Eric Forman (Max Wrottesley) and his group of friends are caught between childhood and adulthood. Old enough to know better but too young to do anything about it, they live their last few days of no responsibilities with both inquisitiveness and passion, all the while dreading what their parents will do next to embarrass them.

The Formans and the Palmers are friends and neighbours. Through circumstance Eric and Donna Palmer (Rosie Marcel) have grown up together, and it is their relationship that the series plays on.

Sanctuary for Eric and the gang lies in the Formans’ garage – the place where they contemplate sex, school, Dr. Who, drugs, their parents and each other.

Eric’s best friend Dylan (Harry Peacock) aspires to cool. Awash with conspiracy theories, he is a would-be freedom hippie caught in the backwaters of Luton, England. McGuire (James Carlton) is a lanky, good looking but highly gullible guy whose head is ruled by his misguided passion. This trait is taken advantage of by his manipulative girlfriend Jackie (Emma Pierson), a cunning little minx who knows what she wants and how to get it. Completing the group is Torbjorn (Jamie Beck), a foreign exchange student from Sweden who continuously struggles to understand the English and their eccentric ways.

Eric’s parents are straight out of the ‘50s. A stickler for tradition, Ron Forman’s (Trevor Cooper) unwavering belief in the best of British is increasingly undermined by foreign imports as he replaces his old Zepher with a new Toyota. Meanwhile, Kitty Forman (Ann Bryson) lives in a permanent state of over compensation as she desperately clings to her son, refusing to face facts that he is no longer “her baby”. With her cheerful disposition and willingness to hand out mindless advice, she constantly turns a blind eye to her son’s escapades.

Donna’s parents are the epitome of kitsch, embracing every style innovation the ‘70s have to offer. For Bob Palmer (Steve Steen) it’s the permanent wave and for Midge (Sara Stockbridge) the bold patterned jump suit. Desperate to be the hip and trendy parents, they attempt to talk teenage slang, but fail miserably.

Ron Forman played by Trevor Cooper

Ron is the epitome of fatherhood - strict but fair. He lays down the law, but will turn a blind eye when he thinks the moment calls for it, like telling Eric he can borrow the car as long as he doesn’t go out of town, but knowing full well he will do. Ron is a product of the ‘50s. Working in a car factory, he is a stickler for all that is British and despite his efforts to resist the latest foreign imports, he relents a little with the purchase of a new Toyota. But although he is the man of the house, it is his wife Kitty who ultimately rules the roost.

Trevor Cooper has been in the business for over twenty years, with appearances in The Ice Man Cometh alongside Kevin Spacey, Peter Greenaway’s Drowning By Numbers, and Peter Kosminsky’s Wuthering Heights. On reading the script for Days Like These he was struck by “how they had got it absolutely right. At college all we thought about was sex, drugs and music.” Trevor has written extensively for radio and his TV credits include the Grange Hill spin-off Tuckers Luck and Albion Market.

Kitty Forman played by Ann Bryson

A devoted mother and wife, Kitty is kind, trusting and generous. Never wanting to upset the balance, or make any one feel uncomfortable, she is always looking after every one else. Her main concern is Eric, who she knows is growing up and soon to be leaving home. However, coming to terms with this unpleasant fact is difficult and she overcompensates with surprises for Eric, much to his embarrassment. She is not a big drinker, but enjoys giving cheese & pineapple parties. Her favourite band is The Worzels.

Ann Bryson trained at St. Catherine’s Drama School, Guildford, where she met Sara Crowe – a partnership that resulted in the creation of the two characters who went on to star in the Philidelphia Cheese adverts. Since then Ann has amassed a number of TV credits, including Murder Most Horrid, Inspector Morse and Space Vets. She has worked extensively in theatre, starring as Hilary in The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband, An Evening With Gary Lineker, and Abigail’s Party. The highlight of her career, however, was when she starred in the opera The Fairy Queen in Aix-en-Provence.

Ann lives in London with her West Highland terrier, Findlay. Days Like These, she says is “a dream job – I get to hang out with four handsome young boys, although there are also two very pretty girls, which is a bit of a bore.”

Bob Palmer played by Steve Steen

Bob is the resident Mr Nice Guy. Thinking himself to be the height of style, he sports the latest fashion innovations the ‘70s have to offer. Needless to say, his fashion sense is misguided and Donna is forever cringing at her father’s latest exploits. Bob works in a textile factory and is best friends with neighbour Ron Forman.

