Category Archives: Casting

Casting

Simon Weir Returns To Cops and Monsters

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Scottish actor Simon Weir is returning to the world of Cops and Monsters, playing DCC Norris Fletcher in our audio series The Year of Peace.

Simon Weir began his acting career with the Dorothy Paul Acting Studio in 1986 before gaining an NC Drama & Theatre Skills at Motherwell College.

His theatre work includes playing Sick Boy in Irvine Welsh’s PORNO at The Pleasance Edinburgh Fringe 2022, KIDNAPPED- UK Tour with Selladoor Theatre, LETTERS TO ABERLOUR – Scotland Tour with New Strides Theatre, SINGIN I’M NO A BILLY, HE’S A TIM – Scotland & Ireland Tours with Dapper Productions, CALIGARI and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE with The Arches Theatre Company, GLASGOW HARD TICKETS with The Gilded Balloon & Rubber Ear Productions as well as MOTHER GOOSE, ALADDIN, BEAUTY & THE BEAST and SLEEPING BEAUTY with Glasgow Arts and Cumbernauld Theatre.

Simon’s television work includes the series regular role of Paul Lafferty in HIGH ROAD, TAGGART, CASE HISTORIES and IN PLAIN SIGHT for STV, MONARCH OF THE GLEN, RIVER CITY, GLASGOW KISS, BLOOD OF THE CLANS, DOCTORS and GUILT for BBC, EMMERDALE and CRIME for ITV, PATRICK MELROSE for Sky Atlantic and OUTLANDER- BLOOD OF MY BLOOD for Starz/Sony. 

His Feature Film work includes THE ACID HOUSE, POSTMORTEM (USA Feature), THE FOOTBALL FACTORY, A SPANKING IN PARADISE, 90 MINUTES, WIGILIA, FAST ROMANCE and TRAINSPOTTING 2 as well as Bollywood epics 83, SARDAR UDHAM, CAPGRAS and BHAI BHAI. He has appeared in over 100 films to date and Awards include Best Actor for REMNANTS -North West Horror Film Festival (2022) and Best Acting Award for THE LAST BAR – 48 Hour Film Festival (2014) and The Scotsman Fringe First Award for GLASGOW HARD TICKETS (1995).

Casting, Press, Uncategorized

Sylvester McCoy Joins Cops and Monsters!

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(Photo by Dominic Mafham)

We are THRILLED to announce that Doctor Who legend Sylvester McCoy has agreed to star in our upcoming audio series Cops and Monsters: The Year of Peace.

Sylvester will be playing the role of Sir Malcolm Sinclair and more details will be revealed in due course…

Well known as the Seventh Doctor in DOCTOR WHO classic series, he was also delighted to be invited back into TALES OF THE TARDIS to celebrate the series’ 60th Anniversary, and THE POWER OF THE DOCTOR celebrating Jodie Whittaker’s finale. And let’s not forget the FIVE(ISH) DOCTORS REBOOT in celebration of the series’ 50th Anniversary. The character is also alive and thriving in his Big Finish audio recordings.

You may also have enjoyed him as Igor in Rob Zombie’s latest telling of THE MUNSTERS for Universal;  or as The Umbrella Man in HEARTSMITH; as The Old Man of Hoy in Lana Wachowski’s cult series SENSE 8, or Dr Huggins in Julius Berg’s psychological thriller THE OWNERS for which he won the Best Actor Award at Frightfest Film Festival 2021.

Oh, and he was in THE HOBBIT you know! Giving his ‘Radagast the Brown’ in Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT trilogy.

 His TV work ranges from the infamous KEN CAMPBELL ROADSHOW to the Hermit of Hazelnut Cottage, a role written especially for him, in BBC TV’s ever popular FATHER BROWN.  As Archie in the ever loved STILL GAME or as Rab C Nesbitt’s lunatic brother, living in his wardrobe!

Playing the Fool to Sir Ian McKellen’s KING LEAR at the Royal Shakespeare Company took him from Stratford upon Avon onto World Tour; and he is proud Adrian Mitchell wrote the title role in his THE PIED PIPER for him at the Royal National Theatre.

 He is currently filming his memoir,  WHO IS THE REAL McCOY, with Film Stories to be released later this year.

Our crowdfunding campaign for the series will be launched in the coming weeks and you’ll be invited to be involved!

Behind The Scenes, Casting

Casting Announcement – William McBain

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We are delighted to announce that Scottish actor William McBain has joined the cast of our brand new episode.

William MacBain has appeared in many productions at The Royal National Theatre:- The Good Hope, The Nativity, The Passion, Doomsday, Goldern Boy and Don Quixote. He was a member of Bill Bryden’s Company in The Ship and The Big Picnic. He has appeared in all of Peter McDougall’s highly acclaimed plays:- The Father’s Suit, The Brother’s Suit, The Shedding of the Suit, The Brother’s Keeper, “But That Was Then”, The Vampire Clinic. Most recently *”The Greatest” by Alan Muir. Television credits:- Taggart, Casualty, Holy City, The Young Ones and This is Your Life. Film credits:- Cat Run, Man to Man, The Summer Solstice, Complicity, Ill Fares The Land, Who Dares Wins and Confessions of a Window Cleaner.

