Nicholas Burns is an English actor, best known for his comic performance as the title character in Nathan Barley

Nathan Barley

Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4...

.

Early life

Burns was born in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, and educated at Repton School

Repton School

Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...

. He trained at LAMDA

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...

.

Career

In addition to starring as the title character in Nathan Barley, Burns appeared in an advertising poster for a fictional phone, the Wasp T12 Speechtool, to promote the TV series.

Beyond Nathan Barley he has had recurring roles in the TV series Absolute Power, Roman's Empire

Roman's Empire

Roman's Empire was a British television comedy show starring Mathew Horne, Neil Dudgeon, Chris O'Dowd, Montserrat Lombard and Sarah Solemani...

and the sketch show Man Stroke Woman

Man Stroke Woman

Man Stroke Woman is a British television comedy sketch show directed by Richard Cantor and produced by Ash Atalla and starring Amanda Abbington, Ben Crompton, Daisy Haggard, Meredith MacNeill, Nicholas Burns and Nick Frost. In addition to being broadcast on digital channel BBC Three in the United...

. He also made an appearance in The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...

as the ruler of the planet Xooberon; in The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...

as Jerome, the director of a musical called Gay!; and in episode "At Bertram's Hotel

At Bertram's Hotel

At Bertram's Hotel is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at sixteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50...

" of Marple

Marple (TV series)

Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...

as Jack and Joel Britten. Burns also turned up as an Aussie tennis coach in The McClintock Factor, a mockumentary

Mockumentary

A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

 chronicling the rise and fall of the former media tycoon and internet blogger Jeremy McClintock.

He has recently appeared in the third series of the ITV comedy Benidorm

Benidorm (TV series)

Benidorm is an award-winning British television comedy-drama that is produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV and written by Derren Litten, co-writer of The Catherine Tate Show, exploiting the working-class stereotype of this popular tourist destination....

, playing Martin Weedon and the superhero sitcom No Heroics

No Heroics

No Heroics is a British superhero-comedy television series, which began on 18 September 2008. The show is ITV2's first original sitcom. It was nominated for Best New British TV Comedy of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards.-Setting:...

, playing The Hotness.

His stage credits include Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre

Crucible Theatre

The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....

, the satire The Madness of George Dubya and Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories (play)

Ghost Stories is a play written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman . It premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in February 2010 before being transferred for a longer run at the Lyric Hammersmith in London...

, both of which transferred to London's West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

.

Personal life

Nick married his fiancee Louise on 21 June 2008. Nick and Louise now live in London with their son.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
	The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...	Simon Beaumont	ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...	Series 18 Episode 16 "005"
	Manchild	Max	BBC Two BBC Two BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...	Series 2 Episode 4
	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers...	Mick Cambrey	BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...	Series 2 Episode 3 "A Suitable Vengeance"
	Cambridge Spies Cambridge Spies Cambridge Spies is a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies from 1934 to the 1951 defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union...	Rightwing Student	BBC One BBC One BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...	Episode 1
	Absolute Power	Nick Mayer	BBC Two
	A Touch of Frost	D.C. Tranter	ITV	Series 11 Episode 22 "Dancing in the Dark"
	Swiss Toni Swiss Toni Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...		BBC Three BBC Three BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...	Series 2 Episode 2 "Speed Date"
	The Mighty Boosh The Mighty Boosh (TV series) The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy television show created by Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding and others . The Mighty Boosh is a comic fantasy containing humour and pop-culture references. Episodes often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and...	The King	BBC	Series 2 Episode 4 "Fountain of Youth" The Mighty Boosh (series 2) The Mighty Booshs second series was originally broadcast between 25 July 2005 and 30 August 2005. The series features five main cast members: Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown. The second series centers around Howard Moon and Vince Noir , and the...
	Nathan Barley Nathan Barley Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4...	Nathan Barley	Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
	Man Stroke Woman Man Stroke Woman Man Stroke Woman is a British television comedy sketch show directed by Richard Cantor and produced by Ash Atalla and starring Amanda Abbington, Ben Crompton, Daisy Haggard, Meredith MacNeill, Nicholas Burns and Nick Frost. In addition to being broadcast on digital channel BBC Three in the United...	Various	BBC Three	Sketch show
	Fear of Fanny	Christopher	BBC Four BBC Four BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....	Drama
	Born Equal Born Equal Born Equal is a television film produced for the BBC exploring aspects of poverty, race, inequality, homelessness, immigration and class in modern Britain. Written and directed by Dominic Savage and starring Colin Firth, Robert Carlyle, David Oyelowo, Anne-Marie Duff, and Emilia Fox, it was likened...	Michael	BBC	Drama
	Marple Marple (TV series) Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...	Jack & Joel Britten	ITV	Series 3 Episode 1 "At Bertram's Hotel At Bertram's Hotel At Bertram's Hotel is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at sixteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50... "
	Roman's Empire Roman's Empire Roman's Empire was a British television comedy show starring Mathew Horne, Neil Dudgeon, Chris O'Dowd, Montserrat Lombard and Sarah Solemani...	Seb	BBC Two
	The IT Crowd The IT Crowd The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...	Jerome	Channel 4	Series 2 Episode 1 "The Work Outing"
	Comedy Showcase Comedy Showcase Comedy Showcase is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier Comedy Playhouse....	Rick Parish	Channel 4	Series 1 Episode 1 "Other People"
	Benidorm Benidorm (TV series) Benidorm is an award-winning British television comedy-drama that is produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV and written by Derren Litten, co-writer of The Catherine Tate Show, exploiting the working-class stereotype of this popular tourist destination....	Martin Weedon	ITV
	Never Better Never Better Never Better is a British television sitcom which started on BBC Two on 10 January 2008. It stars Stephen Mangan as recovering alcoholic Keith Merchant and Kate Ashfield as his suffering wife Anita...	Charlie	BBC Two	Series 1 Episode 5 "First Week Euphoria"
	No Heroics No Heroics No Heroics is a British superhero-comedy television series, which began on 18 September 2008. The show is ITV2's first original sitcom. It was nominated for Best New British TV Comedy of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards.-Setting:...	The Hotness	ITV2 ITV2 ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
	Monday Monday Monday Monday (TV series) Monday Monday is an ITV comedy drama. It stars Fay Ripley, Jenny Agutter, Neil Stuke, Holly Aird, Morven Christie, Tom Ellis and Miranda Hart.It is set in the head office of a supermarket that has fallen on hard times and had to re-locate its staff from London to Leeds...	Nathan	ITV	Series 1 Episode 3
	Misfits Misfits (TV series) Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was...	PC Wilson	E4	Series 1 Episode 2
	The Sinking of the Laconia The Sinking of the Laconia The Sinking of the Laconia is a two-part TV film, first aired on 6 and 7 January 2011 on BBC Two, about the Laconia incident; the sinking of the former British ocean liner RMS Laconia during World War II by a German U-boat, which then, together with three other U-boats and an Italian submarine,...	Captain Coutts	BBC Productions	Television Film

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Hard to Swallow	Steve	low-budget
2008	Albert's Speech	Albert	short (15 minutes)

External links

• Nicholas Burns at the Internet Movie Database