Steve Steen is a regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway? and is also a member of The Wee Wees, a theatre company he co-founded with Jim Sweeney. With The Wee Wees, Steve has toured throughout the world. More recently, Steve starred in the adaptation of Bill Bryson’s Lost Continent, a one-man show at the 1995 & ’96 Edinburgh Festival. Following its huge success, the show went on to tour nation-wide. He lives in South London.

Steve’s recollections of the ‘70s are stack heels and a plum velvet waistcoat, which, he claims, was the envy of his friends. He still maintains to this day that Leo Sayer ”blew Roxy Music away” at The Rainbow.

Midge Palmer played by Sara Stockbridge

Midge is a consumer queen, blindly embracing the latest trends. She and Bob are a ‘his’ and ‘hers’ style guide to the ‘70s and Midge is often seen trying out the latest fashion trends on an unquestioning Bob, to the point that he is more an accessory than a husband. Midge is good friends with Kitty, but, like her husband, sees herself as being more in tune with the younger generation, even going as far as to flirt with Donna’s friends. How both Bob and Midge managed to produce a daughter as level-headed as Donna, is baffling.

Sara Stockbridge was born in Woking, but due to the globetrotting exploits of her father, has lived in Trinidad, Bahrain and Peru, finally settling in London. Sara’s career began as a Vivienne Westwood muse, sharing the catwalk with Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. However she realised that acting was her real passion. “I was 25 and thought, hang on a minute, I always wanted to be an actress.” Her first role came when she was cast as the lead in The Comic Strip’s Space Virgins From Planet Sex.” Sara has since starred in Lovejoy, EastEnders, and The Bill.

Midge could not be more different to Sara as in the ‘70s Sara was a punk rocker. Her ambition is to own a large boat and sail with her family to Spain.

Eric Forman played by Max Wrottesley

The son of Kitty and Ron, Eric is the sort of boy you could bring home to meet your mother. He’s friendly, chatty and extremely well behaved, bar the occasional act of. Eric is the leader of the gang, the one who holds everyone together, patiently fielding all Tobjorn’s inquisitive questions, tempering the wayward Dylan and calming the gullible McGuire. His main objective, however, is to win the girl next door, his childhood friend, Donna.

Max Wrottesley (18) lives in North London. From a very early age he had a desire to act, and at the age of 11 persuaded his parents to send him to Sylvia Young Theatre School. His first role was playing the part of Benjamin in The House Master at Pimlico Town Hall. Since then he has appeared in The Biz, a children’s show for ITV, EastEnders and Out of Tune, both for the BBC. Max has worked extensively in radio, including Radio 4’s Little Princess and Peter Pan, and for Radio 2’s Dancing Years, Music Man and Carousel.

Max is usually to be found dicing with disaster on the streets of London on his moped. His comedy hero is Eddie Izzard, and his favourite band is Radiohead. His greatest wish is to play a Jedi knight in any one or more of the Star Wars prequels that George Lucas may have up his sleeve.

Max has a tattoo on his left shoulder – the Chinese inscription for ‘cunning’. His nickname is Sly, because of the letters at the end of his surname.

Donna Palmer played by Rosie Marcel

Donna is smart, beautiful and level-headed. She has known Eric all her life, but is only now beginning to see him in a different light. Donna spends most of her time hanging out with the gang, trying to fathom out Eric. Much to her annoyance she has to put up with Jackie, the type of girl who thinks that Donna could always do a little more to improve her appearance. Donna is definitely the most sensible one in the gang, although she is never censorious if anyone else wants to make a fool of themselves, which very often proves to be the case.

Rosie (21) lives in Richmond, Surrey. She has been acting on and off since she was three, with appearances in Growing Pains, Press Gang and the children’s series Castle Of Adventure. Rosie studied to be an illustrator at Richmond College. On leaving college she was employed by Disney, drawing Taz. Finding office life a little dull, she began modelling, but last year decided to return to acting. Within a few months she was chosen to play the part of Donna.

Rosie is a big fan of John Wayne and Jack Lemmon. She enjoys extremist sports such as wake boarding, and would love to try scaling mountains and cliff sides.

Dylan JONES played by Harry Peacock

Dylan is the essence of ‘70s teenage cool. He dresses loudly, he’s opinionated, he takes himself seriously and he’s willing to experiment. Dylan speaks his mind, alluding to a knowledge of sex and drugs that he hasn’t actually acquired. A walking contradiction, he feels that Eric’s sheltered suburban existence needs a little ‘expanding’ - although he himself still lives with his Mum.

