17 February 2023 , 10:13
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Anyone catching up on Netflix series The Witcher before season three drops this summer may have spotted a surprise cameo that is a blast from the past.
The streaming service is currently showing seasons one and two - and broadcaster Dan Walker has clearly been catching up.
The former BBC Breakfast presenter, who now hosts 5 News, took to Twitter to tell his 788,000 followers he recognised a familiar face in season two.
He wrote: “Can anyone beat PC Dave Quinnan from The Bill turning up in Season 2 of The Witcher (and lasting about 20 seconds) for a more random cameo?”
PC Quinnan himself, actor Andrew Paul, jokingly tweeted back: “It was 20 seconds of pure quality Dan!!”
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Actor Andrew Paul appears in the first episode of The Witcher season two (Netflix)Get all the biggest showbiz news straight to your inbox.
The 61-year-old plays a merchant called Colin Coppercloth in The Witcher who is looking for lodgings.
But sadly he gets killed by an unknown creature after less than a minute onscreen in the first episode of season two.
Fans will best know Andrew for playing PC Dave Quinnan in The Bill for 13 years.
The ITV show is still the longest running police drama, having aired from August 1984 to its final episode in August 2010.
Andrew left The Bill in 2002 and went on to appear in EastEnders briefly as Maxwell Moon.
He was then cast as a regular in ITV drama Where the Heart Is as Billy Boothe until the series was axed in 2006.
But within seconds his character is killed off by an unknown creature (Netflix)Other notable roles since include guest appearances in ITV series Lewis, Casualty and as Liz McDonald’s love interest Dan Jones in Coronation Street.
The actor also starred alongside Matt LeBlanc in the final season of US sitcom series Episodes.
Eagle-eyed viewers would have seen him most recently in ITV’s Endeavour where he played Joe Dozier, an abusive husband who is part of a spy ring.
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In October 2022, Andrew also starred in an episode of BBC soap opera Doctors as Terry Bedford.
Andrew is best known for playing PC Dave Quinnan in The Bill (ITV)
Andrew has also starred in EastEnders and Coronation Street (pictured) (ITV)But Andrew’s most famous role to date is The Bill and is what most people will still know him for.
Explaining why he left the show eight years before it ended, he said in a podcast: “I auditioned for Dave Quinnan in 1989 with several other actors. I’d done a guest role six months earlier.
“I saw the producers on a Thursday, got my script on Friday and began filming the following Monday together with a three-month contract that lasted 13 fantastic years.
“There’s only one word to describe Dave and that’s ‘complex’. He went through so much during his life those 13 years, I knew the right moment for him to leave. There was nothing left for him to do and I wanted to finish while my profile was on the up.”
*Watch The Witcher on Netflix now