The Fortune on Channel 5: Cast includes huge names from Poldark, The Durrells, Coronation Street, and DCI Banks
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The Fortune is arguably the best thriller to land on Channel 5 this year – and not just because of its ensemble cast bulging with famous faces from some of TV’s most loved shows.
The psychological drama follows Amanda Blakefield, a woman who is left an enormous inheritance by a man she has neither met nor heard of before. Of course, this goes down like a bowl of cold sick with his wife and son – who threaten to take her to court if she doesn’t give up her claim to his fortune.
But what is the connection between Amanda and her mysterious benefactor Martin Worrall, a very rich entrepreneur. And why did he take his own life? All will be revealed over the course of four thrilling episodes. But first, here’s who plays who in the cast of The Fortune on Channel 5.
Eleanor Tomlinson stars as Amanda Blakefield
London-born Eleanor Tomlinson, 34, stars as protagonist Amanda Blakefield in The Fortune. Amanda is a mum-of-one, happily married, and works in her best friend’s seaside cafe. But her happy life becomes a nightmare when she is left a huge inheritance from a man she doesn’t believe she knows.
Eleanor is most famous for playing fiery Demelza in BBC One’s Poldark alongside Rivals star Aidan Turner. She played the role between
She’s been on our screens since 2005, when she played Little Daphne in the Michael Kitchen film Falling. She was just 13 years old at the time. Other notable roles include Lady Isabel Neville in The White Queen, Amy in The War of the Worlds, Candy Skov-King in Intergalatic, and Mary Brighton in The Nevers.
More recently, Eleanor’s played Lady Gabby in three series of BBC One comedy, The Outlaws. She’s also starred in Channel 4 thriller The Couple Next Door, and played Sylvie in the Netflix adaptation of One Day.
The Forsyte fans will know her as Louisa Byrne, a role she will reprise in the upcoming series 2.
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The Fortune cast: Matthew Lewis stars as Amanda’s husband Jimmy Brent
Yorkshire-born Matthew Lewis, 36, stars as Amanda’s husband Jimmy Brent. He’s a chef in the restaurant they both work at, and father to their child Luke. But, like a lot of people in this drama, he seems to be hiding something…
Harry Potter fans will know Matthew Lewis as long-suffering Neville Longbottom, a role he played in all eight of the movies. But he’s changed quite a bit since then!
The actor has subsequently had a very successful and varied career on British TV. You may have seen him playing Jamie in the first season of The Syndicate in 2012, or murder suspect Sean in season 2 of Happy Valley in 2016. Ripper Street will recognise him as Sergeant Drummond in the final two seasons of the crime drama.
The actor also played wealthy landowner Hugh Hulton in the first two seasons of Channel 5′s All Creatures Great and Small. He also played Brett, Romesh Ranganathan’s cocksure love rival, in season two of the BBC sitcom Avoidance.
More recently, Matthew portrayed Canon Daniel Clement in the crime drama Murder Before Evensong, based on the book by Rev Richard Coles.
Callum Woodhouse portrays Anthony Worrall
Cleveland-born Callum Woodhouse, 32, stars as Anthony Worrall in The Fortune. He gets quite the shock when his dad leaves his entire inheritance to Amanda Blakefield.
The actor is probably best known for his portrayal of Leslie Durrell in all four seasons of ITV comedy-drama series The Durrells. He played the role of Louisa’s second son between 2016 and 2019.
Tristan Farnon in Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small. He first appeared in the reboot in
Other notable roles include Karen and David’s son Josh Marsden in Cold Feet, and Randall Jones in Father Brown. He’s been in multiple films, too, including B&B, Raven’s Hollow, and Monster Island.
Paula Wilcox plays Amanda’s mum Linda Blakefield
Manchester-born Paula Wilcox, 76, portrays Amanda’s mum Linda Blakefield in the cast of The Fortune on Channel 5. Linda holds the key to Martin Worrall, and his surprise will. But she is living in a care home and suffering from dementia, with few ludic moments…
Readers of a certain age will know Paula very well from her role in 70s sitcom Man About the House, and subsequent early roles in The Lovers, Miss Jones and Son, The Queen’s Nose and Fiddlers Three. Between 2004 and 2005, she starred as Lilian in the comedy The Smoking Room.
She went on to play Hilary Potts in Emmerdale from 2007 and 2008, and later Elaine Jones in Coronation Street for three years between 2020 and 2023. Other notable roles include Carol in Boomers, Pauline in Mount Pleasant, Mary in Upstart Crow, and Sandra Ross in Trying.
More recently, she’s popped up in The Cleaner, Avoidance, and Grantchester. Paula hasn’t actually been on our screens since 2024, so The Fortune is her first appearance for a while.
Stephen Tompkinson is Boots Maddison in the cast of The Fortune
County Durham actor Stephen Tompkinson, 60, plays groundskeeper Boots Maddison. And he also knows a lot more than he is willing to reveal at first…
Viewers will know Stephen Tompkinson very well, for his TV, film, and theatre career spanning 40 years. He is arguably most famous for playing Damien Day in political satire Drop the Dead Donkey, a role he played between 1990 and 2008.
Barely out of drama school, Stephen first popped up in the 1987 sitcom All at Number 20, and popped up in several dramas until his big break in Clive Owen drama Chancer. In 1990, he portrayed Markus Warton in the hugely popular TV drama. He went on to play DC Park in Minder, and Father Peter Clifford in Ballykissangel. Between 1998 and 1999, he joined Robson Green as dysfunctional brothers in Grafters.
