The same actors playing different parts in sitcoms or dramas

She also played Ursula (before she was Phoebe) in Mad About You.

Patrick McGoohan played four different murderers caught by Columbo.

An inversion of it on Buffy was having two different actors (twins) playing (aspects of) the same character (Nicholas Brendon being the regular actor, Kelly Donovan being his twin, also Brendon's stand-in on the show). Ditto Linda Hamilton handily having a twin sister for Terminator 2.

I've also got an example of an "actor" seeming to play two different parts on the same episode of a game show - there was an episode of Lily Savage's Blankety Blank where, for some reason, they had the same bloke playing in both rounds, but with a different name. Lily drew attention to the likeness, but they never stated they were twins, and at the end when you could see everyone back on set under the credits, one of the "twins" had his back to the camera the whole time. Very weird, but a quick Google just suggests there was a similar occurrence with actual twins during the Les Dawson days, so it could have been a reference to that.

David

This used to be a regular issue mentioned on Points of View. ISTR that Lisa Hartman played two pretty major characters in the 80s/90s soap Knots Landing.

Presumably some shows realise that they have found good actors or actresses but their initial characters have a fixed-length storyline. However as they are actors, portraying another character is an entirely reasonable thing to do, though allowing a decent break is usually a good idea.

Of course the opposite issue - multiple actors playing the same role - is also quite common. All of the major US soaps did this ISTR for various reasons (illness, contract breakdown, actors playing a main character wanting to leave, a character being written out and written back in again etc.)

I tend to think they're missing a trick by not making these the *same* character and having a bit of subtle continuity. After all, it's not that remarkable that people would come into A&E more than once in their lives. Obviously if you've killed someone off the first time, that's probably not so practical, but...

Fulton Mackay appeared twice in Dad's Army: first in series six, playing Sergeant Ramsey, an officer who is driven barmy by the Walmington-on-Sea platoon's attempts to gain 12 stars in the episode "We Know Our Onions", then again in series nine as Dr McCeavedy in "The Miser's Hoard".

One Foot In The Grave used to use the same actors quite a lot for bit parts.

Two and a Half Men, 80's Knight Rider and Smallvile: Superman the early years re-cast people as different characters also.

There was one chap who nearly always used to appear every other month in The Bill. I forget his name but he has appeared in other shows. He's quite short with white curly hair.

I also think it comes down to the Actors Agencies that different production companies use. You quite often used to see actors leaving soaps and joining The Bill, Casualty and Holby City and vice versa. (I still see Jack's brother in EastEnders as DC Phil Hunter to this day!).

If an actor has experience in acting different roles, it's known that when a production company asks for an actor or actress who can do X, Y and Z... 9 times out of 10 they will offer the work to someone whose already been cast in minor roles and has worked with the production team before - and thus are re-used again.

Another example was DCI Tom Chandler in The Bill (Steven Hartley: http://www.stevenhartley.net/voice.html). Before he was cast in the main role, he played a deserted from the army soldier in an earlier episode. He was a busy man as he used to also (I don't know if he still does?) voice trailers for Sky Sports.



Yes, a chap who played the owner of a car garage in one of the early episodes, when Victor's car wouldn't start (infact the episode where Mr Swaney first appeared) later played a rogue-locksmith in a later series.

Need I even mention Fringe, and its alternate universe characters.

http://fringe.maxupdates.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Fringe%E2%80%99s-3rd-Season.jpg
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The blonde Olivia really hated the red head version, didn't she?

(On a trip to the alternative reality, the blond one impersonated the red head(with a handy bottle of red hair dye ISTR) after knocking her unconcious! Was there a scene where red head disguised herself as the blonde? Haven't seen one on You Tube! The red head disguised as the blonde then returned to the blond one's reality, leaving blond as redhead trapped in the alternative reality!)

Us Fringe fans had to wait till the next season to find out what would happen to Olivia trapped on the "Other Side" in the hands of Walternate, while Fauxlivia insinuated herself with Walter and Peter on our side!

Meaningless to non viewers, and spoilers to those not yet up to Season 3

To be honest, I only picked up a bit courtesy of my sister, as she watches it!

At least with Freema Agyeman they explained that the character she played before Martha was her cousin. I didn't realise Karen Gillam had previously appeared.

I didn't know so many actors had appeared in The Bill playing different parts, or in Fawlty Towers. I have always thought, though, that the example from Terry and June was the worst, as they cast an actor who had played a regular character until two years before (and there was another actor re-cast as his original character).

As the actor had quit his regular role of Malcolm, I wonder why he cam back to play Sir Dennis's butler?