Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including
Tuppy Glossop in ''
Jeeves and Wooster
''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...
'' (1990–1993), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy ''
Outside Edge'' (1994–1996), mini-cab firm owner Sam in the sitcom ''
Roger Roger'' (1996–2003), and East Yorkshire GP Dr Gordon Ormerod in the
period medical drama
A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...
''
The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...
'' (2003–2011).
Acting career
Daws was trained at
RADA. Daws appeared in the 1982 stage play ''
On Your Way, Riley!'' with
Brian Murphy and
Maureen Lipman. He played
Tuppy Glossop in the early 1990s
ITV version of ''
Jeeves and Wooster
''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...
''. He played pompous cricket captain Roger Dervish alongside
Brenda Blethyn in the award-winning ITV comedy-drama ''
Outside Edge'' 1994–96, for which he was nominated for Best Comedy Actor at the British Comedy Awards.
Daws has also appeared in a number of one-off dramas including the 1997 BBC drama, ''
The Missing Postman'', ''Sword of Honour'' (Channel 4), ''Take a Girl Like You'' (BBC), ''Mystery of Men'' (BBC) and in 1996 he starred in a pilot of what would become the long-running series ''
Roger Roger'', a comedy-drama which ran until 2003. Daws starred as Sam Mountjoy, the co-owner of Cresta Cabs. Daws also appeared as Ernie Rayner in the three-part prequel to ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
'', ''
Rock and Chips'' (BBC).
He played Mike Spicer in ''
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. ...
'' "Hidden Depths" (2005), and Hamish Rafferty in "The Curse of the Ninth" (2017).
Daws plays the trumpet, as evidenced when in 1994 he appeared as a guest in the final episode of the BBC comedy series ''
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series with ...
'' (series four) and played over the credits, accompanied by
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry.
Fry and Laurie act ...
on the piano.
Daws appeared as Dr. Gordon Ormerod in the long-running
ITV drama series ''
The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...
'', the last scenes of which showed Ormerod fighting for his life after an attack at the hospital.
Robert Daws played a recurring role in ''
Robin of Sherwood'' as
King John's herald, Hubert de Guiscarde in the episodes "The Greatest Enemy" and "The Sheriff of Nottingham".
In November and December 2009, he appeared in ''
Public Property
Public property is property that is dedicated to public use. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership (owned collectively by the population of a state). State own ...
'' by
Sam Peter Jackson at the
Trafalgar Studios.
In May and June 2010, he appeared in ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'' as
Gail McIntyre's barrister as part of her murder trial storyline where she was wrongly accused of murdering husband
Joe McIntyre.
From July 2010 to 11 September 2010, Daws appeared as
Dr Watson in ''The Secret of Sherlock Holmes'' at the
Duchess Theatre. In this production,
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
was played by
Peter Egan
Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor. He is known for television roles including Hogarth in '' Big Breadwinner Hog'' (1969), the future King George IV in ''Prince Regent'' (1979); smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in the sitco ...
. Daws also appeared as
Jim Hacker in the West End production of ''
Yes, Prime Minister'' and the national tour of ''Blackbird'' by David Harrower, for which he was nominated for Best Actor in the ''Manchester Evening News'' Drama Awards. He also appeared in the first Classic Comedy Company productions of ''Ten Times Table'' and ''How the Other Half Loves'', by Alan Aykbourn. Also, Michael Frayn's ''Alarms and Excursions''.
He appeared as
Charles Pooter in a new adaptation of ''
Diary of a Nobody'' and as John Carlisle, in an episode of ''
New Tricks
''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...
'' (Series 8, episode 9) which was first shown on
BBC1
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 (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
on 29 August 2011. He played Gavin Dibbs the husband of the new GP in Port Wenn in an episode of ''
Doc Martin'' (Series 5, episode 1) first shown on
ITV on 12 September 2011.
He played appeared as the father in
Jack Whitehall's episode of the British holiday series
Little Crackers, and portrays Mayor Len Winkler in
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...
's comedy series, ''The Wright Way'', for
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 ...
.
He portrayed
Arthur Lowe (June 2019) on
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 ...
, in ''Dear Arthur, Love John'' and
Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...
in ''Goodnight from Him'' and John Betjeman in ''New Fame. New Love'' (BBC Radio 4). He also co-created the BBC Radio detective series ''
Trueman and Riley'' and played Trueman in all three series.
In 2014, he began filming ''
Poldark'' as Dr Thomas Choake. (BBC 2015–2019)
In 2016, he appeared in the BBC TV series ''
Father Brown'' as Robert Twyman, and as John Green in ''
Death in Paradise''. He also starred as Professor James Cheeseman in the
horror movie ''The Unfolding''. He also appeared in ''Agatha Raisin'' "Love from Hell" as Ted Huxley (2019). Also as psychotic drug baron Shank, in Sky's black comedy series, ''Sick Note'' (2019)
In 2022-2023, he appeared in 7 episodes of the BBC series ''
Sister Boniface Mysteries'' as Chief Constable Hector Lowsley. He starred as Peter Weiss in the 2023 film ''The Piper''.
Literary career
Daws worked with best-selling mystery writer
Adam Croft on a radio-play adaptation of Croft's 2011 book, ''Exit Stage Left'', which was released in 2012 with Daws playing the lead character Kempston Hardwick. Daws and Croft present the crime fiction podcast 'Partners In Crime'.
Daws' first crime novella, ''The Rock'', was published in July 2012. This was followed in September 2016 with a sequel, ''The Poisoned Rock''. A third volume of the series, ''The Killing Rock'', was published in 2020.
Personal life
Daws was born in
Leigh-on-Sea
Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509.
Geograph ...
,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
.
Since February 2003 he has been married to
Amy Robbins (his co-star in ''
The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...
'', who played Dr. Jill Weatherill, who later became his screen wife).
They have two daughters, Elizabeth and May, and a son, Benjamin.
They live in
Ampthill
Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825.
Histor ...
, Bedfordshire, where Robert compered the town's first Proms in June 2009 and helped to set up the Ampthill Literary Festival.
Filmography
Film
Television
Select stage credits
Select audio credits
Bibliography
*''The Rock'' (2012)
*''The Poisoned Rock'' (2016)
*''The Killing Rock'' (2020)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daws, Robert
1959 births
Living people
English male film actors
English male television actors
People from Ampthill
English crime fiction writers
People from Leigh-on-Sea
Male actors from Essex
Male actors from Bedfordshire
Actors from Central Bedfordshire District
Actors from Southend-on-Sea (district)