Gareth David Lloyd (born 28 March 1981), known professionally as Gareth David-Lloyd, is a Welsh actor and writer best known for his role as

Ianto Jones Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television programme '' Torchwood'', a spin-off from the long-running series '' Doctor Who'', played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A regular within the show, Ianto appears in every episode o ...

in the British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

series ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of '' Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

.''

Early life

He was born in

Bettws, Newport Bettws ( cy, Betws) is a large modern housing estate, electoral ward and coterminous community (parish) of the city of Newport, South Wales. Etymology The name of the village comes from the Middle English word ''bedhus'', meaning "prayer ...

. David-Lloyd's first acting role was as a robot in a junior school play. As a teenager, he joined the Gwent Young People's Theatre in Abergavenny and The Dolman Youth Theatre in Newport. While there, he appeared in several plays, including ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' and ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (12 ...

'', in which he played the title role. Gareth studied Performing Arts at Crosskeys College in South Wales. When former Labour Party leader

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader ...

saw the young David-Lloyd performing at

Monmouth Castle Monmouth Castle ( cy, Castell Trefynwy) is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south east Wales. Once an important border castle, and birthplace of Henry V of ...

, he sent him £250 to use towards his acting career.

Career

Music

David-Lloyd fronts the

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band Blue Gillespie, previously known as A Breath of Blue Fire. The band participated in Sex, Wales, and Anarchy on 20 April 2008, and Orgee on 3 May 2008, at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff. Their first EP, ''Cave Country'', was released in December 2008 which was followed by ''Cave Country Part 2'' which was released in August 2009. Their debut album, ''Synesthesia'', was released in May 2010. Their second album ''Seven Rages of Man'' was released in May 2012.

Acting

While studying at

Coleg Gwent Coleg Gwent ( en, Gwent College) is Wales' largest further education college at various locations in the former county of Gwent, South Wales. It has 24,000 students ranging from secondary school leavers to mature students. A wide range of par ...

Crosskeys Crosskeys ( cy, Pont-y-cymer) is a village, community and an electoral ward in Caerphilly county borough in Wales. Etymology The village was originally named Pont-y-cymer and this remains the official Welsh name for the village. The name me ...

, David-Lloyd appeared in various local stage productions at the

Dolman Theatre The Dolman Theatre is located in the city of Newport, Wales, United Kingdom. The theatre was formally an integral part of Kingsway Shopping Centre until major restructuring of the shopping centre forced what was the main entrance of the theatre ...

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and the

Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre ( cy, Theatr y Sherman) is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from Cardiff University. Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Theatre between ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. David-Lloyd went on to train at the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth the ...

, before moving to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

to pursue his acting career with The Rep College. David-Lloyd's parts have included Sebastian in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

'' on stage. In the 2004 comedy/drama ''

Mine All Mine ''Mine All Mine'' is a British television series produced by Red Production Company for ITV. It was written by Russell T Davies and starred Griff Rhys Jones. The story takes place in Swansea, Wales. Overview Rhys Jones plays Max Vivaldi, an e ...

'', written by ''Torchwood'' creator

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', ''The Second Coming'', '' Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...

, he played a character named Yanto Jones. In 2005, David-Lloyd began a part-time degree in philosophy and psychological studies with the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

''Torchwood''

David-Lloyd returned to Wales for the filming of his first regular television role in 2006 for Doctor Who spin-off ''

'', in which he played

, a member of the fictional

Torchwood Institute The Torchwood Institute, or simply Torchwood, is a fictional secret organisation from the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series '' Torchwood''. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the ...

. David-Lloyd appeared in three of four series of Torchwood and even made an appearance in the '' Doctor Who'' series 4 finale episodes "

The Stolen Earth "The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on . The episode was written by show runner and head ...

" and "

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry co ...

". David-Lloyd has also recorded a ''Torchwood'' audio book, '' The Sin Eaters'', and appeared in the ''Torchwood'' audio dramas '' Lost Souls'', '' Asylum'', ''

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Go ...

'', '' The Dead Line'', '' The Lost Files'', and ''The House of the Dead''. David-Lloyd has recorded a number of M.R. James ghost stories titled ''Tales of the Supernatural''. Since 2015, he has reprised the role of ''Ianto Jones'' in several ''Torchwood'' audio plays for

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

and has also written some of the scripts for those releases.

After Torchwood

In 2009 he appeared in the short comedy film ''

A Very British Cover-up A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', while also appearing as a police detective in Internet crime thriller, ''Girl Number Nine'', also starring Tracy Ann Oberman, premiering online on 30 October 2009. In 2010 David-Lloyd starred in an episode of the long-running ITV series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' first aired on 21 January 2010 and also appeared as

Dr. John Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...

in 2010 direct-to-DVD film ''Sherlock Holmes'' by

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and s ...

. He also appeared in the pantomime Cinderella at the Charter Theatre Preston playing the character of Prince Charming. David-Lloyd also appeared in ''

Casimir Effect In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect is a physical force acting on the macroscopic boundaries of a confined space which arises from the quantum fluctuations of the field. It is named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir, who pred ...

'', an independent short feature, starring as Dr Robert Cameron. This film began shooting in early 2010 and was released on 12 December 2011. The production company has said this is a proof of concept which will see Casimir Effect developed into a TV series. In June 2011, Gareth appeared as a main character in the Syfy movie '' Red Faction: Origins'' based on the video games. Later in 2011, David-Lloyd appeared in a season 3 episode of the SyFy show ''

Warehouse 13 ''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Described ...

'' titled "3...2...1...", as an agent of Warehouse 12 in the 1890s, partnered with H. G. Wells. On 30 October 2012, David-Lloyd began appearing on ''

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 from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'' as Rhys Hopkins, a role he played until January 2013. In November 2018, David-Lloyd began appearing on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

medical drama ''Casualty'' as Joshua Bowers.

Personal life

David-Lloyd married Gemma James in 2010. The couple have a daughter, Lily, and a son, Eli. Gareth goes by "he/him and they/them" pronouns according to his Twitter.

Filmography

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:David-Lloyd, Gareth 1981 births Living people National Youth Theatre members People from Newport, Wales Web series directors Welsh male film actors Welsh male stage actors Welsh male television actors Welsh male video game actors Welsh male voice actors 21st-century Welsh male actors