Biographies of the cast and production team
Biographies of cast and producers / directors
Published: 16 August 2017
Tom Burke - Cormoran Strike
Tom is arguably most well-known for his highly-praised portrayal of Athos in the BBC Series The Musketeers, followed closely by his more recent role, Fredya Dolokhov, in the hugely popular BBC adaptation of Tolstoy’s War & Peace, which was widely lauded as one of the standout series from 2016.
Tom has also taken lead roles in films such as The Hooligan Factory, the 2014 football hooliganism spoof film directed by Nick Nevern in which Tom plays the thuggish gang member Bullet. One year prior, and in stark contrast, Tom took on the role of Mr. George Wharton Robinson in the BBC Films production of The Invisible Woman, a biographical drama based on the novel by Claire Tomalin about the secret love affair between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan, and directed by Ralph Fiennes.
Holliday Grainger - Robin Ellacott
2016 saw Holliday starring in Craig Gillespie’s The Finest Hours, in which she played the female lead alongside Chris Pine and Casey Affleck as well as in the Baft-winning Home, a short-film by Daniel Mulloy highlighting the refugee crisis.
In 2017 Holliday has recently starred in My Cousin Rachel alongside Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin, directed by Roger Michell. 2017 will see the release of Weinstein’s Tulip Fever, in which Holliday plays Maria opposite Dane DeHaan, Alicia Vikander and Jack O’Connell. Holliday will also star alongside Lily Collins in Anthony Lucero’s drama Halo Of Stars, set for release this year and Annabel Jankel’s period drama Tell It To The Bees.
In television, Holliday will be seen in the BBC’s adaptation of JK Rowling’s Comoran Strike. Alongside Tom Burke, the duo star as private investigators searching for the answer behind a London model’s mysterious suicide. This seven-part mini-series is set to TX later this year. Holliday will also be seen in Sci-Fi anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, where she will star in a stand-alone episode alongside Richard Madden.
2015 saw Holliday star in the much-awaited BBC adaption of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and in Kenneth Branagh’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Cinderella as one of the stepsisters.
Past film credits include roles in Great Expectations, directed by Mike Newell, Anna Karenina and Bel Ami, alongside Robert Pattinson.
Holliday’s extensive television portfolio includes the BBC’s drama Five Daughters as well as her role as Sharon Bilkin in Above Suspicion. She also starred as Dirty Debbie in the BBC Three pilot Stanley Park and has also taken on roles in Demons (ITV), Merlin (BBC), Robin Hood (BBC), Any Human Heart (Channel 4) and Blue Murder (ITV). Holliday was also recognized for her character of Charlie Cooper in a one-off television adaptation of Kate Long’s novel The Bad Mother’s Handbook; Holliday starred opposite Catherine Tate and Robert Pattinson in this popular comedy drama.
Michael Keillor - director
Michael Keillor grew up in the Scottish countryside, writing stories and taking photographs. After law school Michael spent some formative years working on set, before picking up a camera himself to develop his own writing and directing. Michael’s first screenplay was picked up by the BBC and his second secured a commission from Channel 4.
Michael directed Happy Slapz as part of the Coming Up new talent strand which subsequently launched him into directing drama with some of the industry's top writers.
Since receiving a Scottish Bafta nomination for the BBC One three-part drama Young James Herriot, Michael has directed Andrew Davies’ Mr Selfridge; Silk with Peter Moffat; Critical; and anti-corruption thriller Line Of Duty for Jed Mercurio.
Michael directed the opening three episodes Line Of Duty 3 which went on to become BBC Two's biggest-rating drama and has so far garnered Broadcast and RTS Best Series nominations and a Best Director nomination at the Scottish Baftas.
Ruth Kenley-Letts - Executive Producer
Ruth trained as an actress at E.15 working in the theatre before moving across into production.
After winning an Academy Award and a Bafta for the short film Franz Kafka’s It’s A Wonderful Life alongside writer/director Peter Capaldi, she went on to produce Peter’s first feature, Strictly Sinatra for which she was nominated for a Carl Foreman Bafta for Most Promising Newcomer in Feature Films. Another Bafta nomination followed for The Tale of the Rat that Wrote, written and directed by Billy O’Brien, with whom she went on to work with on his first feature, the horror film Isolation, produced alongside Bertrand Faivre of The Bureau.
Ruth’s most recent producer credits include Silent Witness (BBC), C4’s modern retelling of Exodus, Tony Jordan’s The Nativity, for both Kudos & Red Planet Productions and for Kudos, Series 1 and 2 of Abi Morgan’s multi award winning series The Hour and for Sky Atlantic the award winning The Tunnel. Producing The Casual Vacancy for Brontë she remained as Head of Drama and will Executive Produce the No.1 selling Strike series of novels for the BBC.
Jackie Larkin - Producer
Jackie Larkin is a highly experienced producer who has been involved in the independent film and television industry for over 20 years. Jackie is managing director of Newgrange Pictures a film company she formed in 2005. She produced the feature film Kings, starring Colm Meaney. Kings which was Ireland’s first ever entry to the foreign language section of the Academy Awards and is one of Ireland’s few bi-lingual films.
Along with managing a slate of development projects, Jackie produced the feature film Stella Days directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, starring Martin Sheen and Stephen Rea and was the Irish co-producer on A Thousand Times Goodnight starring Juliette Binoche and Nicolaj Coster-Waldu.
She also co-produced Call Girl with Garage Films in Sweden and The Last King with Paradox in Newgrange. Her executive producer credits include the feature film My Name Is Emily and Sundance feature documentary It’s Not Yet Dark. Her TV drama credits include the award winning factual TV drama No Tears and most recently Strike. She is a member of ACE, the European Association of Producers and graduated from the Media Business School in 2003.
Ben Richards - Writer
Screenwriter and novelist Ben Richards was a lead writer on Spooks and also co-created and wrote Party Animals for the BBC. Other credits include Outcasts and ITV’s The Fixer. Richards’ most recent work includes two series of French/British crime drama The Tunnel for Sky Atlantic which won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Multi Channel Programme and was Nominated for Best Drama Series at the International Emmy Award 2014.
He has written six novels, and currently has projects in developments with New Pictures, World Productions and Lookout Point.