William joins episode 1 and will be playing Connor Tulloch, opposite River City legend Barbara Rafferty.

Filming starts on the 15th of July!

Our Kickstarter for episode 1 ends today so if you’d like to grab a perk, you can do so by clicking this link.

Behind The Scenes, Casting

Casting Announcement – River City’s Louise McMenemy Joins The Cast

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We are delighted to announce that we’ve cast the role of Ava McIntyre in Cops and Monsters: Uprising!

Louise McMenemy who is currently playing Frankie Roth in Scottish soap drama River City, has joined our cast and will be playing Ava in our upcoming episodes. Ava will first appear in episode 2.

Louise’s theatre credits also include: Diary of a Madman (Edinburgh Traverse Theatre/Gate Theatre); Agamenon (The Iphigenia Quartet) (The Gate Theatre); SEE BOB RUN (New Blue Road/ The Bread and Roses);The GIRL WITH THE IMAGINATION (Vertical Line/ Greenwich Theatre) and BORIS GODUNOV (Brockley Jack Theatre).

As a River City series regular, Louise is excited to now be able to sink her teeth in to some fun Sci-Fi!

Louise is joining other River City veterans Stephen Purdon and Barbara Rafferty!

We should even more casting soon news before our campaign ends.

We hope to film Louise’s first scenes on the 15th of July but we can only do so if we raise a further £1043 before our campaign ends on the 9th of July so if you can help us get there then the entire team would be incredibly grateful.

Thank you to all of our amazing backers so far, we really do appreciate everything that you do and that you keep our show going!

Head to our Kickstarter Campaign to help us reach our stretch goal in time and be a part of the Cops and Monsters Omniverse!!

Casting, Episode information

Cast Announcement – River City’s Barbara Rafferty Joins Episode 1

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Barbara Rafferty – star of Rab C Nesbitt, The Last King of Scotland and River City – has joined the cast of Cops and Monsters series 2.

Barbara will be playing the role of Heather Tulloch, a sweet woman who is living with her devoted husband Connor, as their lives are thrown upside down when S.P.I.D.E.R.S operatives Bissett and Hedges (Stephen Purdon and Ellen Patterson) come crashing into their homes.

Series 2 will start filming with episode 1, written by BAFTA winning writer Debbie Moon’s opening episode “Remembrance” being filmed this July. Once completed, we will then start seeking further funding to shoot the other 5 episodes.

Head to our Kickstarter campaign at this link if you would like to get involved with the show!

Casting, Episode information, Funding

Series 2 Cast Announcement – Stephen Purdon

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We are thrilled to announce that River City star Stephen Purdon has joined the cast of COPS AND MONSTERS: UPRISING!

Stephen is best known for his role as Bob Adams in the long-running BBC Scotland soap, and has also appeared in Sweet Sixteen, Staked and the upcoming I.Q You.

Stephen will be playing Private Colin Jack Bissett in our upcoming series.

Private Bissett is Maya’s assigned Buddy during the handover from PITS to SPIDERS. He’s a foulmouthed, laddish soldier—think Jacko and Charlie from Gary Tank Commander—and fully on board with the racist agenda of Mr Clark and the SPIDERS, but his key motivation is his love for his daughter, whom he wants to grow up in a better world. He is a reliable sharpshooter who would never let his quasi-family of SPIDERS down.

Bissett left school at 16 with poor grades and got a gig as a garage skivvy while staying in his mum’s house—his parents separated when he was nine after Bissett’s dad had an affair. When he was 18, Bissett’s on/off girlfriend KARYN (then 17, now 28) became pregnant so he joined the army in order to provide for his new family. Since then, he and Karyn have separated due to Bissett’s infidelity and now share joint custody of BECCA (15). Bissett transferred to the SPIDERS during their expansion last year, a posting which means he gets to spend less time on tour and see his daughter more often—and maybe smash some “subnatural” heads in. He is a doting father and spends a lot of his free time and money on lavish gifts for his daughter. His nickname within the military is “Daddy” because he talks about her so much. (Those who don’t know this call him “Bissett”. He makes subnaturals call him “Sir”.)

We’re very excited that Stephen is joining the Cops and Monsters family. Stephen joins Ellen Patterson (Maya Hedges), Innes Anderson (Alexis Smith), Chris Bain (Jonathan Clark) and Billy Kirkwood (The Cult of Many Faces). His first appearance will be in our series 1 opener, “Remembrance” written by BAFTA winning writer Debbie Moon.

We’ve got 39 days left to raise the remaining £2090 in order to start shooting our brand new series so if you’ve not already done so, please grab a perk and share the Kickstarter link! Thank you.