Happy BIRTHDAY!

SALLY LINDSAY and NEIL DUDGEON join forces to help TV Times celebrate 70 glorious years

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Surrounded by a sparkling 16-foot garland of chrome and silver balloons, Sally Lindsay and Neil Dudgeon are dressed to the nines and having a ball as they pose for photos inside London's famous Holborn Studios on one of the hottest mornings in August.

TV Times has invited the acclaimed actors – who play two of our favourite fictional crime-fighters and are also among the nicest people in showbiz – to join us for a party to celebrate 70 years since the first edition of our magazine was published on 22 September 1955. 'Happy birthday!' they sing out in unison, as the camera snaps away to capture them next to a showstopping, two-tiered pink ombre cake as well as alongside giant light-up numbers.

Sally, the star and co-creator of 5's hit crime drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries, and Neil, who leads ITV1's ever-popular whodunnit Midsomer Murders, have both graced our pages many times over the years.

Sally made her debut on our cover in July 2003 thanks to her role as barmaid Shelley Unwin in ITV1 soap Coronation Street, while Neil's first cover was in October 1988 for ITV's World War Two drama Piece of Cake, in which he played Flying Officer Lance 'Moggy' Cattermole.

Here, they reveal what being part of TV Times has meant to them, and overleaf, reflect on the moments that have shaped their careers...

It was bizarre how I got into acting. I was studying English at the University of Hull when I was asked to be in a play after somebody dropped out. It was around two lines as a drunk witch in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and I went, “Yes, I'll do it, it will be a laugh.” And what I loved about it was that all these people got together for one thing, for one performance - I just thought it was magical.