Christopher Paul Bisson (born 21 July 1975) is an English actor, known for portraying the roles of

Vikram Desai The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1999, by order of first appearance. Ian Bentley Ian Bentley, played by Jonathan Guy Lewis, first appeared on 29 January 1999. He is introdu ...

in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' (1999–2002), Kash Karib in '' Shameless'' (2004–2007, 2009), and Jai Sharma in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'' (2009–present).

Television

Bisson first appeared on television as J.J. in ''

Children's Ward ''Children's Ward'' (retitled ''The Ward'' from 1995 to 1998) is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its '' Children's ITV'' strand on weekday afternoons. The p ...

'' in 1990. He went on to appear in ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' and as

in ''

''. Then as 'Saleem Khan' in the 1999 film ''East Is East''. Kash Karib in '' Shameless'' and Jai Sharma in ''Emmerdale''. He appeared in ''Perfect Day: The Wedding'' (2005), ''Perfect Day: The Funeral'' (2006; Channel 5) and the feature film ''Stepdad'' (filmed in February 2007). He participated in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary ''Empire's Children'' (2007). Bisson appeared in the Valentine's Day 2009 episode of ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', and on the last series of '' Hotel Babylon''. He returned to make a one-off appearance in ''Shameless'' in April 2009, where his character was killed off. In September 2009, Bisson joined the cast of ''Emmerdale'', as part of the newly cast Sharma family, playing Jai Sharma. Bisson temporarily departed ''Emmerdale'' on 24 January 2013, due to the birth of his child. He later returned at the end of March 2013. Bisson appeared in the second series of the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

reality show '' I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!''. He and his family appeared on ''

All Star Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV (TV network), ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, ''#All Star Family Fortunes, All St ...

'' in October 2011. In 2012, he appeared in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

series '' 12 Again'' where he revealed he once failed to show up for a date at the cinema with

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...

at the time. On 15 December 2013, Bisson took part in '' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' to raise money for his selected charity. On 18 June 2014, he took part in ''

All Star Mr & Mrs ''All Star Mr & Mrs'' is a British television show which first began airing on 12 April 2008 on ITV. It is a celebrity revival of the original '' Mr and Mrs'' that aired on ITV from 1968 to 1988 with two separate revivals in 1995–1996 and 1 ...

'' with his partner. On 11 October 2020, he appeared on the ITV game show, Tipping Point Lucky Stars which culminated in him winning the jackpot of £20,000 for his charity.

Personal life

Bisson was born in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. His father is from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. Bisson is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent English people of Indian descent Alumni of the University of Salford People from Wythenshawe Actors from Manchester English Roman Catholics English male film actors English male soap opera actors I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants {{UK-screen-actor-stub