Stephen subsequently played Garth O’Hanlon in the Nick Berry – remember him? – undercover cop drama In Deep. Now firmly on the map, the actor won the leading role of Danny Trevanion in the family drama Wild at Heart, a role he played between 2006 and 2012.
And, of course, detective fans will know him as DCI Alan Banks in the ITV series that ran for six years, between 2010 and 2016. After the series ended, Stephen went on to play Davey McKenzie in The Split, and Brian in Trollied. And since then, he was only popped up occasionally on our screens, including a rare appearance in Ellis series 2.
What is DCI Banks star Stephen doing now?
Since 2018, Stephen has appeared in several episodes of The Other One, played a murder victim in The Bay, Warnock in one episode of Sherwood, and David Gee in the 2023 series The Long Shadow. After two years off screen, he recently played DCI John Thistletwaite in This Is Not a Murder Mystery.
Actually, Stephen is rather partial to the stage. In 2012, he made his musical theatre debut in London’s West End. He played the lead role of King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot.
In 2018, he played Yvan in the UK tour of Art. That Christmas, he portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in Jack Thorne‘s new adaptation of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, London. In 2019 he toured with a production of Willy Russell’s Educating Rita.
Rebecca Front portrays Martin’s wife Fiona Worrall
London-born Rebecca Front, 62, portrays Martin’s extremely [bleeped] off wife Fiona. The actress is probably best known for her comedic roles in dozens of sketch shows and series including Alan Partridge, Big Train, Nighty Night, The Day Today, Fist of Fun, and The Catherine Tate Show.
Between 2009 and 2012, Rebecca played Nicola Murray in satirical comedy The Thick of It. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for the role.
She can play it straight though. Rebecca portrayed Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent in Lewis from 2006 to 2014, Vera in Humans, and Lady Arabella Gresham in Doctor Thorne.
More recently, she’s played Judy in Love, Lies and Records, Lady Whitworth in Poldark, Tess in The Other One, Karen Kelly in Avenue 5, and DAC Sue Akers in The Hack.
The Fortune cast: Denis Lawson stars as Martin Worrall
Scottish actor Denis Lawson, 78, portrays Martin Worrall. He appears in the first few minutes of the series playing the wealthy entrepreneur, who takes his own life after changing his will to benefit Amanda Blakefield.
Of course, the actor has been on our screens since the 6os, having made his very first TV appearance as Andy Donald in a 1969 episode of Dr Finlay’s Casebook. He was 22 at the time.
Since then, he’s been in dozens TV series, films, and theatre productions. Early TV roles include John Jarndyce in the 2005 miniseries Bleak House (for which he earned a BAFTA Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations), and John Stone in The Ambassador.
Between 2002 and 2004, Denis played the brilliant but deeply flawed cardiothoracic surgeon Tom Campbell-Gore in Holby City. He was a main cast member from August 2002 to May 2004, and later reprised his role for three episodes in January 2019 as part of the show’s 20th-anniversary celebrations.
He subsequently went on to play Steve McAndrew in New Tricks from 2012 to 2015. Steve was a Detective Inspector for the Strathclyde Police, retiring in 2007. In 2012, Robert Strickland called him into UCOS to assist with a cold case, and he would later be permanently recruited onto the team.
On film Denis is known for playing Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983), a role he reprised in the recent Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). On the stage, he is a three-time Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical nominee, winning in 1983 for Mr Cinders.
EastEnders actress Nina Wadia is solicitor Laura Mistry
Indian actress Nina Wadia, 57, plays steely solicitor Laura Mistry in the cast of The Fortune. The character worked with Martin for 20 years, and is the person who delivers the news of his will to Amanda.
Soap fans will know Nina Wadia for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap EastEnders. She played the role between 2007 and 2013. Zainab was the mother of Syed, Shabnam, Tamwar and Kamil, and the wife of Masood Ahmed.
She’s also known for her comedic roles in Citizen Khan, Still Open All Hours, Goodness Gracious Me, and The Outlaws. More recently, she’s portrayed Bushra in Count Abdulla, and Fate Mother in The Sandman.
Danielle Walters plays Amanda’s best friend Sandy
Actress Danielle Isaie, aka Ashley Walters’ wife Danielle Walters, plays Amanda’s best friend Sandy. Sandy owns the seaside restaurant Sandy’s, where both Amanda and her husband Jimmy work.
Danielle is most famous for playing Candice in Michaela Coel comedy Chewing Gum between 2015 and 2017. She’s also popped up in her husband’s Top Boy, playing Amanda in 2023. Other notable roles include DC Barton in EastEnders, Gill Davies in Doctors, and Cherice in Gavin & Stacey.
Full cast list for The Fortune on Channel 5:
Eleanor Tomlinson stars as Amanda Blakefield.
Matthew Lewis plays Jimmy Brent.
Callum Woodhouse is Anthony Worrall.
Paula Wilcox portrays Linda Blakefield.
Stephen Tompkinson stars as Boots Maddison.
Rebecca Front plays Fiona Worrall.
Denis Lawson is Martin Worrall.
Nina Wadia portrays Laura Mistry.
Danielle Walters is Sandy.
Newcomer James Younger stars as Amanda and Jimmy’s son Luke Brent.
Jobbing actor Trevor Fox – aka DC Adrian Collins in Emmerdale – stars as the taxi driver.
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