Stephen Critchlow
Encyclopedia
Stephen Critchlow is a popular and versatile British actor, notable for his work in the theatre and appearances on radio series such as Truly, Madly, Bletchley
, The Way We Live Right Now
and Spats
, along with radio episodes of Torchwood
(Lost Souls
) and Doctor Who
(The Nowhere Place
). He has also appeared in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
as Kenneth Horne
and is currently appearing in the West End
version of The 39 Steps
.
, Nottinghamshire
in the late 1960s.
Trained as an actor at Mountview Drama School
in London
, completed in 1990.
. Beginning in repertory, he went on to perform in A Christmas Carol, When We Are Married and The Relapse (Birmingham Rep
) and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night (Theatre Royal Northampton). His West End work includes Hamlet
, with Paul Darrow
, directed by Sir Peter Hall CBE (Gielgud Theatre
); Pygmalion
, directed by Ray Cooney
(Albery Theatre). Also played in Cyrano De Bergerac at Royal National Theatre
directed by Howard Davis.
Starred as Kenneth Horne
in Round The Horne Revisited at the Leicester Square Theatre, and subsequently performed in the play around the UK on tour. He lists this as his favourite theatre job.
Returned to the Theatre in the West End
to appear as one of four actors in The 39 Steps
, a stage production of the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
, based on the novel by John Buchan and adapted by Patrick Barlow
at the Criterion Theatre
on Piccadilly Circus
. The play involves the four actors playing all the 150 characters in the Hitchcock film which involves lightning quick costume and character changes.
, The Prince And The Pauper, Cider With Rosie, Heartbeat as Leonard Parks and Adrian Pym, Monarch Of The Glen, Trial & Retribution
1, 2 and 3, The Vice, The Bill
, Blue Murder
, The Armando Iannucci Show
, The Thieving Headmistress, The Antique Rogues Show, Skins
and The Cut
.
He reprised his role as Kenneth Horne
in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
- a BBC
film drama about the life and death of the legendary British comedy icon Kenneth Williams
. He played Carry On director Gerald Thomas
in the 2011 biopic Hattie
.
(Lost Souls
) and Doctor Who
(The Nowhere Place
), Truly, Madly, Bletchley
, The Way We Live Right Now
and Spats
.
Played the part of Stephen in the long running BBC Radio Drama The Archers
.
Truly, Madly, Bletchley
Truly, Madly, Bletchley was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series from 1997 written by and starring comedian and impressionist Julian Dutton and produced by Dirk Maggs...
, The Way We Live Right Now
The Way We Live Right Now
The Way We Live Right Now was an adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel The Way We Live Now, re-setting it in the present day. It was written by Jonathan Myerson for the Woman's Hour serial.-Cast:*Henry Goodman - Ghassan Mehmoud...
and Spats
Spats (radio series)
Spats is a British radio comedy sketch series broadcast on digital radio station BBC 7. The series is written and presented by John-Luke Roberts , with additional material written by Nadia Kamil. Kamil also stars in the show, alongside Stephen Critchlow and Clare Wille...
, along with radio episodes of Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
(Lost Souls
Lost Souls (Torchwood)
"Lost Souls" is an original BBC Radio 4 audio play written by Joseph Lidster and is a spin-off from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated...
) and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(The Nowhere Place
The Nowhere Place
The Nowhere Place is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
). He has also appeared in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries...
as Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
and is currently appearing in the 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...
version of The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps (play)
The 39 Steps is a farce adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. Patrick Barlow wrote the adaptation, based on the original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon of a two-actor version of the play...
.
Early life
Born in the mining and brewing town of MansfieldMansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
in the late 1960s.
Trained as an actor at Mountview Drama School
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is an independent drama school situated in the Wood Green area of North London. It was founded in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as 'The Mountview Theatre Club', an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, completed in 1990.
Theatre
Known in the theatre world as "Critch" or "The Critch", he has worked in theatre all over EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Beginning in repertory, he went on to perform in A Christmas Carol, When We Are Married and The Relapse (Birmingham Rep
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre is a theatre and theatre company based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England...
) and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night (Theatre Royal Northampton). His West End work includes Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, with Paul Darrow
Paul Darrow
Paul Darrow is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Kerr Avon in the BBC science fiction television series Blake's 7...
