Darling Downs | Darling | Darling River | Darling Harbour | Alistair Darling | Ron Darling | Ralph Darling | Darling Lili | Darling Scarp | Miss MacIntosh, My Darling | Linda Darling-Hammond | Frank Fraser Darling | Darling Point | Dennis Darling | Darling Violetta | Tonique Williams-Darling | My Darling is a Foreigner | Move Over, Darling | Merry Christmas Darling | Maria Darling | John Darling (comic strip) | John Darling | Joe Darling | J.N. "Ding" Darling | Jennifer Darling | James Darling | Division of Darling Downs | Die, Die My Darling | Devard Darling | Darling Point, New South Wales |
He has a series of television credits to his name, most notably as Brigadier Arthur Maiford, M.C. (ret.) (but always known to the Larkins as "The General") in The Darling Buds of May (1991–1993); and George Frobisher in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–1992).
Franks is perhaps best known for his roles as tax inspector Cedric "Charley" Charlton in the British sitcom The Darling Buds of May, and Sgt. Raymond Craddock on Heartbeat.
The band formed in 1986 and were named after the H. E. Bates novel The Darling Buds of May – a title taken in turn, from the third line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May".
Other roles have included parts in Coronation Street, Crown Court, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The Sweeney, Cribb, Minder, Dempsey & Makepeace, the 1977 Doctor Who story The Sun Makers, Last of the Summer Wine and The Darling Buds of May.