Francis Matthews
Birthday: Born in 1927-09-02 in Holgate, York, Yorkshire, England, UK
Deathday: 2014-06-14
TV Credits
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Character: Captain Scarlet (voice)
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill. First broadcast on ATV Midlands from September 1967 to May 1968, it has since been transmitted in more than 40 other countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Characters are presented as marionette puppets alongside scale model sets and spec...
Brookside
Character:
The ground-breaking soap set in a housing estate on the outskirts of Liverpool....
Taggart
Character:
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme.The series revolves around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines have happened in other parts of the Greater Glasgow area, and as of the most recent series the team have operated out of the fictional John Street police station across the street from the City Chambers....
The Avengers
Character: Chivers
The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity....
Heartbeat
Character: Dr. James Alway
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines....
The Saint
Character: Andre
Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need....
Interpol Calling
Character: Fawley
The adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against international drug-running, homicide, robbery and forgery....
No Hiding Place
Character:
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart....
A Little Big Business
Character:
Marcus Lieberman passes on the secrets of the furniture trade to his young son, Simon....
Paul Temple
Character: Paul Temple
Paul Temple is a British-German television series . It features Francis Matthews as Paul Temple, the fictional detective created by Francis Durbridge, who solves crimes with the assistance of his wife Steve. Paul Temple used overseas locations in France, Malta, Germany and elsewhere. T...
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Character: Roland
The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers....
Jonathan Creek
Character: Jerry Bellinitus
Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders....
The Royal
Character: Dr. James Alway
Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles....
The Human Jungle
Character: Dick Green
The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Television by the small production company Independent Artists for transmission on ITV. Starring Herbert Lom, it ran for two series which were first transmitted during 1963 and 1965....
The Detectives
Character: Duke of Connemara
The absurd adventures of two defective detectives, who - despite unbelievable incompetence - somehow manage to solve their cases (or be nearby when the cases are solved) and retain their jobs....
Beautiful People
Character: Mr. Bunions
Beautiful People is a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. The series takes place in Reading, Berkshire, in 1997, where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and moving to cosmopolitan London "to live amongst the beautiful people." The first episode aired on BBC Two on 2 October 2008 and recorded overnight ratings of 1.5 million viewers and positive critical r...
Don't Forget To Write!
Character: Tom Lawrence
Don’t Forget to Write! is a British television sitcom, broadcast by the BBC from 1977 to 1979. The central character is George Maple (George Cole) who was formerly a successful playwright, but is now procrastinating, lacking self-confidence and suffering from writer's block. He is seen at home with his supportive wife Mabel (Gwen Watford), son Wilfred (Ron Emslie) and daughter Kate (Claire Walker). They are frequently visited by neighbour Tom Lawrence (Francis Matthews) who is a confident, suav...
The Saint
Character: Paul Farley
Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need....
Morecambe & Wise (multiple series)
Character: Self
The Morecambe & Wise Show is the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. It began airing in 1968 on BBC2, specifically because it was then the only channel broadcasting in colour, following the duo's move to the BBC from ATV, where they had made Two of a Kind since 1961. The series was popular enough to be moved to BBC1, with its Christmas specials garnering prime-time audiences in excess of 20 million, some of the largest in British television history. After their 1977 ...
Screen Two
Character: Silver-Haired Gent
Series of single made-for-television dramas....
Movie Credits
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Character: Dr. Hans Kleve
Rescued from the guillotine by his devoted dwarf Fritz, the Baron relocates to Carlsbruck, where he continues his gruesome experiments....
Corridors of Blood
Character: Jonathan Bolton
Dr. Thomas Bolton fights for the use of anesthetic in surgery and uses himself as a guinea pig, but soon finds himself addicted....
Murder Ahoy
Character: Lt. Compton
During an annual board of trustees meeting, one of the trustees dies. Miss Marple thinks he’s been poisoned after finding a chemical on him. She sets off to investigate at the ship where he had just come from. The fourth and final film from the Miss Marple series starring Margaret Rutherford as the quirky amateur detective....
Rasputin: The Mad Monk
Character: Ivan
Rasputin, a crazed and debauched monk wreaks havoc at the local inn one night, chopping off the hand of one of the drinkers. As the bitter locals plan their revenge, the evil Rasputin works his power over the beautiful women who serve at the Tsar's palace. Even the Tsarina herself is seduced by his evil ways and, as his influence begins to dominate government policy, there is only one course of action left... to destroy him before he destroys them all....
Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Character: Charles Kent
Whilst vacationing in the Carpathian Mountain, two couples stumble across the remains of Count Dracula's castle. The Count's trusted servant kills one of the men, suspending the body over the Count's ashes so that the blood drips from the corpse and saturates the blackened remains. The ritual is completed, the Count revived and his attentions focus on the dead man's wife who is to become his partner; devoted to an existence of depravity and evil....
Bhowani Junction
Character: Ranjit Kasel
Anglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from India....
A Woman Possessed
Character: John
English doctor John Winthrop (Francis Matthews) must protect his new wife, Ann (Kay Callard), from his wealthy and entirely too overbearing mother, Katherine (Margaretta Scott), who has some strong opinions about her son's new union. But things go too far when John accuses Katherine of trying to kill Ann with medication. Could she do such a thing -- and will these three ever have a good relationship?...
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Character: Charles (archive footage)
A history of the famous vampire of books and movies, using film clips, previews and other methods....
Captain Scarlet vs. The Mysterons
Character: Captain Scarlet (voice) (archive footage)
A compilation of four episodes from the Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, with a new opening sequence, new special effects, and an alternate ending. War erupts between Earth and Mars after a manned mission to Mars results in an attack on the city of the Mysterons....