Harry Peacock (20), grew up in Richmond, Surrey, where he lives today. He made his stage debut at the age of 13 at The Gate Theatre in Notting Hill as the Prefigurement of Christ in Damned for Despair. Since then he has made a number of appearances on television including in the BBC series Roger Roger, The Bill, Pie In The Sky, and Inspector Wexford.

Harry’s hero is Peter Sellers. Like his character, he enjoys long guitar solos, particularly Pink Floyd.

Michael McGuire played by James Carlton

Maguire is no genius, but he is a likeable guy who’s got some cool mates and a killer sense of ‘70s style. Maguire thinks the world of Eric, Dylan and Donna and, much to his girlfriend’s annoyance, would do absolutely anything for them. He’s a fool where romance is concerned and is dominated by his girlfriend Jackie, who knows how to manipulate her men. Maguire promises his friends repeatedly that he is going to finish with her, but of course it’s the last thing he’ll ever do.

James Carlton (21) is originally from Bolton, although he is currently sharing a house in London with Emma Pierson and Jamie Beck.

It has been James’ life long ambition to perform. While at college he spent his spare time directing and presenting programmes for the local cable network. A brief career in modelling led to a number of roles in Emmerdale and Casualty. Days Like These is his first major role. When he discovered he had got the part as Maguire, he had to cancel his 21st birthday party so he could be at the first rehearsal in London. James was once a cocktail barman in Manchester, his favourite cocktail being Jun Bug – Malibu and bananas.

Jackie Burget played by Emma Pierson

Manipulative, catty, spoilt, insolent. These are just a few of the adjectives that could be used to describe Jackie – a mini-Alexis Carrington of suburbia. Jackie is going out with Maguire, whom she twists round her little finger with ease. Why she is going out with him remains a mystery - although without him she probably wouldn’t be hanging out with the others. Although she would never admit it, deep down she is hoping some of Donna’s integrity will wear off on her.

Emma Pierson (17) is the youngest cast member. Born in Plymouth she grew up in Warminster, Wiltshire. Emma has been involved with acting from a very early age, joining the North Bradley Players where she took part in a number of musicals and theatrical productions. Since then, Emma has appeared in Chekhov’s The Whisper, and played the part of Becky in Grange Hill.

Torbjorn Rasmussen played by Jamie Beck

Torbjorn is a foreign exchange student whom Eric has taken under his wing. An archetypal smoothie, Torbjorn likes to imagine himself as one for the ladies, but unwittingly always overplays his hand. He is somewhat of an outsider, a point that is played upon by his obvious difficulty with the English language and his repeated misinterpretations of English mannerisms.

Jamie Beck (23) was born in Gothenburg, Sweden and has had a colourful past. Although having always been interested in acting, Jamie’s earliest ambition was to be a pilot and at the age of 17 he became the youngest member of the Swedish Air Force. Upon leaving the air force, he spent some time in San Diego as a commercial pilot, followed by a series of modelling jobs. It was not until his return to London that he resumed a career in acting, landing a part in Days Like These.

Jamie is an avid sportsman, regularly playing tennis, basketball and hockey. His hero is Chuck Jaeger, the first person to break the sound barrier.

Episode Story Lines

Episode One:   Equal Rites
Eric and Donna are learning that playing the game may not be more important than winning and losing, but it’s a lot more fun.

Episode Two:   Batteries Not Included
Eric’s parents throw a party, presenting Eric with the challenge of sneaking beer for his gang. Ron lets Eric borrow the car to go to a concert, with disastrous consequences.

Episode Three:   Eric’s Birthday
Refusing to face the fact that he is no longer her “little boy”, Kitty ignores Eric’s protestations and throws a surprise party for him.

Episode Four:   Disco Knights
The gang hit the town to check out a new disco, and end up swapping partners for the evening.

Episode Five:   Eric the Burger Chef
Donna decides to throw a party. Meanwhile Eric gets a job, and bites off more than he can chew.

Episode Six:   Double Bill
The dead cert. combination of a horror double-bill and the back row at the cinema teach Eric that nothing in life is guaranteed.

Episode Seven:   Crown Jewels A royal visit provides the boys with a chance to show their metal and a lot more besides.

AVALON PUBLICITY PRESS INFORMATION Days like these (itv)
Sasha Gibson, Avalon Publicity: 0171 598 7222