Set in post-war Britain, Ridley Road follows Vivien Epstein, a young Jewish mother, as she goes undercover with the facist far right to find her missing lover.
The four part BBC series, adapted by Sarah Solemani from Jo Bloom’s novel, was filmed in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. It’s available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
The Games of Thrones actor Tom Varey appears on the show, but who is he and who does he play?
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Who is actor Tom Varey and who does he play in Ridley Road?
Tom Varey is an established, 29-year-old British actor. He grew up in Mossley, Greater Manchester before bagging a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2011.
While at drama school he played the role of McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, but his career really got going upon graduation.
So far he’s starred in No Offence , Ackley Bridge , Pond Life and Game of Thrones .
While filming for Pond Life , he met Normal People break-out star Daisy Edgar Jones. The pair dated for two years before calling time, with The Sun reporting they went their separate ways to focus on their careers.
In Ridley Road, Tom Varey plays Jack Morris, the love interest of Vivien Epstein – who’s more than shocked to find him shouting anti-Semitic slogans at a neo Nazi rally.
We learn that Jack has been living a double life, dedicating himself to the fascism-fighting 62 Group by posing as a far right supporter. When he mysteriously disappears, Vivine is sent on a mission to embed herself in the neo-Nazi group.
Who did Tom Varey play in Game of Thrones and what other roles has he had?
Tom Vary’s breakout role came when he was cast as Bert Middleton in BBC One’s The Village .
He later played Cley Cerwyn in the sixth season of Game of Thrones , during the episode “The Winds of Winter”. Cley is a northern lord who takes the helm of House Cerwyn following his father’s death.
In Channel 4’s No Offence , Tom played PC Stuart O’Connell, who’s assigned to the Integrated Policing Unit of the Manchester Metropolitan Police, between 2015 and 2018.
From the police force to the high school: Tom was cast as PE teacher Will Simpson at Ackley Bridge College for two seasons of the drama-comedy Ackley Bridge , which aired on Channel 4 in 2017.
Tom’s first big movie role came in 2018, with the coming of age dramady, Pond Life. He plays Trevor, the most sensible and oldest member of the group who plans to catch a 20lb carp fish before taking a warehouse job in Doncaster.
Who else is in the Ridley Road cast?
Agnes O’Casey plays the leading lady, Vivien Epstein. This is Agnes’ first on-screen role, and has the potential to catapult her into TV stardom.
Vivien’s mother Liza Epstein is portrayed by Samantha Spiro, who already showed us her maternal acting skills while playing Adam Groff’s mum in Sex Education .
Joining Agnes and Samantha is Rory Kinnear, an established actor who has appeared in Years and Years, Catherine the Great, Brexit: The Uncivil War, Penny Dreadful and The Imitation Game. You might know him as Tanner from the James Bond film franchise.
In Ridley Road, Rory plays Colin Jordan, a real life facist who led the White Supremacist group NSM in the 1960s, and contined being a prominent far-right figure until his death in 2009.
The Gentleman’s Eddie Marsan plays Soly Malinovsky, the leader of the fictional anti-facist league Group 62, while Nancy Malinovsky, who was Val Lewis in Friday Night Dinner, is cast as Sal’s wife.
Finally, Eastenders star Tamzin Outhwaite plays salon owner Barbara.
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