Ian Reddington (born 25 September 1957) is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the ''
Doctor Who'' serial ''
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'',
Richard Cole in ''
EastEnders'' and
Vernon Tomlin in ''
Coronation Street''.
Early life
Ian Reddington was born in
Walkley in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
. He was educated at
Frecheville Comprehensive
Frecheville Comprehensive School was a secondary school located in Frecheville, South Yorkshire, England. When built, the school was in Derbyshire, but became a Sheffield city school following a boundary change in 1967. The school opened in 19 ...
. He had no formal drama training at school but became a leading figure in the Meatwhistle youth theatre project run by youth workers in the city. This gave him his first appearance as the Herald in
Peter Weiss
Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...
's ''
Marat/Sade
''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (german: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgrupp ...
'' at the
Sheffield Crucible in 1973 directed by Glen Walford. He also played percussion and sang backing vocals in
proto-punk band Musical Vomit alongside
Glenn Gregory
Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synthpop b ...
, who later went on to become lead singer with
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), and ...
. Reddington then went on to study acting at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
in London (1976–1979), at the time one of their youngest ever entrants. While there, he won The William Poel Prize and The Arthur Talbot Smith Award.
Career
Television
Reddington's earliest television appearances were in ''Sharon and Elsie'' (1984),
Doug Lucie's ''Hard Feelings'' in ''
Play for Today'' (1984), ''
Three Up, Two Down'' (1986) and ''
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 ...
'' (1987). In 1989, he was voted Best Villain of the
25th anniversary season by ''
Doctor Who Magazine'' readers for his portrayal of the Chief Clown in the serial ''
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'', which starred
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
as the
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
...
. In 2015, author Cameron K. McEwan described it as "a superb performance and, still to this day, one of Who's finest villains". Reddington reprised this role for the
Big Finish audio drama ''The Psychic Circus'' in 2020.
Between 1992 and 1994, he had a recurring role as
Richard Cole (aka Tricky Dicky) in ''
EastEnders''. He later became one of only two actors to portray a major role in the UK's two biggest soap operas (the other being
Michelle Collins
Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas ''EastEnders'' and ''Coronation Street''.
Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' fro ...
) after his portrayal of
Vernon Tomlin, the hapless drummer, in ''
Coronation Street'' from 2005 until 2008.
His many other television appearances have included episodes of ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
'', ''
Boon
Boon may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Boon (game), a trick-taking card game
* ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells
* ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick
* The Ultimate Boo ...
'', ''
Holby City'', ''
Benidorm'', ''
Doctors'', ''
Peak Practice
''Peak Practice'' is a British drama television series, series about a General Practice, GP surgery in Cardale—a small List of fictional towns in television, fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the Physician, doctors who wor ...
'', ''
Playing the Field
''Playing the Field'' is a BBC television drama series following the lives of the Castlefield Blues, a fictitious female football team from South Yorkshire.
Outline
Inspired by Pete Davies's book ''I Lost My Heart to the Belles'' – which w ...
'', ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'', ''
Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
'' and ''
Cadfael
Brother Cadfael is the main fictional character in a series of historical murder mysteries written between 1977 and 1994 by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters". The character of Cadfael himself is a Welsh Benedic ...
'', ''
The Sculptress'', ''
The Queen's Nose'', ''
Jane Hall'' and ''Yellow Thread Street'' and memorably as Tommy the council worker in ''
Shameless'', ''
Being April'' and his own children's series ''
Snap''.
In 2017, he appeared in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' as Samuel Jacobs in the fifth-season episode "The Penitent Man", and played Harry Tomkins in the
''. In December 2021, alongside son Tyler Reddington, he portrayed the role of
in ''Doctors''.
Reddington's theatre work is extensive and started with The Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Master Froth in ''
''. He then went to the
''. It was then out into
''. Back at the Bristol Old Vic he appeared in ''
. Then to The
''. In London's
'' at The Latchmere. Also there he performed ''
'' at The New End. At