Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in 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 ...

drama series ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that ...

''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he appeared as Will Taylor on ITV soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. Andrews left the show on 26 December 2024 when his character Will died of a heart attack.

Early life and education

Born in 1963 in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, Andrews went to Sitwell Junior School on Grange Road and Oakwood Comprehensive School on Moorgate Road. He went to school with ''Top Gear'' presenter

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...

Career

Dean Andrews started off as a mainstay of cruise ships as a talented entertainer and singer. He was discovered by film director

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

, who was looking for people from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to appear in the 2001 film, '' The Navigators''. He then went on to play Barry Shiel in the

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 ...

drama '' Buried'', which won the

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 ...

Award for Best Drama Series in 2004. That year, he also had a small role, as Neil, in the Channel 4 series ''

No Angels No Angels are an all-female Pop music, pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Ludmilla Diakovska, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originat ...

''. In 2005, Andrews appeared in one episode of the ITV drama '' Wire in the Blood''. The following year, he appeared in another BBC drama, ''

Life On Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that ...

'', as DS Ray Carling. He then had roles in two BBC dramas, '' True Dare Kiss'' and '' The Street'', in 2007. Andrews again played DC Carling in '' Ashes to Ashes'', a 2008 spin-off series of ''Life on Mars''. During the same year, he recorded voiceovers for

Currys Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is a British electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phon ...

television advertisements. He had a guest role in 2010 on the BBC One series '' Waterloo Road''. In 2011, Andrews appeared in: the BBC drama '' The Body Farm'' as Peter Collins; the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

television film '' United'', about the

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

''"

Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the ...

"'' team and the 1958

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

; ITV's supernatural drama series ''

Marchlands ''Marchlands'' is a British television series developed from the American television drama pilot '' The Oaks'', written and created by David Schulner, and broadcast on ITV in 2011. A follow-up series, '' Lightfields'', was broadcast in 2013. ...

'', playing one of the lead roles; and the five-part BBC One series ''The Case'', in which he played the lead role as a man accused of murdering his terminally ill girlfriend. In November 2012, Andrews appeared in all four series of the BBC drama '' Last Tango in Halifax'' as Robert "Robbie" Greenwood. The following year, he portrayed Pete Lewis in the

show ''

Being Eileen ''Being Eileen'' is a BBC comedy-drama which began as a six-part series on 4 February and ended on 11 March 2013. It began as a one-off Christmas special titled ''Lapland'', broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 24 December 2011. A full ...

''. Andrews played local hotel and barman Tom Asher in a 2015 episode of the popular series ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' on ITV. In 2019, the actor joined the cast of ITV soap opera ''

''. He left the soap on 26 December 2024 when his character Will died of a heart attack. He has stated that he was not told about the character's demise. He narrated the Channel 5 documentary series, ''Our Great Yorkshire Life'', in 2022. He also narrates the UK TV show Casualty 24/7 which centres on Barnsley Hospital.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Dean Living people English male television actors English male film actors English male soap opera actors 1963 births Actors from Rotherham Male actors from South Yorkshire