Oh What A Tangled Web..., The sharing of co-stars

[Melissa Kane]

I've been quite frankly amazed by how often the Potts siblings have either shared co-stars or just how often they have worked with the same people or how often their co-stars have cropped up together.

For instance....

Naomi Bentley
In the new series of Ideal, which begins on Monday 28th April, has a new cast member - Naomi Bentley plays Rainbow and was recently seen as the girlfriend of none other than Andrew-Lee's character, Connor Temple, in Primeval. (Nice spotting, Natz! Thanks hunny!)

Jemima Rooper
Jemima was Sarah-Jane's Kinky Boots co-star and played the somewhat shallow girlfriend of Charlie Price (Joel Egerton) - the man who Sarah-jane's character Laurel is secretly in love with.
Jemima also shared the screen with the Sarah-Jane in Sugar Rush as the seductive singer, Montana, who tries to steal Saint's girlfriend, Kim(Olivia Hallinan). Ahem, for the uninitiated, Saint is the name of Sarah-Jane's character.
And, to cap it all, Jemima is a friend of both siblings and has had a small role in "Blood On Benefits", a short film released in 2007 by Andrew-Lee's ground breaking film-making company, Keychain Productions - a short fim in which both Sarah-jane and Andrew-Lee also starred.

David Bradley
David Bradley, an actor best remembered by many as playing the crochety janitor Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, seems to keep cropping up with Andrew-Lee. In the Taggart episode "Law", David plays the Elijah Buckland, the traveller grandfather of Andrew-Lee's family fairground worker, Samuel, who resorts to dire means in order to be with his girlfriend.
David has also starred in Ideal, from the second series onwards as Stemroach, the brutal and terrifying boss of the gang of thugs who constantly scupper the chances of Moz (Johnny Vegas) to have a quiet life - a show which we have already mentioned also stars Andrew-Lee Potts!
And slightly off the beaten track, David also starred as a quiet rural gamekeeper in an episode of Midsomer Murders entitled "The Green Man" alongside one of Andrew-Lee's other co-stars, a certain Andrew Dunn (see below)


Andrew Dunn
Andrew, seen most recently in Coronation Street, played the manager of a cinema in Popcorn who grows increasingly frazzled by the series of misadventures involving his staff, led by a corrupt-but-well-intentioned assistant manager Kris (Andrew-Lee Potts) to hilarious effect.
Andrew also featured in an episode of Heartbeat, "Missing" as a ne'er-do-well fellow named Frank Parry... an episode which featured an early role for the child actor Andrew-Lee Potts (creditied as Andrew Potts) as Roger Platt! Trust me when I say, you see the kid and its easy to see the man he has grown into - ahh but I digress...
And Andrew, as mentioned above, also featured as a somewhat uncooperative village policeman alongside one of Andrew-Lee's other co-stars, David Bradley, in The Midsomer Murders episode "The Green Man".


Neil Newbon
Neil has the distinction of being the actor to have worked most with the Potts siblings to date. To begin at the beginning...
Neil and Andrew-Lee have shared the screen three times to date. The first was back in 1999, when Andrew-Lee, Sarah-Jane and Neil played three of a group of 'friends' in the outstanding Dalziel and Pascoe episode "Time To Go" - a show in which Andrew-Lee is suspiciously omitted from the opening credits. the Potts siblings played the brother and sister team of Nicholas and Sophie Richmond, the young owners of a nightclub in which a man dies after taking tainted drugs. Neil played "E.T.", a young man with a sideline in children's magic shows and was pretty much terrorised by the Richmond kids. And, of course, when both Potts' are on screen together, the effect is stunning!
Then, in the year 2000, in the TV drama, Anchor Me. Neil played a character called Josh alongside Andrew-Lee's Mikey. I've not seen this so I'm unsure if they actually share the screen.
Then, in 2001, the two men once more shared the screen in the fantastic Hallmark miniseries "Stranded" which was based around the tale of "The Swiss Family Robinson". Neil plays Ernst, the middle son of the Robinson family, who, along with most of his family, is left stranded (hence the title) on an island after the ship they were in founders in a storm. Andrew-Lee plays the older version of Jacob, the youngest brother of the family who, durign that time, is cruelly separated from the family and who, due to circumstances beyond his control, becomes a pirate. For me, this performance is the pinnacle of Andrew-Lee's career!

More to come...
'Lissa

[Melissa Kane]

Emma Pierson
Emma, Anna in Hotel Babylon, has been known to be in the company of Andrew-Lee.
In Stranded, Emma is formidable as the older version of the Robinson family's feisty sister, Sarah alongside Andrew-Lee who plays the older version of her brother Jacob. When these two are on the screen, its clear they have a chemistry.
And, perhaps from the back of this, Emma also had a role in the Keychain Productions short film, "Blood On Benefits", once more alongside, Andrew-Lee Potts.
And, on a side note, Emma has worked many times with Andrew-Lee's Primeval co-star Ben Miller. Emma had cameos in Ben's comedy series "Armstrong And Miller" and also co-starred in the hilarious series "The Worst Week Of My Life".

Kate Maberley
Kate shared the screen with Andrew-Lee in the hilarious movie Popcorn - which featured a fantastic comedy turn by both actors.
And Kate was also included in the oft-mentioned "Blood On Benefits" created by Andrew-Lee's production company Keychain Productions - a production in which Andrew-Lee also starred in additon to directing.

Hannah Spearritt
As Andrew-Lee's current real-life girlfriend, Hannah is very obviously linked to the Potts family. The pretty, elfin former pop-princess is very adeptly proving that she has what it takes to make it in the acting world.
After sharing the screen in 2007's wonderful adventure TV show Primeval, as teammates Abby Maitland and Connor Temple, Hannah and Andrew-Lee began dating (Aww!!! Its so sweet!) and we so inseparable that they were dubbed by their Primeval co-star Dougie Henshall, "Handrew".
And since then, Hannah has become the star of Keychain Productions quirky short film series "Little Lilly" of which she is the lead. Andrew-Lee has directed his girlfriend in three episodes so far, and (hopefully) with more in production we will see more of Lilly's adventures.

Suri Krishnamma
Suri is a well respected director of some fantastic TV dramas and dramtic films, and seems to have a penchant for working with the Potts', particularly with Andrew-Lee. He has a talent for wringing every last dramatic element from the plotlines he uses.
Suri first directed Andrew-Lee and Sarah-Jane (and Neil Newbon) as Nicholas and Sophie Richmond in the Dalziel And Pascoe episode "Time To Go" to great effect.
Then, Suri was reunited with Andrew-Lee once more in the heart-breakingly well made New Years Day. Andrew-Lee played Jake Palmer, one of only two survivors of a tragic school skiing trip who cannot cope with the grief and if his outstanding performance doesn't touch your heart, nothing will.
The most recent project Suri directed with starred Andrew-Lee was in the brilliant TV crime/drama series, Cold Blood in an episode entitled "Dead And Buried". Andrew-Lee played Jed, the boyfriend of a murdered soldier. He only gets a little screen time, but it is a very moving few minutes.

More to come...
'Lissa