Two men and a woman smiling
Robert Bathurst (r) recording the DVD audio commentary for Joking Apart with co-star Fiona Gillies (c) and writer Steven Moffat (l). Joking Apart was Bathurst's first major television role, and ran for two series from 1993 to 1995.

The filmography of English actor Robert Bathurst comprises both film and television roles spanning almost 30 years. Bathurst made his acting debut for television in 1982 in the never-broadcast pilot episode for the BBC sitcom Blackadder, though his character Prince Henry was recast when the Black Adder series was commissioned. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Bathurst appeared in episodes of The Lenny Henry Show, Who Dares Wins, The District Nurse, Red Dwarf, and Chelmsford 123, before starring alongside his Cambridge Footlights colleague Stephen Fry in the short-run series Anything More Would Be Greedy. He also appeared in the films Whoops Apocalypse (1986) and Just Ask for Diamond (1988).

Into the 1990s, Bathurst gained wider recognition from television audiences, first as writer Mark Taylor in Joking Apart from 1991 to 1995, then as David Marsden in Cold Feet from 1997 to 2003 and again from 2016.[1][2] The decade also saw him appear in the television series The House of Eliott, The Detectives, and Hornblower, and the films Twenty-One (1991) and Terry Jones's The Wind in the Willows (1996).

In the early 2000s, Bathurst starred in a succession of one-off television dramas before taking the role of British prime minister Michael Phillips in the sitcom My Dad's the Prime Minister. Throughout the rest of the decade, he appeared in episodes of New Tricks, Agatha Christie's Poirot, and Kingdom, played Mark Thatcher in the fact-based drama Coup!, had a recurring role in the sitcom My Family, and starred in the costume drama Emma. He starred as John Le Mesurier in the Hattie Jacques television biopic Hattie and returned to a weekly TV series role in Wild at Heart in 2012.

Alongside his television and film roles, Bathurst has developed a theatre career. He appeared in several Cambridge Footlights Revues between 1977 and 1981, and co-directed the 1978 Footlights pantomime with Martin Bergman.[3][n 1] From his first professional stage role playing Tim Allgood in Michael Frayn's Noises Off (1983),[2] Bathurst has starred in Judgement (1987), Getting Married (1993), The Nose (1995), The Rover (1996), Alarms and Excursions (1998–1999), The Three Sisters (2003), Whipping it Up (2006, 2007), Present Laughter (2010), and Blithe Spirit (2010, 2011).

Filmography

Television

Television[4]
Year(s) Title Role(s) Description
1982 The Black Adder Prince Henry Unaired pilot episode
1984 The Lenny Henry Show Various Television series
1986 New World Cast member Television film
1986 Who Dares Wins Various 1 episode
1987 The District Nurse Christian 1 episode
1988 Red Dwarf Frank Todhunter 1 episode ("The End")
1988 All in Good Faith Father Cary 1 episode ("The Spirit Is Willing")
1988 Chelmsford 123 Gaius 1 episode
1989 Mr Christie Larry Craig Television film
1989 Anything More Would Be Greedy Dennis Medlam 6-part television serial
1990 Up Yer News Various Live television sketch series
1991 About Face Dave 1 episode
1991 Lazarus & Dingwall Justin De Jong 1 episode
1991 Comic Asides: Joking Apart Mark Taylor Television pilot
1992 No Job for a Lady Tony 1 episode
1992 Early Travellers in North America William Makepeace Thackeray 2 episodes
1992 The House of Eliott Hector Furneux 1 episode
1993–1995 Joking Apart Mark Taylor 2 series
1994 The Detectives Thomas 1 episode
1994 Screen One: A Breed of Heroes Major Edward Lumley Television film
1997 Get Well Soon Squadron Leader Fielding 1 series
1997 Comedy Premieres: Cold Feet David Marsden Television pilot
1998 Hornblower Lt. Eccleston 1 episode ("The Even Chance")
1998–2003, 2016–2020 Cold Feet David Marsden 9 series
1999 The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything English Ambassador
Sir Francis Drake 		Television film
2001 Goodbye, Mr Steadman Alan Steadman Television film
2002 The Secret Alex Faraday 2-part television film
2002 White Teeth Marcus Malfen 4-part television serial
2002 The Safe House Dr Adam Daley Television film
2003–2004 My Dad's the Prime Minister Prime Minister Michael Phillips 2 series
2004 New Tricks Martin Lombard 1 episode
2004 The Three Sisters Vershinin Televised play
2005 The Stepfather Christopher Veazey Television film
2005 The Comic Strip Presents... Charles 1 episode
2006 Agatha Christie's Poirot: After the Funeral Gilbert Entwhistle 1 episode
2006 Coup! Mark Thatcher Television film
2006–2009 My Family James Garrett 3 episodes
2007 Kingdom Philip Collins 1 episode
2009 Emma Mr Weston 4-part television serial
2009 The Queen Anthony Eden 1 episode
2010 The Pillars of the Earth Percy Hamleigh 4 episodes
2010–2011 Downton Abbey Sir Anthony Strallan 6 episodes
2011 Hattie John Le Mesurier Television film
2012 Wild at Heart Ed Lynch Television series
2012–2015 Toast of London Ed Howzer-Black 3 series
2013 Dracula Lord Thomas Davenport
2013–2014 Blandings Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe 5 episodes
2014 Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death Andy Cummings Brown Television film
2015 Mrs. Brown's Boys William Hunt 1 episode
2017 Gap Year Bertie 1 episode
2019 Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes Sergeant Wilson 3 episodes
2020 Luck on Sunday Guest 1 episode
2021 Doctor Who Farquhar 1 episode
2021 The Larkins Johnny Delamere
2021 The Mezzotint Garwood Television film
2022 Toast of Tinseltown Ed Howzer-Black Television series

