Neil John Pearson (born 27 April 1959) is a British actor, known for his work on television. He was nominated for the 1994
BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for ''
Between the Lines'' (1992–1994). His other television roles include ''
Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), ''
All the Small Things
"All the Small Things" is a song by American rock band Blink-182. It was the second single and eighth track released from the band's third album, '' Enema of the State'' (1999). The track was composed primarily by guitarist and vocalist Tom De ...
'' (2009), ''
Waterloo Road'' (2014–2015), and ''
In the Club'' (2014–2016). His film appearances include all four of the ''
Bridget Jones'' films. He is also an
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
book dealer who specialises in the
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.
The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...
literary movement of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
between the World Wars.
Early life
Pearson grew up in
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park.
Hist ...
and
Balham
Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...
, London. His father, a
panel beater, left home when he was five; his mother was a legal secretary. He was a boarder at
Woolverstone Hall School near
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
where he first learned to act. He attended the
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...
from 1977 to 1980.
Stage, television and film work
One of Pearson's early appearances was in 1984 alongside
Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series '' Rising Damp'' from 19 ...
in
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist.
His public career, from 1964 until his murder in 1967 committed by his partner, was short but highly i ...
's play ''
Loot'' at the
Lyric Theatre in London; Rossiter died in his dressing-room during a later performance. He won a part in
Hat Trick Productions
Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat inste ...
'
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Chelmsford 123
''Chelmsford 123'' is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. It originally ran for two series, of six and seven episodes respectively, in 1988 and 1990.
The series is set in the British town of C ...
'' and also appeared with Hat Trick executive
Jimmy Mulville in ''
That's Love That's Love may refer to:
* ''That's Love'' (TV series), a British television sitcom
* "That's Love" (Jim Capaldi song), 1983
* "That's Love" (Billy Fury song), 1960
See also
* " That's Love, That It Is", a song by Blancmange
{{dab ...
''. Pearson narrated Colin Wyatt's animated series ''
The Poddington Peas'' in 1986.
It was in the roles of
associate editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
and office lothario and gambling addict, Dave Charnley, in the sitcom ''
Drop the Dead Donkey'' – another Hat Trick show – and of Detective Superintendent Tony Clark in the thriller ''
Between the Lines'' (1992–94), that he made his greatest impact on the viewing public.
Since then he has appeared in such varied roles as
Dr Jameson in ''
Rhodes
Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
'' (1996), Jack Green in the children's serial ''
The Magician's House'' (1999), Trevor Heslop in ''
Trevor's World of Sport
''Trevor's World of Sport'' began as a 2003 BBC television sitcom written and directed by Andy Hamilton and starring Neil Pearson as Trevor. One series of the television series was made, followed by three series which were aired on BBC Radio 4, ...
'' (2003) and
John Diamond in ''A Lump in My Throat'' (2003). He has also been in several films, including ''
The Secret Rapture'' (1993), ''
Fever Pitch'' (1997) and ''
Bridget Jones's Diary
''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Fielding, which was itself a loose ...
'' (2001). He played Major Steve Arnold, the American interrogator, in ''Taking Sides'' at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in 2003. He played Rob in ''
The Booze Cruise'' (2003), and then also in the second and third sequels in 2005 and 2006. He appeared in the 2006 Radio Four series ''
Vent
Vent or vents may refer to:
Science and technology Biology
*Vent, the cloaca region of an animal
*Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase
Geology
*Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...
'' as Ben. He played the choirmaster Michael Caddick 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 ''
All the Small Things
"All the Small Things" is a song by American rock band Blink-182. It was the second single and eighth track released from the band's third album, '' Enema of the State'' (1999). The track was composed primarily by guitarist and vocalist Tom De ...
'' in 2009. He also appeared in episodes of ''
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. ...
'' and ''
Lewis'' – in the former, appearing alongside ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' co-star
Jeff Rawle
Jeffrey Alan Rawle (born 20 July 1951) is a British actor from Birmingham, England. He is known for playing Billy in ''Billy Liar (TV series), Billy Liar'' (1973–1974), and for portraying George Dent in the news-gathering sitcom ''Drop the Dea ...
; and in the latter, again playing a gambling addict alongside
Haydn Gwynne
Haydn Gwynne (; 21 March 195720 October 2023) was an English actress. She was nominated for the 1992 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for the comedy series '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1991), and won the 2009 Drama ...
, another star of ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' – and played Doug Anderson in an episode of ''
Death in Paradise'' in 2013.
In the
Inspector George Gently
''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a British crime drama television series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector Gently ...
episode ''Goodbye to China'' (2011), Pearson acts as a former Sergeant of DCI Gently, who now has risen in rank above his former master. In 2014 Pearson became a series regular in ''
Waterloo Road'' as new headteacher Vaughan Fitzgerald.
Pearson was a judge on Channel 4's ''
The Play's the Thing'', which sought to find a play written by an unknown writer for a run in the West End. The winning play, written by Kate Betts, was called ''On the Third Day'' and opened at the
New Ambassadors Theatre in London in June 2006. Pearson appeared in a touring revival of
Sir Peter Hall's production of
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
's ''
Old Times'' in 2006, and in a production of
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
's play ''
Arcadia'' at the
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by ...
, London, in 2009.
After obtaining a collection of original ''
Hancock's Half Hour
''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The radio series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James, Bill Kerr and,at various ...
'' radio scripts and realising that some of the corresponding recordings no longer existed, he conceived and subsequently co-produced ''The Missing Hancocks'', a series of re-creations of selected
wiped episodes for BBC Radio 4, which debuted in October 2014.
In 2020, he was in season 8, episode 4 of ''
Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and ...
''. He also appeared as
Eric Morley in an episode of ''
The Reckoning'' (2023), a miniseries about the life of
Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English media personality and DJ. He was known for his eccentric image, charitable work, and hosting the BBC shows ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. A ...
.
Pearson has acted in several BBC Radio Dramas including the black comedy series ''
Vent
Vent or vents may refer to:
Science and technology Biology
*Vent, the cloaca region of an animal
*Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase
Geology
*Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...
'' as comatose writer Ben Smith, adaptations of the
Martin Beck
Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in a series of ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all were ada ...
novels playing Beck's sidekick Detective Lennart Kollberg, and ''House of Ghosts: A Case for Inspector Morse'' where he played the late
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV (TV network), ITV television series, ''Inspec ...
's iconic fictional detective
Inspector Morse
Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England.
On television he was portrayed by John ...
.
Antiquarian book business
Pearson is the author of a book on the publisher
Jack Kahane, ''Obelisk: A History of Jack Kahane and the
Obelisk Press''. He is a collector of rare drama scripts and in 2011 he opened an online bookshop specialising in theatrical material. He has a special interest in the
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.
The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...
literary movement of Paris between the wars.
Personal interests
He strongly identifies with the
British Left, having made a
party election broadcast for the
Labour Party for the
1994 European Elections, though he later supported
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...
when Livingstone ran as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate for
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
in
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. For many years he has also supported the
National Council for One Parent Families, having written about his family background for the organisation, and also raised £32,000 for the charity on a celebrity edition of ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...
''.
He is a keen
Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
player and participated in the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe event in London.
Pearson is also a fan of
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
and regularly attends home games. In 2007 he assisted with fundraising to renovate the
Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...
Theatre.
[Alistair Smit]
"Artistic policy faces overhaul as Bristol Old Vic launches refurb"
''The Stage'', 21 June 2007
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview with Neil 03/07*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Neil
1959 births
Living people
Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
British male stage actors
British male television actors
Male actors from London
Actors from the London Borough of Wandsworth
People from Battersea
People from Balham