Ralph Riach

Known for Acting

1/26/1936

Elgin, Scotland, UK

Biography

Ralph McKenzie Riach (26 January 1936 – 20 March 2022) was a Scottish actor from Elgin, Moray.

Known For (34 credits)

6.2

Movie

The Party's Just Beginning

2018

In a bleak Inverness midwinter, Luisaidh is careening off the rails after the suicide of her best friend. She medicates her misery with joyless sex, chips and a belief in the power of positive drinking. Surrounded by bittersweet memories, she struggles to find someone to talk to or some reason to make life worthwhile at the most stressful time of the year.

6.1

Movie

Grandpa's Great Escape

2018

Many years ago, Grandpa was a World War II flying ace, but sadly he is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. When his family can no longer look after him, he is moved to Twilight Towers, an old people's home. It soon becomes clear that Miss Dandy is running Twilight Towers for her own ulterior motives, and it is up to Grandpa and grandson Jack to make a daring escape. Failure could have the direst of consequences, but success will give Grandpa a final chance to relive his past and take to the sky once again in his beloved Spitfire.

6.5

Movie

We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story

2015

Comedy drama about the beginnings of Jimmy Perry and David Croft's writing partnership and their struggles to get Dad's Army on the screen in 1968.

6.7

Movie

What We Did on Our Holiday

2014

Doug and Abi and their three children travel to the Scottish Highlands for Doug's father Gordie's birthday party. It's soon clear that when it comes to keeping a secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are their biggest liability...

7.5

Shetland

2013

Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.

6.9

Movie

Cloud Atlas

2012

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

7.6

Young James Herriot

2011

Young James Herriot is a three-part British television drama based on the early life of veterinary surgeon James Herriot. It features Iain de Caestecker as the title character following his arrival at veterinary college, alongside Amy Manson and Ben Lloyd-Hughes as fellow students Whirly Tyson and Rob McAloon. Directed by Michael Keillor and written by Ann McManus and Eileen Gallagher, it was a Koco Drama production for the BBC which first aired on BBC One in December 2011.

6.2

Movie

Is Anybody There?

2009

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

6.0

Movie

Death Defying Acts

2007

On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.

6.3

Movie

Low Winter Sun

2006

Frank Agnew is a police detective who kills for revenge and naively believes he's engineered the perfect crime.

6.4

Movie

Copying Beethoven

2006

A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.

The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle

6.1

Movie

The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle

2005

What led Arthur Conan Doyle to create, and then destroy the world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes? This compelling drama explores the dark secrets that surround the author and his creation.