The first episode of Lynley is now available to stream on BritBox. Naturally, you’ll look at the cast and wonder where you’ve seen the stars from before. After all, a lot of British shows will see familiar faces pop up.
Sure enough, the stars have some big shows under their belt. We’ll take a look at some of the main cast members, including the two leads and some of the main supporting cast members we see pop up—along with a particular antagonist.
Where you’ve seen the Lynley leads before
Leo Suter and Sofia Barclay take on the roles of DI Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers, and yes, you’ll recognize them. Suter did say that he hasn’t played a detective before, but he is a familiar face for many, especially those who love period dramas.
The most recent show you’ll have seen Suter in is Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix, where he played Harald Sigurdsson. You’ll also recognize him as Young Stringer in Sanditon and Captain Bill Lauder in The Liberator. He also played Drummond in Victoria and Dnaiel Beecham in Beecham House, so yes, plenty of period drama experience!
As for Barclay, you’ll most recently recognize her as Safiya Zamil in Prime Target and Dr. Osullivan in Ted Lasso. You may also recognize her voice as Malala Windor: Spider-UK in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. She has also played Suzy Ray in Love Again and Selina in Defending the Guilty, so she does have some experience in crime and legal dramas, as well as romance and comedy.
Where you’ve seen other supporting Lynley cast members
DCI Brian Nies is immediately going to stand out for many, as Daniel Mays is one of those faces who is recognizable in many a crime drama and thriller. He recently played DCI Chris Hudson in The Thursday Murder Club and you can see him as Cliff Todd in Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Chalres De Menezes. He’s also voiced Fletcher in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and played Geoff in Prime Video’s Your Christmas or Mine?
Michael Workeye plays DS Tony Bekele, one of Havers’s friends on the force. Some of his more recent roles include Billy in Bookish and Kaleb Begasi in The Stolen Girl. You may recognize him more as Archer in My Lady Jane if you’re a fan of period dramas and alternate history.
Havers’s family comes up a lot throughout the four episodes, with Adrian Wheeler playing her father. You’ll recognize him from Art Detectives as Jeff Fisher and Curfew as Officer Webb. He has also been in two episodes of Emmerdale and played Mr. Wight in Ip Man 4: The Finale.
Nisha Nayar plays Amani Havers, and you’ll know her from the series Before We Die, where she played DS Frank Keely. She’s also played Elaine Boyak in The Beaker Girls and Dr. Rahael Malik in The Bay. When it comes to voices, you’ll recognize her as Emily Barnfather in Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures podcast series and as Zanzibar in Doctor Who: Classic Doctors New Monsters podcast series.
Finally, Rosalyn Wright takes on the role of the pathologist throughout the first season, and you’ll know her as a few characters throughout the run of Doctors and she played DC Laura McCall in Waterloo Road. Her bigger, recent roles have included Nurse Winterson in Hetty Feather and Iona Gladstone in A Kind of Spark.
Lynley airs on Thursdays on BritBox.
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