Malcolm McFee
Encyclopedia
Malcolm McFee was an English
actor best known for his role as Peter Craven in the TV series Please Sir!, the film of the same name, and the spin-off TV series The Fenn Street Gang.
situation comedy series Please Sir!
playing the part of smooth wide-boy Peter Craven. He continued the role into the 1971 feature film comedy version, also called Please Sir!
. McFee had made his film debut in the 1969 satirical anti-war musical Oh! What a Lovely War
.
The Please Sir! TV series spawned a comedy sequel called The Fenn Street Gang
which ran from 1971 to 1973. McFee was unavailable for season one as he was appearing in the West End play “Forget-Me-Not-Lane” and the part of Craven was played for that season by Leon Vitali
. McFee returned for seasons two and three. He appeared on television many times in the 1970’s but was not seen again until 1993.
After turning to the stage McFee made a career as an actor and director, working as a theatre director in small theatres in Greater London and the provinces.
His last TV role was in an episode of the long-running Thames Television
police drama series The Bill
in 1997.
Apart from Please Sir! and The Fenn Street Gang, Malcolm McFee appeared in the following television programmes:
McFee also appeared as a guest on This is Your Life
John Alderton
in 1974, and presented three episodes of BBC pre-school programme "You and Me" in 1978.
. He was briefly the drummer in a band called The Abstracts with some schoolfriends before devoting himself to acting.
In 1971 he married Margaret Kearnan, and they had a daughter, Victoria, in 1980.
McFee died suddenly on 18 November 2001 at the age of 52 at his home in Braintree in Essex, shortly before he was due to appear as a Dame
in a pantomime of Beauty and the Beast
at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham
. He had been suffering from cancer. McFee had been raising money for the Oncology
Department of Broomfield Hospital
in Chelmsford
in Essex as a "Thank you" for the treatment he received from them. David Barry and Penny Spencer, who both appeared with McFee in "Please Sir!", attended his funeral.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor best known for his role as Peter Craven in the TV series Please Sir!, the film of the same name, and the spin-off TV series The Fenn Street Gang.
Career
Malcolm McFee made his first appearance on television in 1967. In 1968 he began a three-season stint in the London Weekend TelevisionLondon Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
situation comedy series Please Sir!
Please Sir!
Please Sir! was a London Weekend Television produced situation comedy, created by writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featured the actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies...
playing the part of smooth wide-boy Peter Craven. He continued the role into the 1971 feature film comedy version, also called Please Sir!
Please Sir! (film)
Please Sir! is a 1971 British comedy film starring John Alderton, spun off from the television series Please Sir!.-Cast:* John Alderton as Bernard Hedges* Deryck Guyler as Norman Potter* Noel Howlett as Maurice Cromwell...
. McFee had made his film debut in the 1969 satirical anti-war musical Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
.
The Please Sir! TV series spawned a comedy sequel called The Fenn Street Gang
The Fenn Street Gang
The Fenn Street Gang is a British television sitcom which ran for three seasons between 1971 and 1973. The series was created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, it was spun-off from their Please Sir! series, and followed the lives of many of the pupils from Fenn Street School as they entered the...
which ran from 1971 to 1973. McFee was unavailable for season one as he was appearing in the West End play “Forget-Me-Not-Lane” and the part of Craven was played for that season by Leon Vitali
Leon Vitali
Leon Vitali is an English actor, best known for his collaborations with filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, most notably as Lord Bullingdon in Barry Lyndon.- Biography :...
. McFee returned for seasons two and three. He appeared on television many times in the 1970’s but was not seen again until 1993.
After turning to the stage McFee made a career as an actor and director, working as a theatre director in small theatres in Greater London and the provinces.
His last TV role was in an episode of the long-running Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
police drama series The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
in 1997.
