Actor on TV, Film and Radio

The first TV role I played was a slimy journalist in Z Cars – I thought I knew how to act for television till the director told me it was all right to have an expression on my face and not resemble a frozen ice lolly.

Others roles in 

Actor - TV

LEADING ROLES

DR MACDUFF
  in “Brass”
Broadcast on Radio 4
LT WICKHAM
  in “Voyage of Charles Darwin”
Broadcast on BBC
MAJOR RODDY
 in “Hamish Macbeth”
Broadcast on BBC
MAIN PRESENTER
 in “HULLABALOO”
Broadcast on Assoc Rediffusion
XAVIER
 in “Monarch of the Glen”
Broadcast on BBC
MAJOR LENNOX
 in “Sharpe's Eagle”
Broadcast on Central
Keith
 in "Headless"
Broadcast on Sanctuary Films
Aeneas MacMaster
 in "The New Road"
Broadcast on BBC
Professor MacManus
 in "Vital Signs"
Broadcast on Tiger Aspect
Philip
 in "Sea of Souls"
Broadcast on BBC
Gavin Cranmere
 in "The Heart Surgeon"
Broadcast on World Productions
Alex
 in "Glasgow Kiss"
Broadcast on Wall to Wall
Young Officer
 in "Shadow of the Tower
Broadcast on BBC
Priest
 in "Love Story"
Broadcast on BBC

OTHER MAIN ROLES

“NEW TRICKS”
Broadcast on BBC
“KNIGHT SCHOOL”
Broadcast on Granada
“WAKING THE DEAD”
Broadcast on BBC
“WATERFRONT BEAT”
Broadcast on BBC
“ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL”
Broadcast on BBC
“DOCTOR WHO”
Broadcast on BBC
“HANNAY”
Broadcast on Thames
“EVER DECREASING CIRCLES”
Broadcast on BBC
“EVER DECREASING CIRCLES”
Broadcast on Channel 4
“WILLIAM TELL”
Broadcast on RHI
“THE BILL”
Broadcast on Thames
“CORONATION STREET”
Broadcast on Granada
“THE MAD DEATH”
Broadcast on BBC

 

Actor - Films

Films include

WINTER SOLSTICE
 
HOUSE OF MIRTH
 
TOMORROW NEVER DIES
 
STIFF UPPER LIPS
 
INDIAN SUMMER
 
EYE OF THE NEEDLE
 
THE SILENT CORMORANT
 
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
 
playing James McAvoy’s father and looking very like my own departed dad in my 1950’s suit and haircut.
2016 - THE ETRUSCAN SMILE
 
2024 GLENROTHAN
 
playing the part of DOUGIE. An ex-GP who manages to annoy the hell out of everyone.

 

Actor - Stage

In the theatre played nearly all the big venues, a run or two in the West End. Played TORVALD in DOLL’S HOUSE, GAYEV in THE CHERRY ORCHARD, JOXER in JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, MARCO in VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, KULYEGIN in THE THREE SISTERS at the Royal Exchange. Peripatetic thespianism.

I took a long break from the boards and was persuaded back on by Brian Cox a few years ago to do a John Byrne play a Scots version of UNCLE VANYA at the Lyceum Edinburgh. That initial stride on stage for the first preview was like stepping off the edge of the known world. The push/pull of terror and exhilaration, which seems to be an essential part of the creative psyche, well mine at any rate.

Like McLevy – no sooner out of one fix than I’m back in another. There was an old fashioned movie that featured a woman tied to the railway tracks with a train approaching and a hero in the far distance. THE PERILS OF PAULINE. Now why has that come into my mind, I wonder?

 

 

Actor - Radio

Probably best known for my portrayal of Lieutenant Roach in “MCLEVY” for BBC Radio 4. A much maligned and put upon decent officer who suffers from being the writer of said series now in its 15th incarnation.