Christopher Matthew Simmons (born 8 January 1975 in Gravesend, Kent) is an English television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as DC

Mickey Webb ''The Bill'' is a long-running British television police procedural television series, named after a slang term for the police. The characters are all police officers or civilian staff at the fictional Sun Hill police station in London. Senior ...

in ''

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 ...

'', Mark Garland in '' EastEnders'' and Stuart Summer in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

''.

Early life

Simmons grew up on Singlewell Road in Gravesend and attended Saint Georges CofE Secondary School. Prior to taking up acting, he had several jobs including working as a diver on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

with his Dad.

Career

Simmons' first television appearance was on the 1998 ITV series ''Desperately Seeking Stardom'', in which a group of unemployed actors went to Hollywood to try to find acting roles. Simmons found fame as DC

in ''

'' from 2000 to 2003 (having previously appeared playing different roles in 1998 and 1999). He made guest appearances over the interim including the live episode in 2003 before returning as a regular in 2005 until the series ended in 2010. He also guest starred in ''

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 '' Doctors''. In October 2011 he appeared in '' EastEnders'' as Mark Garland, a love interest for

Kat Moon Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...

, for a few episodes. He has since made a guest appearance in the Tracy Beaker spin-off CBBC show, '

The Dumping Ground ''The Dumping Ground'' (also informally referred to as ''The DG'') is a British children's television drama series that focuses on the lives and experiences of young people who live in a children's home with their care workers in care. The s ...

': In episode 8 of series 1 (1x08), entitled 'Dreamland' he played the father to

Rick Barber This is a list of characters that were introduced in CBBC's '' Tracy Beaker Returns''. The series is based on The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on for three series from 2010 to 2012. The series follows '' The Story of Tracy ...

, Gerry. Simmons was a patron for the CPC Kent charity until it closed in 2014. He ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

in 2009, and again in 2014. In 2013 he took part in the Bupa Great Birmingham Run. In 2015, he was part of a cast of ''The Wizard of Oz''

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

at Swallows Leisure Centre, in

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

. He also currently works on a youth initiative in his hometown of Gravesend. In 2019 he was cast as Stuart Sumner in ''

''. In 2020, he was interviewed alongside his ''

'' co-star

Sally Rogers Sally Rogers (born 1964) is an English actress, best known for her role as Detective Constable/Sgt. Jo Masters in ITV's ''The Bill''. Rogers trained as a children's nanny, before taking up acting at the age of 20. She studied at Webber Dougl ...

for
three-part The Bill Podcast
to promote Chris starring in Sally's play The Still Room.

References

External links

*

Chris Simmons comedy sketch show ''Wayne and Abel''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Chris English male soap opera actors English male stage actors 1975 births Living people People from Gravesend, Kent Male actors from Kent