Film

Film[4]
Year Title Role Description
1986 Whoops Apocalypse Damien Feature film (debut)
1988 Just Ask For Diamond Vicar Feature film
1991 Twenty-One Mr Metcalfe Feature film
1993 The Euphoric Scale Raymond Tanner Short film
1996 The Wind in the Willows St John Weasel Feature film
2005 Heidi Mr Sessemann Feature film
2006 The Thief Lord Dottore Massimo Feature film (Minor antagonist)
2006 Talk Afghan Hound Owner Short film
2006 Scoop Strombel's Co-worker Feature film
2007 Life:XP Dr Eckhart Short film
2009 A Family Portrait Robert Short film
2014 Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie Maydo Archer Feature film
2015 Absolutely Anything James Cleverill Feature film
2015 Narcopolis Kim Nolan Feature film
2021 The Fall Michael Hamilton Short film
2021 Munich: The Edge of War Sir Nevile Henderson Feature film

Theatre

Theatre[5][6][7][8]
Year(s) Title Role Director(s) Performance history
1977 Tag! Various Griff Rhys Jones Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 7–18 June 1977
Oxford Playhouse, 20–25 June 1977
Robin Hood Theatre, Averham, 4–9 July 1977
St Mary's Street Hall, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival), 19 August–10 September 1977[n 2]
1978 Stage Fright Various Martin Bergman Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 6–17 June 1978.
St Mary's Street Hall, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival), 18 August–3 September 1978
1978 Aladdin Widow Twankey Robert Bathurst & Martin Bergman ADC Theatre, Cambridge, 21 November–2 December 1978
1979 Nightcap Various Clive Anderson Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 5–16 June 1979
St Mary's Street Hall, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival), 17 August–1 September 1979
1979 Brown Rice with Everything Various Charles McFarland St Mary's Street Hall, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Festival), 21 August–1 September 1979
1981 Botham: The Musical Various —[n 3] Tour of Australia: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Albury-Wodonga[9]
1982 Beyond the Footlights Various Jon Plowman Lyric, Hammersmith, 5–10 April 1982
1983 Noises Off Tim Allgood Michael Blakemore Savoy Theatre, from 3 January 1983 (second cast)
1984 Saint Joan Sentry Ronald Eyre Olivier (National), 16 February–24 July 1984
1984 Mandragola Cast member[n 3] David Gilmore Olivier (National), from 14 June–20 October 1984
1984 A Little Hotel on the Side Cast member[n 3] Jonathan Lynn Olivier (National), from 10 August 1984
1986 The Swap Roger Mark McCrum Boulevard, Soho, from 9 September–October 1986
1987 Judgement Andrei Vukhov Paul Jepson Man in the Moon, 18 August–15 September 1987
1987–1988 Ubu Cast member[n 3] Paul Jepson Latchmere, Battersea, 28 December 1987 – 15 January 1988
1988 Dry Rot Cast member[n 3] Christopher Renshaw Theatre Royal, Bath for three weeks
Lyric Theatre, from 28 September 1988 – 7 January 1989
1990 The Next Best Thing Steve Patrick Sandford Nuffield, Southampton, February–March 1990
1990 The Importance of Being Earnest Jack Pip Broughton Nottingham Playhouse, 3–20 October 1990
1991 Lady Audley's Secret Cast member[n 3] Annie Castledine Lyric Hammersmith, 21 October–30 November 1991
1992 The Choice Consultant Annie Castledine Salisbury Playhouse (Salberg Studio), 12–28 March 1992
1993 Getting Married Hotchkis Frank Hauser Chichester Festival, 30 April–24 June 1993
1994 A Comedy of Errors Cast member[n 3] Paul Clayton Nottingham Playhouse, 1 September–1 October 1994
1995 The Nose Kovalyov Martin Duncan Nottingham Playhouse, 25 March–15 April 1995
1996 The Rover Willmore Jonathan Church Salisbury Playhouse, 29 April–25 May 1996
1997 Good Copy Cast member[n 3] Topher Campbell West Yorkshire Playhouse, 1–5 July 1997
