Steven Blakeley (born 26 February 1982) is a British actor. He is best known for his role as PC Geoff Younger in the British police drama '' Heartbeat'', guest roles in various other television programmes and multiple theatre roles.

Early life

Steven Blakeley was born in Chesterfield,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in 1982 and was brought up in the Derbyshire mining town of Bolsover. He attended the Bolsover School, and was initially interested in pursuing a medical career, before turning his attentions to performing.

Career

Blakeley started his career as a member of the Derby Playhouse Community and Youth Theatre companies, before going on to work professionally at Derby Playhouse. He trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and at the Athanor Academy in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His theatre credits include national tours of Peter Shaffer's ''The Private Ear and The Public Eye'', ''Dry Rot'' and ''Funny Peculiar'', ''Diary of a Nobody'' at the Royal and Derngate, '' Boeing-Boeing'', ''Selling the Sizzle'', ''Bare Words'', ''

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

'', ''

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 mythical ...

'', '' The Hypochondriac'', ''Soap'' and ''Cold Turkey''. As well as appearing in four series of ITV's '' Heartbeat'', he has made guest appearances in ITV's ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' (the latter two both for the BBC). Blakeley has performed in radio plays for the BBC, as well as providing narration for animation films and poetry recordings. In 2006, he was a nominee in the category of Best Newcomer at the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...

, and in 2016 a nominee in the category of Best Supporting Male Performer at the Off West End Awards for his portrayal of Comrade Staggles in J. B. Priestley's ''The Roundabout'' at the Park Theatre, London. He played the same role when the production transferred to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 2017. Blakeley played Puck in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and Verges in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' with the British Shakespeare Company on their 2009 tour of the United Kingdom,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Norway and Prague. Blakeley has also worked as a writer and theatre director. Since 2009, he has appeared in, written and directed several pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Windsor, playing the pantomime dame in ''Cinderella'', ''Sleeping Beauty'', ''Aladdin'' and ''Jack and the Beanstalk''. In 2010, he was acting at Derby Theatre. Blakeley appeared in ITV's ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' and the BBC's ''Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley'' in 2018. In 2020, he appeared in the '' All Creatures Great and Small'' episode "All's Fair" as Mr. Foyle. Blakeley is also now a civil celebrant and funeral director working for A.Wass in Mansfield.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeley, Steven Living people English male television actors Male actors from Chesterfield, Derbyshire Pantomime dames People from Bolsover 1982 births