, directed by Sir Peter Hall CBE (Gielgud Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
); Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, directed by Ray Cooney
Ray Cooney
Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE is an English playwright and actor. His biggest success, Run for Your Wife, lasted nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 of his plays performed there....
(Albery Theatre). Also played in Cyrano De Bergerac at Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
directed by Howard Davis.
Starred as Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
in Round The Horne Revisited at the Leicester Square Theatre, and subsequently performed in the play around the UK on tour. He lists this as his favourite theatre job.
Returned to the Theatre in the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
to appear as one of four actors in The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps (play)
The 39 Steps is a farce adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. Patrick Barlow wrote the adaptation, based on the original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon of a two-actor version of the play...
, a stage production of the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, based on the novel by John Buchan and adapted by Patrick Barlow
Patrick Barlow
Patrick Barlow is an English actor, comedian and playwright. His comedic alter ego, Desmond Olivier Dingle, is the founder, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the two-man National Theatre of Brent, which has performed on stage, on television and on radio.-Radio:Barlow is the scriptwriter, as...
at the Criterion Theatre
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
on Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
. The play involves the four actors playing all the 150 characters in the Hitchcock film which involves lightning quick costume and character changes.
Television
Has performed in many British television programmes and commercials. These include: Little Lord FauntleroyLittle Lord Fauntleroy
Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886...
, The Prince And The Pauper, Cider With Rosie, Heartbeat as Leonard Parks and Adrian Pym, Monarch Of The Glen, Trial & Retribution
Trial & Retribution
Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police proceduraltelevision drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The...
1, 2 and 3, The Vice, 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...
, Blue Murder
Blue Murder (UK TV series)
Blue Murder was a British crime drama television series based in Manchester. Shown on ITV from 2003 until 2009 when it was axed by the Network, it starred Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis.-Outline:...
, The Armando Iannucci Show
The Armando Iannucci Shows
The Armando Iannucci Shows is a series of eight programmes directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Iannucci with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil. It was shown on UK's Channel 4 from September to October 2001...
, The Thieving Headmistress, The Antique Rogues Show, Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
and The Cut
The Cut (BBC series)
The Cut is a BBC television soap opera for teenagers, first broadcast in September 2009. The series was developed by BBC Switch and Holby City writer, Al Smith in collaboration with KateModern producer Pete Gibbons and Hollyoaks director, Sarah Walker...
.
He reprised his role as Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries...
- a 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...
film drama about the life and death of the legendary British comedy icon Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
. He played Carry On director Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas was an English film director, born in Hull.-Early life:Thomas was training in medicine when the Second World War began. He then served in the British army during the war, in Europe and the Middle East...
in the 2011 biopic Hattie
Hattie (television film)
Hattie is a television film on the life of the British comic actress Hattie Jacques, played by Ruth Jones, her marriage to John Le Mesurier and her affair with their lodger John Schofield...
.
Radio
A prolific radio actor, he has acted in over 200 BBC Radio Drama productions during three spells with the BBC Radio Drama Company. He has worked in all areas of the medium - Book at Bedtime, readings, light entertainment, schools radio, Woman's Hour, classic serials, radio plays, science fiction and Shakespeare. He has played everything from Siamese fishermen to Macushi Indians. Notable performances were in radio episodes of TorchwoodTorchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
(Lost Souls
Lost Souls (Torchwood)
"Lost Souls" is an original BBC Radio 4 audio play written by Joseph Lidster and is a spin-off from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated...
) and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(The Nowhere Place
The Nowhere Place
The Nowhere Place is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
), Truly, Madly, Bletchley
Truly, Madly, Bletchley
Truly, Madly, Bletchley was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series from 1997 written by and starring comedian and impressionist Julian Dutton and produced by Dirk Maggs...
, The Way We Live Right Now
The Way We Live Right Now
The Way We Live Right Now was an adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel The Way We Live Now, re-setting it in the present day. It was written by Jonathan Myerson for the Woman's Hour serial.-Cast:*Henry Goodman - Ghassan Mehmoud...
and Spats
Spats (radio series)
Spats is a British radio comedy sketch series broadcast on digital radio station BBC 7. The series is written and presented by John-Luke Roberts , with additional material written by Nadia Kamil. Kamil also stars in the show, alongside Stephen Critchlow and Clare Wille...
.
Played the part of Stephen in the long running BBC Radio Drama The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
.