1998–1999 Alarms and Excursions Various Michael Blakemore Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 14–25 July 1998
Gielgud Theatre, 14 September 1998 – 6 March 1999
1999 Hedda Gabler Tesman Annie Castledine Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 18–27 November 1999
Richmond Theatre, 29 November–4 December 1999
Theatre Royal, Brighton, 6–11 December 1999
2003 The Three Sisters Vershinin Michael Blakemore Playhouse Theatre, 30 March–18 May 2003
2005 David Blunkett: The Musical Boris Johnson Mary-Jo Paranzino One night only preview, Soho Theatre, 14 April 2005
2006 Members Only Adrien Marianne Badrichani Trafalgar Studios, 28 March–22 April 2006
2006–2007 Whipping it Up Alistair Terry Johnson West End run, 2006 and 2007
  Bush Theatre, 10 November–23 December 2006
  Ambassadors Theatre, 1 March–16 June 2007
National tour, 2007
  New Victoria Theatre, Woking, 4–8 September 2007
  Palace, Southend-on-Sea, 10–15 September 2007
  Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, 17–22 September 2007
  Richmond Theatre, 1–6 October 2007
  Theatre Royal, Brighton, 8–13 October 2007
  Theatre Royal, Bath, 15–20 October 2007
  Churchill Theatre, Bromley, 12–17 November 2007
2007–2009 Alex Alex Phelim McDermott West End run, 2007
  Arts Theatre, 18 October–8 December 2007
International tour, 2008
National tour, 2008
  Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, 21–25 October 2008
  Theatre Royal, Windsor, 27 October–1 November 2008
  Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 4–8 November 2008
  Derngate Theatre, Northampton, 10–15 November 2008
  Mercury Theatre, Colchester, 17–22 November
West End run
  Leicester Square Theatre, 21 November 2008 – 11 January 2009
Nominated, What's on Stage Award for Best Solo Performance
2010 Present Laughter Garry Essendine Belinda Lang National tour, 2010
  Richmond Theatre, 18–21 January 2010
  Cambridge Arts Theatre, 8–13 February 2010
  Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, 15–20 February 2010
  Theatre Royal, Nottingham, 1–6 March 2010
  Theatre Royal, Bath, 29 March–3 April 2010
2010–2011 Blithe Spirit Charles Condomine Thea Sharrock National tour, 2010–2011[10]
  Theatre Royal, Bath, 3–13 November 2010
  Theatre Royal, Brighton, 16–21 November 2010
  Cambridge Arts Theatre, 22–27 November 2010
  Milton Keynes Theatre, 14–19 February 2011
  Richmond Theatre, 21–26 February 2011
West End run, 2011[10]
  Apollo Theatre, 2 March–18 June 2011
2012 Blue/Orange Christopher Luscombe National tour, 2012[11]
2014 An Ideal Husband Sir Robert Chiltern Rachel Kavanaugh Chichester Festival, 20 November-13 December 2014[12]
2015 Love, Loss and Chianti Christopher Reid Jason Morell Minerva Theatre in association with Chichester Festival, 27–31 January 2015[13]
2015 Who Cares Multiple roles Debbie Hannan, Lucy Morrison and Hamish Pirie Royal Court Theatre, London, 10 April–16 May 2015[14]
2016–2017 King Charles III King Charles III Gary Griffin Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago, 5 November 2016–15 January 2017[15]
2019 Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell Jeffrey Bernard James Hillier Norman's Coach and Horses, London, 7 May–1 June 2019[16]
2020 & 2022 Love, Loss and Chianti Christopher Reid Jason Morell Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, 25 February–March 2020
Edinburgh Assembly Rooms, 3–23 August 2022[17]
2022–2023 Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge Andrew Hilton Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 8 December 2022–8 January 2023[18]
2023 Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell Jeffrey Bernard James Hillier Norman's Coach and Horses, London, 29 October–21 November 2023[19]

