Many of the adult cast were already well-known character actors from a range of British television dramas. Bernard Kay (Richard Naismith) had appeared in episodes of many long-running British television dramas, such as "Doctor Who", "Crossroads", "Dixon of Dock Green" and "Z-Cars", as well as films such as "Carry On Sergeant" (1958) and "Doctor Zhivago" (1965). Mary Wimbush (Esme Harkness) appeared in the BBC's famous adaptation of "Poldark" (1975) and several episodes of ITV's "Jeeves and Wooster" (1990–1992). She was probably best known, however, as the voice of Julia Pargetter in BBC Radio 4's long-running rural soap opera "The Archers".