As Time Goes By

The Cast of As Time Goes By

Dame Judi Dench (Jean)
Dame Judi is one of Britain's most distinguished actresses. She was born in York, England in 1934 and studied at Mount School, York and the Central School of Dramatic Art in London. She made her stage debut as Ophelia in the Old Vic Company's Liverpool production of Hamlet in 1957.

1960s/70s: In 1961, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and swiftly made her mark as a classical actress. Her stage career has been long and successful. She has starred in and directed many prestigious productions.

1980s: In 1980, she appeared in the TV miniseries Love in a Cold Climate, but it was in 1981 that Dame Judi really became known to British audiences: as Laura in the popular Bob Larbey comedy, A Fine Romance, which co-starred her husband, Michael Williams. Her performance in this series earned her a BAFTA Best TV Actress Award.

1990s and beyond: International superstardom came in the 1990s when Dame Judi landed the role of Pierce Brosnan's boss M in the James Bond film, Goldeneye. This was followed by a remarkable performance as a grieving Queen Victoria in the film Mrs. Brown, for which she won Best Actress awards from Golden Globe, BAFTA, Scottish BAFTA, London Film Critics and Screen Actors' Guild, New York, and also an Academy Award nomination.

A year later she won her first Oscar, for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, for which she also received a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA.

Dame Judi reprises her role as M in the Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Other recent work includes the acclaimed BBC comedy drama The Last Of The Blonde Bombshells, Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini, The Importance of Being Earnest, Chocolat, The Shipping News and Iris, for which she won a BAFTA and London Film Critics Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Golden Satellite and a Screen Actors Guild award. She was married to the late actor Michael Williams and has one daughter, Finty.

Geoffrey Palmer (Lionel)
Geoffrey Palmer has a distinctive face that most viewers will recognize. Born in 1927, he was educated at Highgate School, London. He has a distinguished stage career, but is best known for his work in such classic television comedies as The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin (he played Reggie's military-mad brother), Butterflies (as Wendy Craig's husband) and Whoops Apocalypse.

Other TV credits include Fairly Secret Army, The Last Song, Hot Metal and Executive Stress (opposite Penelope Keith). He also played the exasperated Dr. Price in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse." On film he can be seen in O Lucky Man!, The Honorary Consul, Clockwise, A Fish Called Wanda, The Madness of King George, Mrs. Brown, Tomorrow Never Dies and Anna and the King.

Moira Brooker (Judith)
Moira starred in the BBC drama Blood and Water and has also appeared as Mrs. Phyllis Lucas in three of the Central TV series, Out of Sight.

Jenny Funnell (Sandy)
Jenny's other television credits include the Emmy-winning Norbert Smith - a Life, the BBC Children's TV series Monster TV and guest appearances in Drop the Dead Donkey and Boon.

Philip Bretherton (Alistair)
Philip studied English and Drama at Manchester University. His first professional stage appearance was in 1975 at the Edinburgh Festival in Golden Oldie, and he has since appeared in numerous theatrical productions both in Britain and Germany. On television, he played Robert Weston in Coronation Street and also appears intermittently as Duffy's husband in the long-running BBC hospital series Casualty.

Other TV credits include Detective Inspector Campbell in the BBC's Miss Marple story At Bertram's Hotel, detective Don Wright in the BBC drama series The Paradise Club and Eric 'Rico' Finnigan in the soap Hollyoaks. He can also be seen in the movie Cry Freedom, as Major Boshoff.