I was once at a reception sponsored by People Magazine at BookExpo, chatting with a man who looked so familiar. “Haven’t I met you somewhere before,” I asked him.
“You might have seen me on television,” he said.
Blank.
“On The Office?" he says.
Doink. It was B.J.
Novak, a very distinctive looking actor who played Ryan Howard, one of the
misfits at Dunder Mifflin. And I am mortified. But really, who expects to end up chatting with a TV star at a book event, even if it is sponsored by People.
I have that same experience watching British TV shows. I see an actor and I think, You look familiar. Don’t I know you? And in a way, I do.
It's disconcerting when James Norton, who plays the human/saintly detective/vicar Sidney Cambers in Grantchester turns up as psychopathic, ex-con, drug dealer Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.
I have that same experience watching British TV shows. I see an actor and I think, You look familiar. Don’t I know you? And in a way, I do.
It's disconcerting when James Norton, who plays the human/saintly detective/vicar Sidney Cambers in Grantchester turns up as psychopathic, ex-con, drug dealer Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.
I got very attached to Honeysuckle Weeks as Foyle’s driver
and assistant on Foyle’s War. Now she turns up on Midsomer Murders,
Inspector Lewis, and Death in Paradise playing characters who bear no resemblance to plucky Sam.
Amanda Abbington, who plays Watson’s wife, Mary Morstan, in Sherlock (I'm still getting over her death) turns up in Case Histories as Jackson Brody’s former boss, DCI Louise Munroe. Now she's one of the leads in a new series on Netflix, Safe. (Did you know she's married... now getting divorced from Martin Freeman (who by the way played Bilbo Baggins in the movie of The Hobbit) who played Watson?)
Sometimes it seems as if the BBC has about fourteen actors that get recycled in their programs. It’s like subscribing to an ensemble company. And by the way, whenever you see one of those actors whom you recognize turn up on a whodunit like Midsummer Murders or Father Brown or Death in Paradise, you can be pretty sure shedunnit.
Amanda Abbington, who plays Watson’s wife, Mary Morstan, in Sherlock (I'm still getting over her death) turns up in Case Histories as Jackson Brody’s former boss, DCI Louise Munroe. Now she's one of the leads in a new series on Netflix, Safe. (Did you know she's married... now getting divorced from Martin Freeman (who by the way played Bilbo Baggins in the movie of The Hobbit) who played Watson?)
Sometimes it seems as if the BBC has about fourteen actors that get recycled in their programs. It’s like subscribing to an ensemble company. And by the way, whenever you see one of those actors whom you recognize turn up on a whodunit like Midsummer Murders or Father Brown or Death in Paradise, you can be pretty sure shedunnit.
Last Tango in Halifax is
a good example of a cast who pop up in multiple other programs. I'm a particular fan of Nicola Walker who's now one of the leads on Unforgotten.
Do you find yourself watching British TV shows, pointing to one of the actors and asking, "Don't I know you from somewhere?" 
