Florida. ‘They CGI-ed the gator in later.’

The final episode of the new series of

Doc Martin features Amanda Holden’s mum Judy and stepdad Les, who live in Cornwall, as extras – and now Amanda herself wants a role in the show. ‘Amanda’s a big fan of Doc Martin and would love to follow in her mum’s footsteps,’ an insider on the show says. ‘Maybe for next year’s final series?’

After spending most of the year in South Africa, Malaysia and Nepal filming BBC1’s Our Girl, which returns this week, Michelle Keegan is looking forward to quality time with husband Mark Wright. ‘I’m going to spend a month with him in LA. I can’t wait – absence has definitely made the heart grow fonder!’