Nicholas Woodeson

 

 

Nicholas Woodeson:

A classic character actor, always believable and technically accomplished without being at all obtrusive. In fact you will have seen Nicholas Woodeson quite often if you have watched British television much since the '80s.     

Or if you've seen some of the bigger feature films of the period, because he appears in 'Heaven's Gate' (1980), 'The Russia House' (1990), 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), Bill Murray's 'The Man Who Knew Too Little' (1997), 'The Avengers' (1998), 'Mad Cows' (1999), 'Topsy-Turvy' (1999), 'John Carter' (2012), and 'Hannah Arendt' (2012), 'Skyfall' (2012), 'The Limehouse Golem' (2016) and 'Paddington 2' (2019). And he's the conductor dragged out of bed at the beginning of 'The Death of Stalin' (2017).       

Appearing in the film version of 'The Avengers' (1999)

                     

On television, Nicholas Woodeson, can be spotted in quite a cavalcade of quality viewing, encompassing 'Poirot', 'Red Riding', the BBC's 1999 'Great Expectations' as Wemmick to Charlotte Rampling's Miss Havisham, 'The Blackheath Poisonings', 'Mapp & Lucia', 'Blackeyes' and 'Rome'.

And plenty of more everyday stuff: 'Doc Martin', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Touch of Frost', and the unavoidable 'Holby City'.

In the concert scene from 'The Death of Stalin' (2017) 

It's notable that he's played a very wide range of characters, from doctors and detectives to scientists and spies. Interestingly, he has also appeared several times as a rabbi - 'Friday Night Dinner', 'Disobedience (2017), 'My Father's Secrets' (voice, 2022), although he isn't Jewish and is a fairly outspoken critic of US interference in the Middle East, where he was born - his father being a British diplomat.    

Nicholas Woodeson-imdb

Paul Copley

Paul Copley:

Ubiquitous and adaptable Yorkshire actor with a gentle, burry voice, massively in demand for his ability to convince in roles ranging from the jolliest of uncles to the grimmest of villains, in everything from suburban sitcoms to heavyweight period drama. One of his biggest recent jobs has been playing Mr Mason, one of the few likeable characters in  'Downton Abbey', but his television CV from the early '70s to today is quite exceptional in its scope and quality.     

As honest farmer Mr Mason in 'Downton Abbey'

As well as 'Downton', he pops up in some other flag-waving series of the British television renaissance of the last decade, like 'Life on Mars', Torchwood' and 'Shameless'. And picking a few TV highlights from further back, you'll see him in Alan Plater's Chaucer-goes-Rugby-League series 'Trinity Tales', the Ben Kingsley 'Silas Marner', the 1977 BBC 'Treasure Island', the influential 'Cracker', 'Queer as Folk', 'The Lakes' and as the irascible seaman Matthews in the long-running 'Hornblower' franchise (photo top).

Perhaps not too convincing with the Cockney accent as
one of Terry's old schoolmates in 'Minder'

A quick run-down of his more everyday appearances would include everything from 'Tenko' and 'Secret Army' to 'Minder' and 'Strangers', with the inescapable cop and hospital stuff such as 'Heartbeat', 'Holby City', 'Peak Practice', 'Casualty', 'The Bill' and 'Doctors'.   

Turning informant in 'New Tricks'

In the movies, his younger days saw him cast in war movies 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977) and 'Zulu Dawn' (1979),  the controversial TV movie 'Death of a Princess' (1980) and later a supporting role in 'The Remains of the Day (1993). He has appeared in a number of shorts and low-budget films, including 'The Day My Nan Died' with Alison Steadman and Deddie Davies.  

Under a mop of '70s curls in n 'Alfie Darling' (1976) with
Alan Price and Vicki Michelle

Trivia: Fans of kids' TV might remember him from the spooky 'Ghost In The Water' which is now apparently lost to posterity, 'Gruey', 'Grange Hill' and a few schools' programmes. 

He also provided the voiceover for the horrible bleach-sloshing paranoia fest 'How Clean Is Your House?'. 

Paul Copley - imdb