Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English comedian, actor and author. He rose to fame as a member of the comedy duo

Armstrong and Miller Armstrong and Miller are an English comedy double act consisting of the actor-comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller. They have performed in two eponymous television sketch shows, the satirical ''Timeghost'' podcast, and many individu ...

, with Alexander Armstrong. He is known for roles as Angus Jeremy Bough in the '' Johnny English'' film series, DI Richard Poole in the BBC crime drama series '' Death in Paradise'' and James Lester in the ITV sci-fi series '' Primeval''.

Early life

Bennet Evan Miller was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 24 February 1966, the son of Welsh mother Marion and English father Michael Miller. He grew up in Nantwich, Cheshire. His father taught American literature at the City of Birmingham Polytechnic. His maternal grandfather was a Lithuanian immigrant. His paternal grandfather was a tailor in the East End of London, while his paternal great-grandmother taught English at South Cheshire College. He has two younger sisters. He is a distant cousin of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Miller was educated at Malbank School and Sixth Form College in Nantwich before studying

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate, he participated in theatre with his then-girlfriend, actress Rachel Weisz.This much I know: Ben Miller
''The Observer'', 24 February 2008 He remained at Cambridge to read for a PhD in

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state p ...

, with his proposed thesis, ''Novel quantum effects in low-temperature quasi-zero-dimensional mesoscopic electron systems.'' He abandoned his thesis to pursue a career in comedy. His interest in comedy began when a friend asked him to help chauffeur the judges of the National Student Drama Festival, which was being held that year in Cambridge. Having already finished his degree, he joined the

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

in 1989 and worked with Andy Parsons, David Wolstencroft and

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

before he directed a revue.

Career

Miller moved to London to pursue a career in comedy.The Armstrong & Miller Show – Armstrong and Miller
BBC Press Office – 12 October 2007 He was introduced to fellow Cambridge graduate Alexander Armstrong in 1992, at the TBA Sketch Comedy Group, a comedy club which ran at the Gate Theatre Studio,

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

throughout the 1990s. They performed their first full-length show together at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994 and returned in 1996, when they were nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award.Star of Primeval and The Armstrong and Miller Show
cult.tv Their success resulted in the commission of the television series ''

'', which ran for four series from 1997 to 2001 – one on the Paramount Comedy Channel and three on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In 1998, the duo also had their own radio show with the same name on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, which featured many of the sketches and characters from their TV series. After a six-year break, the show was recommissioned for Hat Trick Productions as '' The Armstrong & Miller Show'' and three series have been produced. In 2008, they also had a second radio show, ''Children's Hour with Armstrong and Miller''. Miller also started acting in films, starring in Steve Coogan's first feature film, '' The Parole Officer'' (2001). In 2003 he played the role of Bough, sidekick to Rowan Atkinson's title character, in the film '' Johnny English''. In 2004 he co-starred in the romantic comedy '' The Prince and Me''. In 2004 and 2005, he starred in two series of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series '' The Worst Week of My Life,''The 5-Minute Interview: Ben Miller
''The Independent,'' 21 December 2005 with Sarah Alexander.HOW WE MET: Sarah Alexander & Ben Miller
''Independent on Sunday'' – 7 March 2004 In 2006 he took part in a three-part Christmas special, ''The Worst Christmas of My Life''. He starred as James Peregrine Lester in ITV's 2007 sci-fi drama '' Primeval'' and as children’s dance instructor Mr Jonathan in the Australian

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

film '' Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance''. He and Alexander Armstrong formed a production company named Toff Media in 2007. The company was dissolved in 2023. Miller provided the voice for the ITV Digital and later PG Tips

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

in a popular series of television advertisements featuring Johnny Vegas. In 2008, he appeared as television producer Jonathan Pope in Tony Jordan's series '' Moving Wallpaper'' on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

and starred in '' Thank God You're Here''. In 2009, Miller appeared with

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order ...

in an episode of '' QI'' (Series 6. 9). The two have often been mistaken for each other, and as a joke they dressed in similar shirts for the episode and shared an on-screen kiss. In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the film '' Huge''. In January 2011 he presented an episode of the BBC science series ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

'' titled "What is One Degree?". Later in 2011 he reprised his role as James Lester in the TV series '' Primeval''. From November 2011 he played the role of Louis Harvey in '' The Ladykillers'' at the Gielgud Theatre. On 23 July 2012, Miller began touring for his book, ''It's Not Rocket Science,'' from the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in London. He also appeared at the British Comedy Awards with Armstrong on

. In 2013, Miller took part in an episode of '' Room 101'' and a ''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

'' special of game show ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

''. On 13 December 2014, he appeared in a Christmas edition of '' The Celebrity Chase''. From 2011 until the series three premiere in 2014, Miller starred in the

