IT was one of the biggest children’s shows on TV in the early Nineties – and ITV’s answer to Grange Hill.
Written by ex-teacher Steven Moffat, Press Gang told the story of a group of school kids and the children’s newspaper they worked on.
The Press Gang ran from 1989 to 1993
Lucy Benjamin had a stint in EastEnders as Lisa Fowler
It kickstarted the careers of some of TV’s most familiar faces, including Dexter Fletcher, who was recently seen looking unrecognisable with Hollywood actor Taron Egerton, watching Elton John’s Glastonbury set.
But what ever happened to the rest of the cast? Three decades on, we reveal where they are now.
Lucy Benjamin – Julie Craig
Lucy’s character Julie replaced Kenny as assistant editor of The Junior Gazette.
Afterwards she enjoyed roles in Close to Home and The Maze as well as playing Lisa Fowler, in EastEnders for five years, from 1998.
She may have shot her on-screen husband Phil Mitchell in EastEnders (and got away with it) but Lisa dated actor Steve McFadden in real life from 1999 to 2003.
Lisa met her husband, oil tycoon Richard Taggart, on a flight to Dubai in July 2005 and they got engaged three months later after a whirlwind romance, marrying in 2006.
In May 2006, on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars, Sharon Osbourne accidentally blurted out that Lucy was pregnant live on TV. She now has two children.
The actress, now 53, tragically lost her father six weeks after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2017 – he had already beaten bowel cancer 15 years prior.
In 2019 she was a contestant on I’m A Celeb.
Lucy returned to EastEnders in 2019, but left four months later. She’s also had a recurring role on Doctors and has recently come back to Albert Square.
Dexter Fletcher – James ‘Spike’ Thomson
Dexter has since become a film director
Dexter was already a huge child star before joining the gang, having played Babyface in the smash hit Bugsy Malone at the age of nine.
Dexter dated co-star Julia Sawalha while filming Press Gang and the young romance got him into hot water.
In 1991, he was arrested for stealing two bunches of flowers, worth £5, from a stall belonging to the Great Train Robber, Buster Edwards, and he told the court they were for Julia.
Buster identified him because he’d seen Dexter’s film The Rachel Papers a few days before.
He pleaded guilty and was given a 12 month suspended sentence and ordered to pay £30.
Following his role as Spike, Dexter appeared in numerous movies including Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 1998, Layer Cake, in 2004 and Robin Hood, 2007.
His many TV projects include Death in Paradise, in 2013, and the role of concierge Tony in three series of Hotel Babylon.
In 2012, he was director and co-writer of BAFTA nominee Wild Bill and he went on to direct the rock biopics Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman.
Most recently, he directed the rom-com Ghosted, starring Chris Evans and Ana De Armas.
Despite his huge success, Dexter previously revealed that child stardom took its toll and he spiralled into addiction and debt in his 20s, ending up homeless.
Fletcher spiralled into alcohol and drug addiction in his 20s, and became bankrupt and homeless as a result.
“Everything started to unravel,” he says. “I was on drugs and out of control. I had money but no sense of how to handle it responsibly. I was acting like a reckless teenager and couldn’t function as an adult.”
Dexter married Lithuanian film and theatre director Dalia Ibelhauptaitė in Westminster, in 1997, with the late Alan Rickman as his best man. He has four children.
Mmoloki Chrystie – Frazer ‘Frazz’ Davis
Mmoloki has now gone behind the scenes
Mmoloki was already a familiar face on TV, having played Zammo’s best pal Kevin Baylon in Grange Hill from 1984 to 1987, and featured in the famous Just Say No campaign against drug use.
After Press Gang he was an assistant director for small budget film Rage and he wrote and directed the movie Underbelly, in 2000.
He also appeared in the British soap Casualty.
Now a freelance filmmaker, Mmoloki works mainly with museums in London as well as making corporate films for businesses.
He also has his own blog, Inpixelated, linked to his work at art galleries and museums.
His Linked-In page adds: “Oh, and don’t think I’ve given up on purely creative filmmaking. I haven’t…That’s what I do in my spare time!
Julia Sawalha – Lynda Day
Julia went on to have an Absolutely Fabulous career
After her BAFTA-winning performance in Press Gang, Julia bagged roles in Pride and Prejudice and Agatha Christie’s Marple.
