Michael Dundonald Cochrane (born 19 May 1947) is an English actor. He has played Oliver Sterling in the Radio 4 soap opera ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

''.

Early life

Cochrane was born 19 May 1947, in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, East Sussex. He was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

Career

Cochrane played the role of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Charles Gaylion, a

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

pilot in the BBC television series '' Wings'' (1977–78). He has twice appeared 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 ...

science fiction series ''

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 ...

'', first as Charles Cranleigh in the serial '' Black Orchid'' (1982) and later as Redvers Fenn-Cooper in '' Ghost Light'' (1989). Cochrane was later associated with ''Doctor Who'' when he appeared in the 2006

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

audio drama, '' No Man's Land''. This was followed by further appearances in the 2008

audio drama '' Brotherhood of the Daleks'', '' Trail of the White Worm''/''

The Oseidon Adventure ''The Oseidon Adventure'' is an List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish, audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. This audio drama was produced by Big Fin ...

'' in 2012, and ''The Fate of Krelos/Return to Telos'' in 2015. Cochrane has also appeared as different characters in the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

period drama '' Heartbeat''. His first appearance was as the

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

businessman Derek Lightfoot in the episode ''Fool for Love'' (1997). A further appearance came in 2009, when Cochrane appeared as a character named Cunningham, a confidence trickster and sneak thief in two episodes; ''("Thursday's Children" and "The Middle of Somewhere")'' both of which were set in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Other significant roles in which Cochrane has appeared are '' The Pallisers'' (1974), '' Love in a Cold Climate'' (1980), ''

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

'' (1983), a BBC serial adaptation of '' Goodbye Mr. Chips'' (1984), '' Raffles'' (1985–1993), '' No Job for a Lady'', '' The Chief'' (1990–1995), and as Sir Henry Simmerson in the '' Sharpe'' series. His film career has included roles in ''

Escape to Victory ''Escape to Victory'' (or simply ''Victory'') is a 1981 sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German ...

'' (1981), ''

The Return of the Soldier ''The Return of the Soldier'' is the debut novel of English novelist Rebecca West, first published in 1918. The novel recounts the return of the shell shocked Captain Chris Baldry from the trenches of the First World War from the perspective ...

'' (1982), ''Real Life'' (1984), ''Number One Gun'' (1990), '' The Saint'' (1997), ''

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

'' (1998), '' A Different Loyalty'' (2004), and '' The Iron Lady'' (2011). He was featured in the ITV science fiction series '' The Uninvited''. In 2008, he appeared in the soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' as Daniel's solicitor and in 2009 in ''

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

'' as MP

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...

. He appeared in the sitcom '' Perfect World'' as the sex-obsessed marketing director. He appeared in '' Offending Angels'' (2002). He was seen as the vicar in ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'' with

Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' from ...

and

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

. He had a small role in episode 5 of the BBC serial drama ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action-drama TV series based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

'' (2014). He had a small role as Roger in series 1 episode 1 of the BBC sitcom Dear John. He appeared as the ship's officer in the BBC's ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle-class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket ( Patricia Ro ...

'' episode titled "Sea Fever" (1993), and he also appeared as Mr Price in the ITV's detective drama '' Wycliffe'' episode titled "Strangers" (1997). In 2016, he played the role of Henry Marten in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

''. Since 2007, Cochrane has played Oliver Sterling in the Radio 4 soap opera ''

''. In 2019 Cochrane appeared as one of the Number 2's in the 2016 Big Finish Productions audio drama adaptation of the cult 1960s British TV series ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'' aired by BBC Radio 4 Extra. In 2021, he appeared as Mr Kingsley the lawyer in '' The Outlaws''.

Personal life

Cochrane is married to the actress

Belinda Carroll Belinda Carroll (born 22 July 1945) is an English stage and television actress. Background and early career Born in Oxfordshire, Carroll's parents were John F. Carroll, a flying instructor with the Royal Air Force, and actress Hazel Bainbridge ...

Filmography

Radio

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Michael 1947 births Living people People educated at Cranleigh School 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male radio actors English male television actors Male actors from Brighton