Apart from Please Sir! and The Fenn Street Gang, Malcolm McFee appeared in the following television programmes:
| Years | Programme | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:... 's drama series Sanctuary |
Sisters & Brothers (Season 1, Episode 5) |
| 1968 | BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... children’s drama series Ramshackle Road |
Not known |
| 1969 | Long-running BBC police drama series Z Cars Z-Cars Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by... |
Sunday... Sunday... Parts 1 and 2 (Season 6, Episodes 210 & 211) |
| 1970 | BBC anthology drama series Play For Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... |
I Can't See My Little Willie, by Douglas Livingstone (Season 1, Play Number 6) |
| 1971 | BBC2's BBC Two BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio... historical drama series Elizabeth R Elizabeth R Elizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson in the title role. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and broadcast in America on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.- Episodes... |
Episode 5, The Enterprise of England |
| 1971 | Thames Television’s detective anthology series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | The Case of Laker, Absconded (Season 1, Episode 13) |
| 1973 | Thames Television’s situation comedy series Bless This House | A Girl's Worst Friend is Her Father (Season 3, Episode 12) |
| 1976 | Yorkshire Television Yorkshire Television Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network... ’s drama series Hadleigh Hadleigh (TV series) Hadleigh was a British television series made by Yorkshire Television which originally ran from 1969 to 1976. Developed by Robert Barr, it was a sequel to the writer's earlier Gazette for the same company... |
Recurring character in Season 4 but episodes not known |
| 1978 | ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... family comedy The Chiffy Kids |
Jam Session (Season 2, Episode 5) |
| 1978 | Euston Films Euston Films Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network... ’ police drama series for ITV The Sweeney The Sweeney The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London... |
Messenger of the Gods (Season 4, Episode 1) |
| 1979 | BBC Schools BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC One during the daytime, before programming was... programme Everyday Maths |
Ten Per Cent Per Ted (Season 2, Episode 1) |
| 1979 | BBC children’s comedy adventure series Graham's Gang Graham's Gang Graham's Gang is a British children's comedy first broadcast by the BBC in 1977 and 1979.The gang consisted of five boys - Graham, William, Lux, Robert and Keith - and one girl, Mildred. Plots often revolved around the boys trying to exclude Mildred, who would often use her influential family to... |
Mildred's Party (Season 2, Episode 3) |
| 1993 | Thames Television’s crime drama series The Bill | The Hard Sell (Season 9, Episode 135) |
| 1996 | Alomo Productions’ BBC situation comedy series Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the... |
It Ain't Necessarily So (Season 3, Episode 1) |
| 1997 | BBC police drama spoof The Detectives The Detectives The Detectives is a British comedy television series, starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell, and George Sewell. It was a spoof of police dramas, which were numerous in the 1990s, and it was aired on BBC One... |
Mine's a Large One (Season 5, Episode 6) |
| 1997 | Alomo Productions’ BBC situation comedy series Birds of a Feather Birds of a Feather Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters... |
Relative Strangers (Season 7, Episode 4) |
| 1997 | The Bill (2nd appearance) | Playing with Fire (Season 13, Episode 81, playing a different character to 1993 episode) |
McFee also appeared as a guest on This is Your Life
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
John Alderton
John Alderton
John Alderton is an English actor who is best known for his roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, Thomas & Sarah and Please Sir!. Alderton has often starred alongside his wife, Pauline Collins.-Early life:...
in 1974, and presented three episodes of BBC pre-school programme "You and Me" in 1978.
Personal life
From 1960 to 1965 Malcolm McFee attended Plaistow County Grammar School, which had previously produced film actor Terence StampTerence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
. He was briefly the drummer in a band called The Abstracts with some schoolfriends before devoting himself to acting.
In 1971 he married Margaret Kearnan, and they had a daughter, Victoria, in 1980.
McFee died suddenly on 18 November 2001 at the age of 52 at his home in Braintree in Essex, shortly before he was due to appear as a Dame
Pantomime dame
A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British pantomime. It is a continuation of en travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. They are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting 'butch' in women's clothing...
in a pantomime of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham
Chesham
Chesham is a market town in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located 11 miles south-east of the county town of Aylesbury. Chesham is also a civil parish designated a town council within Chiltern district. It is situated in the Chess Valley and surrounded by farmland, as well as...
. He had been suffering from cancer. McFee had been raising money for the Oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
Department of Broomfield Hospital
Broomfield Hospital
Broomfield Hospital is the general hospital for Chelmsford, England and the surrounding areas. It is the largest within the Mid Essex Hospitals Services Trust and is an 800-bed acute hospital which offers a vast range of services. The world renowned St...
in Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
in Essex as a "Thank you" for the treatment he received from them. David Barry and Penny Spencer, who both appeared with McFee in "Please Sir!", attended his funeral.