-French co-produced series '' Death in Paradise'' as Detective Inspector (DI) Richard Poole. A third series of ''Death in Paradise'' was commissioned for early 2014. On 9 April 2013 it was announced that Miller would be departing the series, to be replaced by actor Kris Marshall. Filming began in March 2013, and Miller left in May after completion of the first episode, in which his character was murdered. Miller reprised his role for a cameo appearance in a dream sequence during the tenth series in 2021. Miller explained he had personal reasons for the change: "It was the job of a lifetime, but logistically I just didn't feel I could continue. My personal circumstances just made it too complicated, but I will miss it like a lung. I love it here." Miller's wife had discovered she was pregnant after he had begun filming the first series. Their time apart caused strains on his relationship with her and their sons, so he wanted to spend more time with his family. In 2014, Miller appeared in the feature film '' Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism''. He also appeared with Billy Connolly and

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

in the film '' What We Did on Our Holiday''. Miller guest starred in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the third episode: " Robot of Sherwood". Starring opposite Nancy Carroll and Diana Vickers, Miller played Robert Houston in the play '' The Duck House'' by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash. The show is a political satire based on the UK parliamentary expenses scandal. In 2015, following the 800th anniversary of the ''

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

'', Miller starred as King John in Series 6 of '' Horrible Histories''. Since October 2015, Miller along with

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019, 2024), for which she won the B ...

and Will Close, appears in adverts for British supermarket

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

as Roger with Jones as his wife Jo and Close as their son Freddie. In 2016, Miller co-presented the ITV entertainment series '' It's Not Rocket Science'' alongside Rachel Riley and Romesh Ranganathan. In February 2016 Miller issued a book, accompanied by a lecture tour, entitled ''The Aliens are Coming!'', examining the question " are we alone in the universe?" That year, Miller played the role of Murray in the six-part

sitcom '' I Want My Wife Back'', starring alongside Caroline Catz. In 2016 he appeared in the

comedy '' Power Monkeys''. In 2018 he returned to the role of 'Bough', sidekick again to Rowan Atkinson's title character, in the film '' Johnny English Strikes Again''. In September of that same year he played the role of Wolf Hall on the BBC sitcom '' Upstart Crow''. In November 2022, Miller released his seventh children's book ''Secrets of a Christmas Elf''. In 2024, Miller acted as children's author Jullian Hartswood in the comedy drama '' Austin'' for Australian television network ABC TV, and produced by

Northern Pictures Northern Pictures is an Australian-based television production company, which develops and produces unscripted and factual television programs for multiple television channels in Australia and internationally. The company was founded by Sue Cl ...

and Lincoln Pictures.

Personal life

Miller dated actress Rachel Weisz while they were both studying at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

during the early 1990s. He married actress Belinda Stewart-Wilson in 2004, and they had a son before divorcing in 2011. He married production executive Jessica Parker, the daughter of musician

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

, in September 2013; they have a son and daughter. He has been diagnosed with OCD. Despite reports to the contrary, in an interview with Roman Kemp on BBC Radio 5 Live in December 2024, Miller said he could not play the drums and did not know where this claim came from. In a 2016 appearance on the panel show Would I Lie to You?, Miller falsely claimed that he had once played drums in a band.

Awards

Miller was awarded a Judges' Commendation for his portrayal of

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

at the 1990 National Student Drama Festival. He co-wrote '' MindGym'', winner of the first BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for comedy in 1998, with Tim Wright and Adam Gee. He and Armstrong won a BCA Award for '' The Armstrong and Miller Show.'' In 2010 they also won a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

for ''The Armstrong and Miller Show.'' In 2021, with the cast of ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

'', Miller received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Books

* ''It's Not Rocket Science'' (2014)

Sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

* ''The Aliens Are Coming!: The Exciting and Extraordinary Science Behind Our Search for Life in the Universe'' (2017) Sphere * ''The Night I Met Father Christmas'' (2018)

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

* ''The Boy Who Made the World Disappear'' (2019) Simon & Schuster ISBN 978 - 1 - 4711 - 7267 - 0 * ''The Day I Fell into a Fairytale'' (2020) Simon & Schuster * ''How I Became a Dog called Midnight'' (2021) Simon & Schuster * ''Diary of a Christmas Elf'' (2021) Simon & Schuster * ''How I Became a Dog Called Midnight'' (2022) Simon & Schuster * ''The Night We Got Stuck in a Story'' (2022) Simon & Schuster * ''Secrets of a Christmas Elf'' (2022) Simon & Schuster * ''Once Upon a Legend'' (2023) Simon & Schuster * ''Diary of a Big Bad Wolf'' (2024) Simon & Schuster * ''Robin Hood Aged 10 3/4'' (2024) Simon & Schuster * ''Diary of a Puss in Boots'' (2025) Simon & Schuster

Filmography

Film

Television

Filmmaking credits

References

External links

''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' official website
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Ben 1966 births Living people People from Nantwich Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English people of Lithuanian descent English people of Welsh descent Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English children's writers English film directors English television directors English sketch comedians Armstrong and Miller People with obsessive–compulsive disorder English writers with disabilities Film directors with disabilities Comedians from London Comedians from Cheshire