Friends and Crocodiles is a one-off British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 drama production, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...

 and first broadcast on BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on 15 January 2006.

Overview

The film charts the shifting power between a boss and his secretary as their careers rise and fall
in the rapidly changing workplace of 1980s and 1990s Britain. Friends and Crocodiles stars Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis

Lewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the son of Charlotte Mary and J. Watcyn Lewis, a City broker. His paternal grandparents were Welsh. His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Ian Frank Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of...

, Jodhi May

Jodhi May

Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...

 and Robert Lindsay

Robert Lindsay (actor)

Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...

 with an ensemble cast that includes Patrick Malahide

Patrick Malahide

Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...

 and Eddie Marsan

Eddie Marsan

Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...

.

Damian Lewis plays Paul, a Gatsby

Gatsby

Gatsby may refer to:* The Great Gatsby, a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and many adaptations thereof, and its central character Jay Gatsby* Gatsby Charitable Foundation, a grant-making trust based in London...

- like figure and inspirational entrepreneur. He is a host of fabulous parties, a "collector" of interesting people, a visionary with dreams of new urban landscapes, and keeper of a pet crocodile. Jodhi May plays Lizzie, who is persuaded by Paul to become his secretary and bring some order to his creative chaos. Once at Paul's magnificent house, Lizzie's world expands as she meets artists, historians and politicians.

The drama was loosely linked to a second Poliakoff piece, Gideon's Daughter

Gideon's Daughter

Gideon's Daughter is the second of two linked BBC television dramas written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.Produced independently for the BBC by Talkback Thames and starring Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, and Emily Blunt, it aired in the UK on BBC One on 26 February 2006 and in the US on BBC...

, broadcast the following month. Although the links were more thematic than narrative, the character of Sneath (Lindsay) re-appeared in Gideon's Daughter, acting as the narrator.

Cast

Paul	Damian Lewis Damian Lewis Lewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the son of Charlotte Mary and J. Watcyn Lewis, a City broker. His paternal grandparents were Welsh. His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Ian Frank Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of...
Lizzie	Jodhi May Jodhi May Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
Angela	Isabel Brook
-	Ruth Millar Ruth Millar Ruth Laura Millar is a Scottish actress.-Early years:She spent her early years in Glasgow before attending Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design where she graduated with a degree in fine art in 1996. After leaving art school Millar formed Wee Lassie Productions, a production company that...
-	Olivia Poulet Olivia Poulet Olivia Poulet is an English actress. After studying drama at Manchester University, she has had roles on stage and in television and film. Her most recent productions include Day of the Flowers, Sherlock, Dappers, The Thick of It, Reggie Perrin and Outnumbered. She recently appeared in the feature...
William Sneath	Robert Lindsay Robert Lindsay (actor) Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
Marcus	Eddie Marsan Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
Anders	Patrick Malahide Patrick Malahide Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...

External links

• Friends and Crocodiles at bbc.co.uk
  Bbc.co.uk
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