Music video

Title Year Performer Album Ref.
"Uptown Girl" 2001 Westlife World of Our Own [20]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Bathurst's acting credit for this role was "Bob Bathurst".
  2. ^ Also broadcast on BBC2 on 16 December 1977 as The 1977 Cambridge Footlights Revue.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Some information relating to Bathurst's early theatrical career is not held in nationally published works, though may exist in individual theatre company archives or smaller, local publications.

References

  1. ^ Sturges, Fiona (30 November 2001). "Robert Bathurst: Thingy out of Cold Feet Archived 2010-07-26 at the Wayback Machine". The Independent (Independent News & Media).
  2. ^ a b Smurthwaite, Nick (11 October 2006). "Filling in the blanks". The Stage: p. 35.
  3. ^ Staff (18 January 1979). "Aladdin". The Stage and Television Today: p. 15.
  4. ^ a b "Filmography: Bathurst, Robert". British Film Institute. Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
  5. ^ "1970 Archived 2012-02-23 at the Wayback Machine". Footlights website. Retrieved on 29 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Archives of the Footlights Dramatic Club Archived 2010-10-09 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved on 31 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Scottish Theatre Archive Catalogue Archived 2010-05-04 at the Wayback Machine". University of Glasgow. Retrieved on 31 July 2010.
  8. ^ "The Stage Archive Archived 2012-07-08 at archive.today". The Stage Newspaper Limited. Retrieved on 4 August 2010.
  9. ^ Fry, Stephen (2010). The Fry Chronicles. London: Michael Joseph. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-7181-5483-7.
  10. ^ a b BWW News Desk (16 July 2010). "Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst Join Cast of Blithe Spirit, Opens 3/2 Archived 2010-07-26 at the Wayback Machine". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on 16 July 2010.
  11. ^ Caird, Jo (29 June 2012). "Robert Bathurst stars in pre-West End tour of Penhall's Blue/Orange Archived 2012-07-01 at the Wayback Machine". Whatsonstage.com. URL retrieved on 1 July 2012.
  12. ^ Snow, Georgia. "Full casting announced for Chichester Festival Theatre's An Ideal Husband". www.thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  13. ^ Connor, Sheila. "Love, Loss and Chianti". www.britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  14. ^ Hitchings, Henry. "Who Cares theatre review: Michael Wynne's NHS play 'genuinely illuminating' at Royal Court". www.standard.co.uk/. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Plays and Events". www.chicagoshakes.com/. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Robert Bathurst in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell | Norman's Coach & Horses Soho | London's first vegan and vegetarian pub". coachsoho.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  17. ^ Harrison, Daniella. "Christopher Reid's poems are staged in the newly reopened venue". www.whatsonstage.com/. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  18. ^ Staff writer. "First Look: Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall". www.theatreweekly.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell revival to return to Soho starring Robert Bathurst". www.westendtheatre.com/. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Ioan Gruffudd - Biography". Imdb. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.

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