The Larkins Characters and Cast

Pop Larkin

"Larkin by name, Larkin by nature; Farmer, entrepreneur and bon viveur" that's how Pop (Sidney) likes to describe himself!
He's the patriarch of the Larkin family, known as the wheeler dealer who can get his hands on anything. Ma prefers to simply call him a "gentleman farmer". His family mean the world to him and he has a big heart. As he says, "Everyone's my darling and I am everyone's".

Bradley Walsh was born in Watford, England. With a career now spanning more than 20 years, older viewers may know him best as Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street whereas the younger generation will no doubt recognise him as Graham from Doctor Who. Bradley has also been host of the ITV game show The Chase since 2009.

Ma Larkin

Florence Daisy Larkin or Ma as she prefers, is the down-to-earth, heart of the Larkin family. A fun, earth-mother who isn't scared of getting her hands dirty if she needs to. She describes herself as a "loving mother and provider". A former three times winner of the strawman race "before she filled out nicely", these days she can often be found plucking a goose!

Joanna Scanlan is a BAFTA nominated British actor and screenwriter originally from Merseyside. Whilst studying History at Cambridge she was member of the Footlights Dramatic Club. Her movie credits include Notes on a Scandal, Kinky Boots, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Bridget Jones's Baby. On the small screen, she has been seen in Dracula, The Thick of It, No Offence and Puppy Love amongst others.
As a child, she read The Darling Buds of May when she was feeling a bit under the weather and still has that set of books!

Mariette Larkin

Mariette is the eldest Larkin daughter. Blessed with good looks Mariette doesn't have time for men; she only has eyes for one thing: Paris! But her loyalty to her parents means she is torn between her roots and her dreams. As she herself says "I love my family, but I've got itchy feet. But just to be clear I don't just sit around looking pretty!"

Sabrina Bartlett is a London born actor known for her television work. In 2013 she graduated from the Guildford School of Acting. Soon after she landed her first major TV role in the World War I drama The Passing Bells (2014) and subsequently featured in Da Vinci's Demon (2015), Nightfall (2018) and Victoria (2019). However, international recognition came in 2020 thanks to her portrayal of Siena Rosso in Netflix's hit costume drama, Bridgerton.

Cedric ‘Charley’ Charlton

Charley is the rather hapless, slightly nervy Tax inspector sent to investigate Pop's tax affairs or rather the lack of them. Resistant at first, Charley is slowly talked into the Larkin way of thinking and instantly falls for Mariette! In another life, he would rather have been a disc jockey.

A relatively new face on our TV screens, Tok Stephen arrived in The Larkins by way of Grantchester (2019), Holby City (2020) and Silent Witness (2021). Tok has been active in theatre for a number of years now and in the RADA production of Scuttlers was directed by none other than Philip Franks, who played the role of Charley in The Darling Buds of May 30 years previously!

Primrose Larkin

16-year-old Primrose describes herself as "The brainy one" following it up with the observation that "It's quite a burden." Although timid and self-conscious by nature she has a lot to offer and aspires to be like her elder sister Mariette, who she idolises and admires. She has much to learn from her sister about love though after falling for the feckless charms of Eddie from the travelling fairground!

Lydia Page grew up in Leicestershire and in 2017 joined Nottingham's Television Workshop and then trained as a member of the Youth National Theatre in London in 2018. In 2020, she burst onto our screens as Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch. She has also appeared in Casualty.

Montgomery larkin

13-year-old Montgomery matter of factly states "You'll recognise me, I'm the only one who's not a girl, and I'm quite artistic". A dab hand with a paintbrush, he adores his dad and is keen to compete and win the village Pram Race!

Liam Middleton was born in Bristol, England. Liam recently starred in Isolation the Series, in which actors from all over the world came together from their own homes to create a smash hit online series. In December this year Liam will feature as a contestant on The Ultimate Singing Competition where he will battle it out against 32 singers over 14 weeks for the opportunity of a 5 day trip to Canada.

Victoria Larkin

"I make stuff - People talk waaay to much" Victoria tells us by way of her self-introduction. Even at the age of 11 she's very practical and never happier than when she's fixing something. A genius in all things mechanical, who prefers to let her skills with a spanner do the talking!

Played by Lola Shepelev who has previously graced our screens in Curfew (2019) and as Zephie in Chuggington (2020)

Zinnia and Petunia Larkin

The Twins, Zinnia and Petunia are the youngest of the Larkin clan. Aged 8, they are lively, fearless, often calamitous and sometimes mischievous, but every animals' loving friend.

Wonderfully brought to life by Davina Coleman (Zinnia) and Rosie Coleman (Petunia), this is their breakout role on UK television.

TOM FISHER

Tom Fisher, the handsome newcomer who wants to develop and expand the village. Rather taken by Mariette – he doesn’t hide his interest and offers her a job. Although progressive and believes in the benefits of change, he's a smooth charmer with an edge – who is ultimately caught out.

Played by Ulsterman Stephen Hagan who made his screen debut in the British drama Clapham Junction (2007). Three years later he appeared in The Cut and most recently featured in Lucky Man.

DID YOU KNOW?

Victoria Wicks of Drop the Dead Donkey fame is the grand-daughter of Darling Buds author H.E. Bates and makes a cameo appearance in Series 1. She is also credited as script editor for the production.
In Episode 6 Pop says "Ginger Rogers lives over in Pluckley." This is a shout out to the Kent village where "The Darling Buds of May" was filmed in the 90's
In preparation for the role Sabrina Bartlett volunteered at Spitalfield City Farm to understand how farming worked and to be able to learn how to do things like hammering a fence with a sledgehammer!
Sabrina got a black eye whilst doing a scene for Episode 4 and describes it as "one of the things that I’m most proud about in my acting career"