The Treasure of Monte Cristo
Character: Louis Auclair
A dashing ex-officer in His Majesty’s army, Captain Adam Corbett (Calhoun) becomes embroiled in intrigue when he agrees to escort Colonel Wilfred Jackson (Ian Hunter) and his daughter Pauline (Patricia Bredin) on a perilous quest for treasure. Possessing one-quarter of a map, they soon rendezvous with three mysterious characters, each with a fragment and a secret agenda. Armed with only a sword and his wits, Corbett battles brigands, soldiers and thieves as he accompanies the expedition to the i...
The Beauty Jungle
Character: Taylor
A Bristol typist joins the world of beauty contests....
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars
Character: Captain Scarlet (voice) (archive footage)
A compilation of four episodes from the Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Captain Scarlet and the members of Spectrum battle the Mysterons from Mars who are trying to establish a base on the moon....
Five Women for the Killer
Character: Giorgio Pisani
Thriller about a reporter who comes home from an overseas assignment to find his baby in the hospital and his wife dead......
Champagne Rose är död
Character:
Mysterious international agent and playboy Jason goes from country to country engaged in a shadowy high-stakes game of espionage, love-making and violent intrigue....
Taste of Excitement
Character: Mr. Breese
A man has been killed on the Dover/Boulogne car ferry. What is the connection between him and the attempts being made to kill Jane Kerrell, a young girl in her early twenties? As she speeds through the French countryside to the South of France, several attempts are made on her life as she is deliberately forced off the road by another car. But when she reports these attempts, the local Cap Ferrat Police Inspector and the sinister psychiatrist, Dr. Forla believe these attempts are in her imaginat...
The McGuffin
Character: Silver-Haired Gent
Paul Hatcher has a habit of spying on the neighbors across the way, something that gets him into deep trouble. Hatcher is a movie critic, and for awhile it looks like his main problem is keeping reality and the silver screen separate. But then a double murder occurs across the street after some mobsters cannot find an incriminating negative. After Hatcher discovers where the negative is hidden, he is bumped to the top on the assassins' hit list....
Ike
Character: Noel Coward
Eisenhower the military man is the focus of this mini-series, his relationships with the other wartime leaders, and, very discreetly, his personal relationship with his driver, Kay Summersby....
Small Hotel
Character: Alan Pryor
The dining room of the Jolly Fiddler has long been presided over by Albert, an aged but very shrewd waiter. A past master of the gentle art of fiddling, he extracts the maximum profit from his job while managing to endear himself to both the customers and staff. Then, there's a visit from Mr Finch, who feels it's time Albert was replaced....
Just Like a Woman
Character: Lewis McKenzie
Lewis and Scilla's rocky marriage finally breaks apart – a situation made worse by the fact that Scilla is a key part of the television show that Lewis produces. But while Lewis copes by picking up a passing starlet, Scilla indulges her passion for bathrooms by getting one custom-designed by an ex-Nazi architect!...
Crossplot
Character: Ruddock
A successful London ad-exec hires a beautiful Hungarian girl to pose for some modeling shots, little realising that she has overheard an assassination plot and is now being hunted by some dangerous killers....
Bitter Harvest
Character: Mike
A pretty young woman will do anything to escape her deadly dull existence in the backlots of Wales. But when she reaches the bright lights of London is the price too high?...
The Pursuers
Character: David
A group of former concentration camp prisoners has formed an underground network to hunt Nazi leaders, who are still on the loose. At a secret meeting in Paris they discuss what to do with the former Auschwitz commandant Karl Brochmann, who since 12 years lives in London under the false identity of Karl Luther. They decide to take the law in their own hands, and send their member David to London. He starts his commission by scaring Luther, to see his reactions. Luther is already nervous, because...
Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood
Character: Charles Kent / Ivan (archive footage)
A retrospective of the films of Britain's Hammer Studios, renowned for making stylish horror films in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Included are clips from Hammer productions and interviews with actors, actresses, directors and producers who worked on these films....
The Intelligence Men
Character: Thomas
A chance meeting with a Schlecht agent forces a humble coffee shop manager into the secret world of spies in Swinging London. With the help of his MI5 friend, he poses as the recently dead Major Cavendish who had managed to infiltrate the dreaded organization; he knows that they are intending to assassinate someone - could it be the famous Russian ballerina who has recently arrived for an appearance at Covent Garden?...
That Riviera Touch
Character: Hotel Manager
Eric and Ernie decide to take a holiday to the South of France and unwittingly become mixed up with a band of jewel thieves....
A Stitch in Time
Character: Benson
An accident in the butchers shop leads Norman Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale to the hospital where, after causing the normal ammount of chaos, Pitkin finds Lindy, a little girl who hasn't spoken or smiled since her parents were killed in an aeroplane accident. Pitkin decides to help....
Roman Holiday
Character: Ambassador
Remake of the 1953 original. Princess Elysa is touring Rome, and decides to get "out and about" away from her normal life. She meets with an American reporter and his photographer, who show her the sites. The reporter is initially more interested in a story than the Princess, but begins to fall for her....
This Is Supermarionation
Character: Captain Scarlet (voice)
A compilation of the best of Supermarionation in High Definition. Sit back and enjoy some rare treats on a journey through Supermarionationland. Parker, Lady Penelope and Brains are your hosts, introducing some of the very best episodes from the Supermarionation archive as well as news items, commercial breaks with tie-in adverts and much more. Stand By For Action! - Four Feather Falls: Gunfight on Main Street - Supercar: False Alarm - Fireball XL5: Space City Special - Stingray: Pilot - ...
Back to Black: The Making of Dracula Prince of Darkness
Character: Self - Original Cast Member / Charles Kent
Documentary that chronicles the making of the third film in Hammer's Dracula series....