Don Gilet (born 17 January 1967) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as DS Nicky Cole in '' 55 Degrees North'', DI Mervin Wilson in ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

'',

Lucas Johnson Lucas Johnson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Don Gilet. He made his first on-screen appearance on 3 April 2008. Lucas is introduced as a reformed drug addict and criminal-turned-preacher who appears a ...

in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', and Jesse Law in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

''.

Early life

Gilet was brought up in

Caldmore Caldmore ( ) is a suburb of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is a historic village formerly in Staffordshire. History The settlement of Caldmore grew up around an important road junction, the shape of which defined an open space of ro ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, with two older sisters. He attended Whitehall Junior School before

Blue Coat Church of England Academy Blue Coat Church of England Academy (formerly Blue Coat Church of England Comprehensive School) is a mixed Church of England secondary school and sixth form located in Walsall in the West Midlands of England. History A bluecoat school was fo ...

and Sunday school at Caldmore Gospel Hall in Caldmore, and the

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. Mountview Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicians ...

Career

Gilet's first television appearance was on the Channel 4 dating show '' Streetmate'', where he was interviewed as the friend of a participant. His first major role was playing Johnny Lindo in '' Babyfather'' (opposite future EastEnders co-star

Diane Parish Diane Carol Richards (born 6 November 1969), known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2006. A graduate of the Royal Academy of D ...

), before landing the lead role in the detective series '' 55 Degrees North'', as Detective Sergeant Nicky Cole. In 2006, he played Leo Charles in ''

The Line of Beauty ''The Line of Beauty'' is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst. Plot The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is mid ...

'' and had a guest role in the ''

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 ...

'' Christmas episode " The Runaway Bride". In 2001, Gilet appeared in a commercial for Apple's

iMac G4 The iMac G4 is an all-in-one personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from January 2002 to August 2004. The computer is comprised of a hemispheric base that holds the components, including a PowerPC G4 processor, ...

computer. The commercial was named "Window Shopping" and showed Gilet making certain gestures towards the

iMac The iMac is a series of all-in-one computers from Apple Inc., sold as part of the company's Mac (computer), Mac family of computers. First introduced in 1998, it has remained a primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since and evol ...

, which the computer later copied. He also appeared as a store manager in a staff training video for

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarkets. He has had minor appearances in ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'' and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. Gilet featured in the music video for Gabrielle's 2001 hit " Out of Reach". In 2011, he featured in a music video for the song 'I Want You to Remember' by solo artist I Am Spartacus. In theatre, he has appeared in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' and ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...

''. In April 2008, he joined the BBC television soap opera ''

'' playing serial killer

. Gilet's character left ''EastEnders'' on 30 July 2010. In 2010, he appeared as Abanazar in the Churchill Theatre Bromley's Christmas pantomime ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' alongside

Melinda Messenger Melinda Jane Messenger (born 23 February 1971) is an English television presenter and former glamour photography, glamour model and Page Three girl. She presented the magazine programme ''Live from Studio Five'' and was formerly the co-Televisio ...

. He followed that in 2011 by appearing at the Grove Theatre,

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

in ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

'', which also featured his ''EastEnders'' co-star

Gemma Bissix Gemma Bissix (born 6 June 1983) is an English actress. She has been acting since the age of 9. Her most prominent roles have been in soap operas, as Clare Bates in ''EastEnders'' and Clare Devine in ''Hollyoaks''; she was awarded with two Brit ...

. In May 2013, Gilet played the roles of Fuliginous, Ruislip & Blackfriar in a BBC radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman's ''

Neverwhere ''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was de ...

'', adapted by Dirk Maggs. In 2014, Gilet joined the cast of

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 ...

medical drama ''

'' in the role of Consultant Anaesthetist Jesse Law. In 2015, Gilet rejoined the cast of BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' to reprise his role of Lucas Johnson, departing again on 10 March 2016. In 2017, Gilet joined the TV series '' The Loch'', playing psychologist Blake Albrighton. The character made his debut in the series's first episode on 11 June 2017. Gilet's Lucas Johnson character returned to EastEnders on 25 December 2020 and departed on 18 March 2021. In 2022, he portrayed the role of Coach Harris in the BBC series '' Rebel Cheer Squad''. Gilet rejoined EastEnders in 2024 for a brief guest stint. In 2024, it was announced that Gilet will be the new lead detective, DI Mervin Wilson, in the BBC police drama ''

''. He had previously appeared in the fourth series in 2015 as a guest portraying a character called Andre Morgan.

Personal life

Gilet previously lived in Barnet with his wife, Tracy Whitwell, an actress and author, and their son.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilet, Don 1967 births Living people Actors from Walsall Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Black British male actors English male stage actors British male soap opera actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English people of Nigerian descent Male actors from Staffordshire