Stephen Vincent McGann (born 2 February 1963) is a British actor, best known for portraying Dr Patrick Turner in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

medical period drama series ''

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

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

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

. McGann was born in Kensington, Liverpool, 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

who's 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 Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

in the international mini-series, ''The Strauss Dynasty''. In 1993, he created, co-produced and starred in the award-winning

BBC drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importan ...

The Hanging Gale ''The Hanging Gale'' is a four-episode television serial which first aired on RTÉ One (Republic of Ireland) and BBC1 (United Kingdom) in 1995. The series was a British–Irish co-production, made by Little Bird Films for BBC Northern Ireland i ...

''. He portrayed the character of Sean Reynolds 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, ...

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

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He co-presented the former Saturday morning BBC One children's show ''Live & Kicking'', alongside Zoe Ball between 1996 and 1999. He co-hosted ...

in the hit West End play ''

'Art' ''Art'' is a French-language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered in 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The play subsequently ran in London in 1996 and on Broadway in 1998. Productions The play premiered on 28 October 1994 at Com ...

''. In 2006, he played the role of the Reverend Shaw in the original West End cast of the musical ''

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

''. He can currently be seen playing Dr. Turner in BBC TV series ''

''.

Science communicator

cmglee Cambridge Science Festival 2015 Stephen McGann

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

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

with a master's degree in Science Communication. He was a guest speaker at the

Cambridge Science Festival The Cambridge Science Festival was a series of events typically held annually in March in Cambridge, England and was the United Kingdom's largest free science festival. In 2019 it was announced that the Cambridge Science Festival and the Cambr ...

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 with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to 1809. Since July 20 ...

'' 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 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 from ...

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 , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and the

University of Chester , mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching" , former_names = , established = (gained university status in 2005) , type = Public , endowment = £395,000 (2018) , budget = £118.3 million , chancellor = Gyles Brandreth , vice_chancell ...

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 Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks And Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in ...

. They have one son, Dominic. They currently live in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

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 a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Imperial College London