She also starred as Saffy, the daughter of Jennifer Saunders’ Edina, in the hit comedy Absolutely Fabulous, from 1992 to 2012, and in the 2016 movie.
The actress has had multiple relationships over the years including Richard Herring, Keith Allen, Press Gang’s own Dexter Fletcher and Alan Davies.
In 2016, the then 47-year-old announced her relationship with 30-year-old Luke Hollingworth.
“The age gap took a while to get my head around but he’s so emotionally mature he helps me be more relaxed. He’s younger than me but he’s an old soul,” she said at the time.
“We have the same sense of humour. We laugh all day and he’s the kindest and most loving partner I would ever wish for. I’ve always dated men my age or significantly older and none of them are a patch on Luke.
“Before Luke, I was single for seven years. By the time we got together, I’d stopped looking for someone else to fill the void.”
Gabrielle Anwar – Sam Black
Gabrielle became a US citizen
Gabrielle has had a productive career since leaving the children’s show, starring in Sherlock: Case of Evil, as the lead in the US TV drama Burn Notice for six years from 2007, and as Margaret Tudor in the first season of the historical romp The Tudors.
She also starred in the music video for Paul McCartney’s Pretty Little Head and danced a Tango with Al Pacino in the famous scene from the 1992 movie Scent of a Woman.
Born in Surrey, she moved to the US to pursue her Hollywood career in the early 2000s and became an American citizen
She was married to actor Craig Sheffer and had a daughter, born 1993, before separating. She was later married to actor John Verea, with whom she had a son and a daughter, before divorcing. Craig is godfather to Gabrielle’s children with John.
Gabrielle married Shareef Malnik in 2015.
Paul Reynolds – Colin Matthews
Paul Reynolds is still an actor
Press Gang proved a breakthrough role for Paul, who went on to play Kelvin in the Pauline Quirke detective series Maisie Raine and star as cop killer Chris Craig in the 1991 British movie Let Him Have it.
Reynolds also spent ten years in the BBC World Service radio drama Westway.
Most recently he played Hezekiah Stebbing in Dodger, the 2022 adaptation of Oliver Twist on the BBC.
Kelda Holmes – Sarah Jackson
Kelda dropped out of the show to go to uni
Kelda’s character Sarah left at the end of series four, when she went to university.
The move mirrored real life as Zelda asked to be dropped from the show to pursue her own university education.
She later returned to acting with minor roles in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, in 1982, and recently in the films The Sisters Brothers and The Wife and her House Husband, in 2022.
She also does extensive stage work and recently appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe. She also works with the Unhinged Theatre Company, at Royal Holloway University.
Lee Ross – Kenny Phillips
Lee became a familiar face to soap fans
After playing editor Kenny in Press Gang, Lee landed a part as violent criminal Owen Turner in EastEnders from 2006.
He also starred in the drama series Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest and Secrets & Lies and was a regular on The Catherine Tate Show.
In 2018, Ross starred as retired drag queen Hugo Battersby/ Loco Chanelle in the hit West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
He has been married to actress Jo McInness since 1999, and they played a real-life couple in the 1998 drama Playing the Field and the 2003 movie Billy’s Day Out.
He is also a talented songwriter in his spare time.
Charlie Creed-Miles – Danny McColl
Charlie went on to a film career
Nottingham-born Charlie starred in the 1997 movie, The Fifth Element, with Bruce Willis, and with Michael Caine in the 2009 Brit flick Harry Brown.
He also appeared in Guy Richie’s King Arthur in 2004 and played Billy Kimbedr in Peaky Blinders.
In 2011, he played the lead role in Wild Bill, directed by Press Gang co-star Dexter Fletcher.
He had a year long relationship with his Yellow Moon co-star Samantha Morton, from 1999 and their daughter, Esme Creed-Miles was born in 2000.
Although they split when Sam was pregnant, they remained friends and close co-parents – and lived two streets apart while bringing up daughter Esme.
“I love her enormously. She’s just cracking,” the actor said of his ex in 2004.
Charlie, 51, is a keen martial artist and passed his skills on to his daughter when she landed the lead role in the Amazon video drama Hanna.
