Richard John Ridings (born 19 September 1958) is an English actor. He portrayed Alan Ashburn in the ITV television drama '' Fat Friends'', Mr. Lipa in the Academy Award-nominated World War II drama ''The Pianist'' (2002), Bernard Green in the

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

comedy-drama '' Common as Muck'', Mr. Bumble 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 ...

series Dickensian, and is the voice of Daddy Pig in ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

''. He trained as an actor at Bretton Hall College, then the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

. He is the father of singer-songwriter Freya Ridings.

Career

He had roles in a series of other television series and feature films, among them ''

Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions or senses of rotation. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands relative to the observer: from the top to the right, then down and then to ...

'', '' The Ink Thief'', ''

Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...

'', ''

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...

'', ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'', '' Fierce Creatures'' and as

Silas Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and ...

in '' Highlander: The Series''. Ridings voices Daddy Pig in the animated children's series ''

'', Father Christmas and Boss Dwarf in '' Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom'', and Grooby in Q Pootle 5. In 2005, he took the lead role in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

sitcom '' Clement Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', playing a sexually obsessed overweight ghost alongside Steve Furst and Amanda Abbington. The second series was transmitted in May, 2007. Ridings has also provided voiceovers in video games, including the voice of Sarge in '' Quake III Arena'', the Mentor in ''

Dungeon Keeper ''Dungeon Keeper'' is a strategy video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and released by Electronic Arts in June 1997 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. In ''Dungeon Keeper'', the player builds and manages a dungeon, protecting it from invading ' ...

'' and '' Dungeon Keeper 2'', Mendechaus in '' War for the Overworld'', Roach in '' Heavenly Sword'', General Pig in ''

Puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

'', and ex-lawman Giles the Farmer in '' Fable II'', on the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

video game console. In 2010 he also provided the voice of Pigsy, in the video game '' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'' and of Cornell (the Dark Lord of the Lycanthropes) in '' Castlevania: Lords of Shadow''. In 2011 he provided the voice of the leader of the Machina refugees, Miqol, in ''

Xenoblade Chronicles ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. The series began with the original '' Xenoblade Chronicles'' game, published for the Wii in 2010 in Japan, and released in ...

'' and in 2013 he provided the voice of the Hunter in '' DmC: Devil May Cry'', the Daemon Lord in '' Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate'', and the Green Man in '' Tearaway''. In 2016 he voiced Thorgrim Grudgebearer in '' Total War: Warhammer''. Most recently, Ridings played a courageous ape named "Buck" in the "

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...

" prequel, ''

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' is a 2011 American science fiction action film directed by Rupert Wyatt from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the ''Planet of the Apes'' film series and is the seventh install ...

'', which was released in August 2011. In 2015, he played Mr Bumble in the BBC miniseries '' Dickensian''.

Filmography

Film

TV series

Video games

Theatre

References

General * * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridings, Richard 1958 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Oxfordshire Male motion capture actors Actors from Henley-on-Thames