Neil Dudgeon

Neil Dudgeon
Neil Dudgeon
Born	2 January 1961 (age 63); Doncaster, England
Education	Intake Secondary Modern School
Alma mater	University of Bristol
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present
Known for	Midsomer Murders
Spouse	Mary Peate
Children	2

Neil Dudgeon (born 2 January 1961) is an English actor who, since 2010, has played DCI John Barnaby in the ITV drama series Midsomer Murders. He replaced John Nettles in the lead role in 2011.

Early life and education

Dudgeon is the son of James C Dudgeon and June M Weeks. He has an older sister, Lynne W Dudgeon. He was born in Doncaster in 1961, where he was raised. At that time, it was a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but is now in South Yorkshire. He attended Intake Secondary Modern school in Doncaster, among other schools. He acted in several school plays, (including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), then went on to study drama at the University of Bristol (1979–82).^[1]

Career

Dudgeon made his first screen appearance in 1987. The following year, he appeared as a Second World War pilot in Piece of Cake, alongside Tim Woodward, Jeremy Northam and Nathaniel Parker.^[1]

As well as occasional appearances in series such as Casualty, London's Burning and Lovejoy, he appeared in 1994 as Detective Constable Costello, a one-episode subordinate to Detective Inspector William Edward "Jack" Frost (played by David Jason), in the TV series A Touch of Frost, in 1998-99 as George the Chauffeur in The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (alongside Dame Diana Rigg), in Inspector Morse (episode "The Way Through the Woods"), Between The Lines, Common As Muck (in 1994 & 1997), Out of the Blue, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, The Street and four series of Messiah with Ken Stott.^[1]

He also appeared in the romantic comedy film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, playing the taxi driver who takes the title character to meet Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth) towards the end of the film.^[1]

In 2007, Dudgeon appeared in the eponymous role of self-made millionaire Roman Pretty in the BBC2 sitcom Roman's Empire. From 2009 to 2011, he played a main character in BBC's Life of Riley. The same month the final season of Life of Riley aired, Dudgeon played the role of one time Football League secretary Alan Hardaker in the TV drama United, which centered on the events of the 1958 Munich air disaster involving Manchester United.^[2]

In 2010, Dudgeon appeared in an episode of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders called "The Sword of Guillaume". He was introduced in the episode as the cousin of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles, who retired from the role. Dudgeon, also cast as a senior detective, took over as the lead character in Midsomer Murders after the last episodes featuring John Nettles were screened in 2011. Dudgeon's character name is DCI John Barnaby, which has been suggested may be a vehicle for continued sales to territories where the show is known as "Inspector Barnaby".^[3] Dudgeon had first appeared in Midsomer Murders in the opening episode of the fourth series ("Garden of Death"), playing a secondary character.^[1]

In 2012, Dudgeon starred as Norman Birkett on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play series in four plays written by Caroline and David Stafford, based on Birkett's cases.^[1]

Personal life

Dudgeon is married to BBC Radio producer Mary Peate. They have two children.^[1]

Filmography

Film


Year	Title	Role
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	Policeman
1990	Fools of Fortune	Sergeant Rudkin
1996	Different for Girls	Neil Payne
2000	It Was an Accident	Holdsworth
2004	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason	Taxi Driver
2007	Son of Rambow	Joshua

Television


Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987–1990	Screenplay	Crowson / Brink	2 episodes
1987	London's Burning	Gary Woods	1 episode
1988	Piece of Cake	'Moggy' Cattermole	6 episodes
1989	Saracen	Jimmy	1 episode
1989	Red King, White Knight	Vlasek	TV movie
1990	Alive from Off Center	Brink	1 episode
1991	Lovejoy	DS Graham Bentley	1 episode
	Casualty	Mick	1 episode
	The Bill	Stanley Houseman	1 episode
1992	Resnick: Lonely Hearts	William Doria	2 episodes
1992	Between the Lines	D.S. Alan Hanson	1 episode
1993	Sharpe's Eagle	Gibbons	TV movie
1993	Resnick: Rough Treatment	William Doria	TV movie
1994	A Touch of Frost	DC Costello	1 episode
	Screen Two	Priest	1 episode
	Fatherland	Sex Crimes Cop	TV movie
1994–1997	Common As Muck	Ken Andrews	12 episodes
1995	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Himself	3 episodes
1995	Inspector Morse	David Michaels	1 episode
1995–1996	Out of the Blue	D.C. Marty Brazil	12 episodes
1997	Breakout	Dr. Neil McFarlane	TV movie
1997	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling	Puppeteer's Assistant	1 episode
1998–2000	The Mrs Bradley Mysteries	George Moody	5 episodes
1998–2000	The Canterbury Tales	The Miller	2 episodes
2000	Midsomer Murders	Daniel Bolt	Episode: "Garden of Death"
2001–2005	Messiah	Duncan Warren	2 episodes
2002	Murder in Mind	Edward Buttimore	1 episode
2004	Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking	Lestrade	TV movie
2005	Rose and Maloney	Alan Richmond	1 episode
2006	The Lavender List	Joe Haines	TV movie
	The Street	Brian Peterson	4 episodes
	Sorted	Harry Goodwin	6 episodes
2007	Coming Up	Doctor	1 episode
	Roman's Empire	Roman Pretty	4 episodes
	Coming Down the Mountain	John Philips	TV movie
	Most Evil	Narrator	3 episodes
2008	Silent Witness	Det-Supt. Paul Barker / Det Supt Paul Barker	2 episodes
2008	Survivors	Sean	1 episode
2009	Kingdom	Terry	1 episode
2009–2011	Life of Riley	Jim Riley	20 episodes
2010	The Nativity	Joachim	3 episodes
2011	United	Alan Hardaker	TV movie
2011–Present	Midsomer Murders	DCI John Barnaby	Series 14–Present
2012	The Charles Dickens Show	Lord Shaftesbury	1 episode
2013	Playhouse Presents	Jim	1 episode