John Forgeham obituary

Veteran character actor who appeared in The Italian Job, Prime Suspect and Footballers WivesJohn Forgeham, who has died aged 75, was a hard-living actor who brought some of his off-screen qualities to his best known television roles, which were often unsympathetic. As the loud-mouthed car mechanic Jim Baines in Crossroads, he was in the long-running soap at the height of its popularity, when the series was watched by some 18 million viewers (though loathed by the critics). For four years (1974-7