Sacha Dhawan () (born 1 May 1984) is a British actor. He began his career in the ITV series '' Out of Sight'' (1997–1998), '' The Last Train'' (1999), and '' Weirdsister College'' (2001–2002). He originated the role of Akthar in the play '' The History Boys'' (2004–2006) and reprised his role in its

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

(2006). Dhawan has since played Paul Jatri 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 '' Last Tango in Halifax'' (2012),

Waris Hussein Waris Hussein (''né'' Habibullah; born 9 December 1938) is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of ''Doctor Who'', inc ...

in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

docudrama ''

An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British Biographical film, biographical television film, starring David Bradley (English actor), David Bradley, Brian Cox (actor), Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDono ...

'' (2013),

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

in the Marvel series '' Iron Fist'' (2017–2018), Count Orlo in '' The Great'' (2020–2023) on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

, and The Master in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

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 ...

'' (2020–2022).

Early life and education

Sacha Dhawan was born in 1983 or 1984 in Bramhall,

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, to Indian parents from

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, India. Dhawan trained at the Laine-Johnson Theatre School in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and started acting at the age of twelve. He attended the Roman Catholic school Aquinas College in

Career

Television and film

Dhawan has appeared in a number of television shows in the United Kingdom. He had recurring roles in '' Weirdsister College'', in which he played Azmat Madaridi, and series two and three of the children's TV series '' Out of Sight''. He appeared in the miniseries '' The Last Train'' (1999), and has guest starred in episodes on ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', ''Altogether Now'', and ''City Central''. He also appeared in 2008 ITV drama, ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'', as Ben Chandrakar, alongside

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Auckland Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles on television as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017) and the Thirteenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022, 2025). She came to pro ...

and Laurence Fox. He was part of an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

on the NBC sitcom '' Outsourced'', which aired during the 2010–2011 season. In November 2013, Dhawan portrayed director

in ''

'', a

biographical television film on the creation of the BBC science fiction television series ''

'' as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration. He also appeared as Paul Jatri, a 22-year-old man involved with a woman twice his age, in the first series of

's '' Last Tango in Halifax''. He plays the part of

in the Netflix series '' Iron Fist'' in both the seasons. He starred as Sathnam Sanghera in the critically acclaimed '' The Boy with the Topknot'', shown on BBC 2 in 2017. He appeared in four episodes of the twelfth series of ''

'' as the latest incarnation of the renegade

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

known as the Master, acting opposite

as the

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She is played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, in three series, five specials and a ...

. He reprised the role in the 2022 special '' The Power of the Doctor'', Whittaker's last episode. From 2020 to 2023, he played the role of Count Orlo, advisor to

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, in comedy-drama TV series '' The Great''. Dhawan was cast as the title character in the BBC crime drama '' Virdee'', adapted from the novels by A A Dhand. He was later replaced in the role by Staz Nair.

Theatre

Dhawan originated the role of Akthar in Alan Bennett's play '' The History Boys''. After playing Akthar in the original stage production he reprised the role in the Broadway,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

productions, and radio and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

versions of the play. In July 2018, Dhawan reunited with ''History Boys'' playwright Alan Bennett and co-star Samuel Barnett for Bennett's new play ''Allelujah!'' at the Bridge Theatre.

Personal life

Dhawan was in a relationship with actress

Anjli Mohindra Anjli Mohindra () is an English stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for her television roles as Rani Chandra in the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' (2008–2011) and would-be suicide bomber ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio drama

Video games

Radio and theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhawan, Sacha Living people 1980s births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from Stockport English male film actors English male radio actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male video game actors English male voice actors English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent English Hindus People educated at Bramhall High School People from Bramhall People with Crohn's disease Year of birth missing (living people)