Whilst musically talented, and a member of a rock band as a schoolboy at Beaufoy School, Lambeth,[4] his real ambition was to act.

When he left the company, his musical talents led him to front the rock band Heavy Metal Kids as vocalist.

Holton made his screen acting debut in 1979, when he played the character of Eddie Hairstyle in the television movie The Knowledge with Michael Elphick and Kim Taylforth.

However, after appearing in the television series Shoestring, Holton played the lead part of Ken in the 1979 film Bloody Kids.

Holton also sang the theme tune to 1980s British children's drama, Murphy's Mob, which was produced by Central Television.

[5] In the hit television comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Holton played Wayne Norris, a carpenter from London.

La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement had been drafting storylines and working on an idea given to them by Franc Roddam, who was the director of Quadrophenia.

His musical endeavours were confined to strict one-offs for a while: in December 1978, Holton stood in for The Damned vocalist Dave Vanian on a short Scottish tour; he auditioned to replace the late Bon Scott in AC/DC;[7] and he also recorded a solo single (which became a number one hit in Norway), a punk-country version of Kenny Rogers's "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" with the Boys' keyboardist Casino Steel, with whom he would later write a song simply titled "Auf Wiedersehen Pet" about his experiences in the show.

The Tube in 1984 with a band named as The Actors, which included fellow Quadrophenia star Gary Shail on bass guitar, and they performed a song entitled "Long-Legged Blue-Eyed Blonde".

In December 1975, the group signed with producer Mickie Most's RAK label but before work could begin on their next album, Holton was sacked amid a storm of drink- and drug-related headlines.

Whilst the band was popular in Sweden, they had little commercial success in Britain although in 1976 their single "She's No Angel" was regularly played on BBC Radio 1, a favourite of DJ John Peel, and this led to an appearance on Top of the Pops.

The duo's musical style was country rock with strong punk influences, their first hit being a cover of Kenny Rogers' "Ruby".

Pathologist Rufus Crompton said during his inquest at Hornsey, North London, that he would have been drinking less than half an hour before his death, and that the morphine would have made him unconscious within a matter of minutes.

[8] He had been a drug user for several years after experiences through the music scene and was addicted to heroin, a habit he had quit some time after the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet had been broadcast.