Saikat Ahamed ( bn, সৈকত আহমেদ) is an English actor and writer based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He is best known for his role of Vince Arya in ''

Monday Monday ''Monday Monday'' is an ITV, UTV comedy drama. It stars Fay Ripley, Jenny Agutter, Neil Stuke, Holly Aird, Morven Christie, Tom Ellis, and Miranda Hart. It is set in the head office of a supermarket that has fallen on hard times and had t ...

''.

Early life

Ahamed was born in Surrey and grew up in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, West Midlands, England in the 1980s. Ahamed attended King Edward's School in Birmingham, and left in 1992. In 1995, he graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Cardiff University. He then studied acting at the London Centre for Theatre Studies. He was twice Gold champion in Ballroom and

Latin American dance Latin dance is a general label, and a term in partner dance competition jargon. It refers to types of ballroom dance and folk dance that mainly originated in Latin America. The category of Latin dances in the international dancesport competi ...

. Ahamed mother's, Hashi, grew up in a war torn Barisal,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, trained as a doctor and made her way to the United Kingdom to provide an easier life for her children. His father is general practitioner Ahamed's family moved from Bangladesh in 1972 to the UK, where he was born and has lived since.

Career

Since 1999, Ahamed has been an actor working on stage, screen and radio. His work on television and film includes, the regular part of Vince Arya in ''

'', '' East Is East'' and ''

Trollied ''Trollied'' is a British sitcom about employees in a fictional supermarket named "Valco", which debuted on Sky One on 4 August 2011 and ended on 23 December 2018. The series was filmed in a purpose-built replica supermarket in the Bottle Yard ...

''. Ahamed's acting work includes ''

A Fine Balance ''A Fine Balance'' is the second novel by Rohinton Mistry, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1995. Set in "an unidentified city" in India, initially in 1975 and later in 1984 during the turmoil of The Emergency, the book focuses on four ...

'' with Tamasha at

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

, a National Tour of ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...

'' with Tara Arts. At

Tobacco Factory Theatre Tobacco Factory Theatres is located on the first floor of the Tobacco Factory building on the corner of North Street and Raleigh Road, Southville in Bristol, England. The theatre itself is a studio-style space, with a low ceiling and fixed gri ...

, he played

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

in ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' as well as the 'step-brother' in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', both directed by Sally Cookson. He played the roles of James Henry Trotter in ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of ...

'' at the

Polka Theatre Polka Theatre is a children’s theatre in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, for children aged 0– 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces - a 300-seat main auditorium and a 70-seat studio dedicated to early years performances. Polka ...

, Ben Gunn in ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' at

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

and

Tinker Bell Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play '' Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation ''Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 ...

in ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'' at Bristol Old Vic. He played Puck and as well as helped to puppeteer Puck in ''

Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' at Bristol Old Vic, His theatre work also includes shows at The Kennedy Centre as well as stints at

Oldham Coliseum Theatre Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Found on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, Oldham's Coliseum is a repertory theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1987. Its interior makes it a great period c ...

Leicester Haymarket Theatre The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre. History The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season starte ...

and Man Mela. As a writer, Ahamed has completed a number of plays. In February 2013, he performed his one-man show '' The Tiger and the Moustache'' at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol. In 2015, he performed his one-man show '' Strictly Balti'': at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in October and

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

in November, before embarking on a national tour. Since 2005, Ahamed has also worked as a professional storyteller, weaving his traditional tales in schools, restaurants, libraries and festivals in Bristol. In 2006, also received the

Norman Beaton Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 – 13 December 1994) was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom. He became best known for his role as Desmond Ambrose in the Channel Four television comedy series ''Desmond's''. The writer S ...

Fellowship from BBC Radio Drama and has worked regularly for them ever since. In December 2011, Ahamed's first radio play, ''Telling Tales'', was commissioned and aired on the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

. In February 2015, Ahamed was interviewed on

BBC Somerset BBC Radio Somerset is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, AM broadcasting, AM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in ...

. In November and December 2015, he was interviewed by Nadia Ali on BBC Asian Network. In October 2022, he portrayed the role of Nabil Rahim in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''.

Personal life

Ahamed lives in Bristol with his wife, Jenny, and two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Radio

References

External links

* * * Thomson, Wendy
Interview with actor and playwright Saikat Ahamed
''Female Arts''. 11 July 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahamed, Saikat 1970s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent English male film actors English male television actors English male stage actors English male radio actors English male actors of South Asian descent 21st-century English male actors Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Alumni of Cardiff University