Adrian Philip Scarborough is an English actor. He has appeared in films including ''
The Madness of King George'' (1994), ''
Gosford Park'' (2001), ''
Vera Drake'' (2004), ''
The History Boys'' (2006), ''
The King's Speech'' (2010), ''
Les Misérables'' (2012) and ''
1917'' (2019). He is also known for his roles in television such as ''
Cranford'' (2007–2009), ''
Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2024), ''
Upstairs Downstairs'' (2010–2012), ''
The Paradise'' (2013), ''
Crashing'' (2016), ''
A Very English Scandal'' (2018), ''
Killing Eve'' (2019), and ''
The Chelsea Detective'' (2022).
Scarborough is also a theatre actor and has twice won the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role; he won in 2011 for his role in the
Terence Rattigan's play ''
After the Dance'' and in 2020 for his performance in
Tom Stoppard's play ''
Leopoldstadt''.
Early life
Scarborough was born and raised in
Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. He attended
Brooksby Melton College and trained at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, winning the Chesterton Award for Best Actor for school graduates.
Career
Scarborough made his big-screen debut in 1994 in ''
The Madness of King George''.
His other movie appearances have included ''
Sweet Revenge'', ''
Gosford Park'', ''
Vera Drake'', ''
Notes on a Scandal'', ''
The History Boys'', ''
Elizabeth: The Golden Age'', ''
The King's Speech'', and ''
Les Misérables''.
One of Scarborough's early television roles was J.G. Quiggin in the 1997 adaptation of ''
A Dance to the Music of Time''. He was also seen in the BBC series ''
Let Them Eat Cake'' with
Dawn French
Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...
and
Jennifer Saunders. He played "Bouffant", the gay couturier/servant/confidante to Saunder's character, the "Comtesse de Vache". His other appearances on television have included productions such as ''
Cranford'', the television film ''
Into the Storm'', ''
Psychoville'' and as Charlie in the BBC comedy series ''
Miranda''. He has appeared in three episodes of ''
Midsomer Murders'', playing separate characters in series 5, series 10, and series 18. He is also the voice of Abney in the BBC Children's Television programme ''Abney & Teal''. He voiced Benjamin Bunny in ''
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends''.
In 2007, he played the character Harry Hepple in an episode of BBC
New Tricks series 4.4 ''Nine Lives''.
Scarborough is particularly well known for his appearances with
Julia Davis in the BBC
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Gavin & Stacey'' as warring married couple
Pete and
Dawn Sutcliffe, who are friends and neighbours of
Gavin Shipman's (
Mathew Horne) parents in
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. He is also identified for his role as the butler Mr. Pritchard in the BBC series ''
Upstairs, Downstairs''.
In 2012 he appeared in the
ITV series ''
Mrs Biggs'' with fellow ''Gavin & Stacey'' star
Sheridan Smith, playing the eponymous character's father Bernard (the real-life father of Charmian Brent, ex-wife of
Ronnie Biggs). He played an alien known as Kahler-Jex in an episode of ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' entitled "
A Town Called Mercy", which aired on 15 September 2012.
On stage, Scarborough has made frequent appearances at the
Donmar, the
Almeida, and in the
West End and he has appeared in twenty productions for the
Royal National Theatre
The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
. On 19 June 2011, he took part in ''The Barn Theatre presents...'' with
Elliot Brown at the
Barn Theatre,
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...
In 2012 he appeared in ''
Hedda Gabler'' at the
Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
, again with Sheridan Smith. In 2013, he played a role in ''
Darkside'',
Tom Stoppard's radio drama based on
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
's album ''
The Dark Side of the Moon''.
In 2014 he appeared in the ITV sitcom ''
Edge of Heaven'' as Bald Gary.
In 2015, he appeared as Clive Trueman in the BBC TV series ''
Father Brown'' episode 3.15 "The Owl of Minerva". Scarborough also appeared in the
Starz sitcom ''
Blunt Talk'' as Harry, valet to Walter Blunt, a role which he reprised in the second season a year later.
In 2016, he appeared as Colin in the Channel Four sitcom ''
Crashing'' and as Tony Pitt in the ITV series ''
Midsomer Murders'' episode 18.4 "A Dying Art".
In 2017, he appeared in the film adaptation of
Ian McEwan's ''
On Chesil Beach'' as Lionel Mayhew, as well as alongside
David Tennant
David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
in ''
Don Juan in Soho'' as his Chauffeur, for its run in the West End at
Wyndham's Theatre.
From 2 to 24 November 2018, he portrayed Dr Willis in the
Nottingham Playhouse production of the
Alan Bennett play ''
The Madness of George III'', with
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
as the king, which follows his role as
Fortnum in
the 1994 film version of the play. The same year, he was Hal Gallsworthy in the film ''
Christopher Robin''. In 2019, Scarborough was
Villanelle's handler "Raymond" in the 2nd season of the TV show ''
Killing Eve''.
[ ''Killing Eve'', season 2]
Since 2022, Scarborough has played the lead role of Detective Inspector Max Arnold in ''
The Chelsea Detective''.
Personal life
Scarborough lives in
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He and his wife, Rose, have two children.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarborough, Adrian
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Actors from Berkhamsted
Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
English male film actors
English male radio actors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Living people
Male actors from Hertfordshire
Male actors from Leicestershire
People from Melton Mowbray
Year of birth missing (living people)