Stephen Vincent McGann (born 2 February 1963) is an English actor, best known for portraying Dr Patrick Turner 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 ...

medical period drama series ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

''. He is one of a family of acting brothers, the others being Joe,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, and

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

. McGann was born in

Kensington, Liverpool Kensington is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. It is bordered by Everton to the north, Fairfield to the east, Edge Hill to the south, and the city centre to the west. The majority of Kensington is in the Kensington and Fairfield wa ...

, and began his professional acting career in 1982, starring in the West End musical ''Yakety Yak''. He has since worked extensively in British theatre and on screen.

Early life

Stephen's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commando who died in 1984, and his mother Clare was a teacher. Along with his acting brothers

, and Joe who is named after his father, he also has a younger sister named Clare after their mother.

Career

Acting

In 1989, he starred as Mickey in the West End hit musical '' Blood Brothers''. In 1990, he played Johann Strauss in the international mini-series, ''The Strauss Dynasty''. In 1993, he created, co-produced and starred in the award-winning BBC drama '' The Hanging Gale''. He portrayed the character of Sean Reynolds in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' from 1999 to 2002. In 2003, he starred with

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...

in the hit West End play '' 'Art'''. In 2006, he played the role of the Reverend Shaw in the original West End cast of the musical '' Footloose''. He can currently be seen playing Dr. Turner in BBC TV series ''

''.

Science communicator

In addition to his acting, McGann is a public speaker and science communicator. He graduated from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

with a Master's degree in

Science Communication Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...

. He was a guest speaker at the Cambridge Science Festival in March 2015. He published a guest essay in the ''

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, located in London, with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to ...

'' in April 2015, discussing issues of medical accuracy and communication in ''

''. In January 2016, McGann published a companion book to ''Call the Midwife'' called ''Doctor Turner's Casebook'', in which he revisits key medical cases featured in the TV series and discusses their

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

and

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

contexts. The BBC screened a documentary special based on the book, titled ''Call The Midwife: The Casebook'', on 15 January 2017. In July 2017, McGann published ''Flesh and Blood: A History of My Family in Seven Maladies'', a personal history of his family over a century and a half as told through the medical ailments they suffered. McGann was a member of the judging panel for the 2019

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Insight Investment Science Book Prize., and holds an honorary doctorate from the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

and the

University of Chester The University of Chester is a public university located in Chester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-built teacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies five campuses, campus sites in and around Ch ...

in recognition of his contribution to public health communication and drama

Personal life

Stephen McGann is married to screenwriter and ''Call the Midwife'' creator Heidi Thomas. They have one son, Dominic.

Filmography

Stephen McGann Filmography
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGann, Stephen 1963 births Living people English male film actors English male television actors English male musical theatre actors Male actors from Liverpool People from Saffron Walden English people of Irish descent

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Imperial College London Male actors from Cambridge Male actors from Essex Actors from Uttlesford