Duncan Preston is an English actor probably best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...

. His best remembered roles are Clifford in the Victoria Wood As Seen On TV

Victoria Wood As Seen On TV

Victoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...

soap opera parody Acorn Antiques

Acorn Antiques

Acorn Antiques is a parodic soap opera written by Victoria Wood as a regular feature in the two seasons of Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, which ran from 1985 to 1987. It was turned into a musical by Wood, opening in 2005.-Television version:...

(and the musical of the same name), and Stan in dinnerladies

Dinnerladies

Dinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:...

.
In July 2010, Preston revealed he was to take a break from Emmerdale in early 2011 for 5 months to star in the theatre production of To Kill A Mockingbird., He departed from the serial in February 2011.

Career

Preston has also made many guest appearances in various TV series, including Secret Army

Secret Army (TV series)

Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...

, The Professionals

The Professionals (TV series)

The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...

, All Creatures Great and Small, Robin of Sherwood

Robin of Sherwood

Robin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...

, Bergerac

Bergerac (TV series)

Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...

, The New Statesman

The New Statesman

The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...

, Press Gang

Press Gang

Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...

, Chalk

Chalk (TV series)

Chalk is a British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series, both written by Steven Moffat, were broadcast on BBC1 in 1997...

, Boon

Boon (TV series)

Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...

, Casualty

Casualty (TV series)

Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...

, Heartbeat, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a genteel British crime–comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character , Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their lodger Geoffrey Shawcross...

, Holby City

Holby City

Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

, Peak Practice

Peak Practice

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...

, Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...

, Dalziel and Pascoe

Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC TV series)

Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British television crime drama based on the Dalziel and Pascoe books by Reginald Hill, which was first broadcast in March 1996. It is set in Yorkshire, and is about two detectives...

and My Family.

He was also a regular cast member in the sitcom Surgical Spirit and appeared as Dennis Stokes in Coronation Street

Coronation Street

Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

in 2004. Preston is currently seen in Emmerdale

Emmerdale

Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...

as Doug Potts

Douglas Potts

Douglas "Doug" Potts is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He is played by Duncan Preston. In July 2010, Duncan announced that he was taking a break from the show, initially temporarily for several months to allow him to do some theatre work...

, the father of Laurel Thomas

Laurel Thomas

Laurel Thomas is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charlotte Bellamy. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 3 September 2002. Laurel has been off-screen at various times while Bellamy has taken maternity leave.-Casting:In 2004, Bellamy announced she...

.

Personal life

His ex-wife is former Emmerdale actress Susan Penhaligon

Susan Penhaligon

Susan Penhaligon is a British actress and writer, she is probably best known for her appearances in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and several ongoing roles in UK television series.-Early days:...

, who played Jean Hope

Jean Hope

Jean Hope is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Initially she was a recurring character and played by Julie Higginson, but when she returned in 2006 as a regular character, Susan Penhaligon took over the role....

, they married in 1986 but this ended in divorce in 1992. They subsequently reconciled in 1997 but have not remarried. The couple live in Surrey with her son Truan Munro.

Stage work

A renowned Shakespearean actor, Preston has performed in many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company

Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...

, including Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...

's acclaimed version of Macbeth

Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

(stage 1976, television 1978), starring Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...

 and Judi Dench

Judi Dench

Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

, as Angus. Other theatre work, includes a 2007 production of To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...

.

He also appeared in the Waitrose health and safety training video as Food Specialist, Mr Goodall. In addition, he was the first actor to play the Dad of Kevin the teenager

Kevin the Teenager

Kevin Patterson is a character created and played by the British comedian, Harry Enfield.-Evolution:Kevin first appeared in the "Little Brother" sketches of Harry Enfield's Television Programme as an annoyingly energetic boy who constantly vexed his older brother with his irritating catchphrases...

 in the TV series Harry Enfield and Chums.

He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Bradford

University of Bradford

The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...

 on the 4 December 2002 "for his contributions as an actor".

External links

• UoB Press release