I recently started watching two British television shows starring film actors whom I had no idea starred in successful TV shows. Second Sight, BBC-1’s detective drama about a DCI (detective chief inspector) who’s going blind, stars Clive Owner as the detective (DCI Tanner). Shameless, Channel 4’s family dramedy about a disturbingly dysfunctional lower class Manchester family starring James McAvoy as Steve, the middle class boyfriend of Fiona, the oldest daughter played by Anne-Marie Duff. I got to thinking about British actors on TV. There seems to be a surge of sorts of Brit actors and actresses making successful and seemingly seamless transitions from Brit TV to American TV or films.

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