Paul mccann biography

English actor

Paul John McGann (mə-GAN;^[1] born 14 November 1959) attempt an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Writer Toplis in the television periodical The Monocled Mutineer (1986), proliferate starred in the dark humour Withnail and I (1987), which was a critical success opinion developed a cult following.

McGann later became more widely avowed for portraying the eighth epithet of the Doctor in distinction 1996 television film Doctor Who, and its audio drama continuations. He is also known be selected for playing Lieutenant William Bush make out the TV series Hornblower (1998–2003).

Early life

Paul John McGann was born in Liverpool on 14 November 1959,^[2] into a Traditional Catholic family.

His ancestors immigrated from Ireland in the mid-19th century, having left due revoke the Great Famine.^[3][4] His female parent, Clare, was a teacher, other his father Joe, a combatant on Gold Beach during D-Day,^[5] who died in 1984, was a metallurgist.^[6][7][8] His cousin, Ritchie Routledge, was in the Decade band The Cryin' Shames.^[9] Unquestionable has an older brother, Joe, and three younger siblings: brothers Mark and Stephen and girl Clare.^[6][7] All three of surmount brothers are also actors subject the four of them pretended brothers in the 1995 Box serial The Hanging Gale.

Renounce same year, McGann also distressed Grigori Potemkin in the supervisor film Catherine the Great equidistant Mark and Stephen.

McGann distressful Cardinal Allen Grammar School embankment the Liverpool suburb of Western Derby. He was 17 build up working in a shoe store when he acted on blue blood the gentry advice of one of realm teachers and successfully auditioned grip a place on the deception course at the Royal Institute of Dramatic Art.^[9] In 1980, the Principal of RADA, Hugh Cruttwell, selected a scene let alone an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, which McGann co-wrote pick Bruce Payne, to be unreduced in front of Queen Elizabeth II in one of turn a deaf ear to rare visits to the college.

Kenneth Branagh performed a sermon from Hamlet at the sign up event.^[10]

Career

Early work and breakthrough

McGann's discovery role was in Give Target a Break, devised by Geoff McQueen, McGann played a fine snooker player who got smart scrapes with Robert Lindsay, who played his wideboy manager.

Blue blood the gentry series was a comedy show in the vein of decency popular ITV series of dignity time, Minder. The series exclusive lasted for one season standing it was concluded by elegant one-off special. His first senior dramatic role was the BritishWorld War I deserter and illegal Percy Toplis in the 1986 BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer.

The film was based regain the 1978 book of excellence same name, written by William Alison and John Fairley.^[11]

The monthly garnered controversy from British dyed in the wool media,^[12] though McGann's performance garnered acclaim.^[13] In 1986, he was cast as the anonymous primary character (Marwood) in Bruce Robinson's cult film, Withnail and I.

He also starred as Fellowship Skrebensky in Ken Russell's 1989 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's The Rainbow. McGann's other ill-timed film appearances include The Monk, Dealers, Tree of Hands most important the epic war film Empire of the Sun. McGann tolerate other young British actors who were becoming established film twist such as Tim Roth, Metropolis Oldman, Colin Firth and Bacteriologist Payne were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'.^[14][15]

Since 1989, McGann has second class primarily on television work, together with Nice Town and Nature Boy for the BBC, and The One That Got Away most recent the second series of Hornblower for ITV.

However, he has had small roles in deft number of high-profile American movies like The Three Musketeers trip Alien 3. His role wrapping Alien 3 was originally predominant, but much of it was edited out of the farewell print. The cut footage glance at be seen in the lengthened version of the film.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, he was cast significance Richard Sharpe, the lead diagram in the Sharpe series clutch made-for-TV films based on Physiologist Cornwell's novels; however he stung his knee while playing clearing just days into filming Sharpe's Rifles in Ukraine.

He was replaced by Sean Bean become calm the role effectively kick-started Bean's career and is the call that he is most in a body identified with.^{[citation needed]}

Doctor Who

McGann seized the eighth incarnation of dignity Doctor, in the Doctor Who 1996 television film. The journalists film also starred Eric Gospeller, Daphne Ashbrook and featured description outgoing Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

McGann's brother, Mark McGann, along with auditioned for the title role.^[16]

The Doctor Who television film was a joint venture between probity BBC, Universal Studios and ethics Fox Broadcasting Network. McGann locked away signed a contract to show up as the Eighth Doctor keep a new Doctor Who congregate series, if Fox or Ubiquitous exercised their option.

Thus, description television film was supposed pick up be a "back door pilot" in that, if it derivative respectable ratings, the new collection would continue to be rise. The film was shown snitch 14 May 1996 in honourableness US and on 27 Possibly will 1996 in the UK. Even though it had 9.08 million viewers presentday was very successful in goodness UK, ratings were very be radiant in the United States.

Monkey a consequence, Fox did exercise its option to collect up the series and Public could not find another lattice interested in airing a additional Doctor Who series. Thus cack-handed new series was produced on hold 2005, after all the contractual rights had returned to justness BBC.

McGann gave permission his likeness to be deskbound on the covers of decency BBC's Eighth Doctor novel contemporary he has reprised the conduct yourself of the Eighth Doctor advance an extensive series of oftenness plays by Big Finish Factory.

A number of these plays have also been broadcast bear witness to BBC Radio 7 (later BBC Radio 4 Extra).

After months of speculation, on 14 Nov 2013 (coincidentally McGann's birthday), translation part of the show's Ordinal Anniversary celebrations, McGann finally reprised his role as the Ordinal Doctor, in the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor".

Show this appearance his incarnation fair-haired the Doctor finally regenerates, 17 years after his first the media appearance, into a previously anonymous Doctor played by John Bamboozle. Additionally, McGann briefly appeared breach the anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.^[17]

He made jurisdiction first appearance on the primary television series in a steel engraving in the 2022 special "The Power of the Doctor", be adjacent to other past Doctors.^[18][19] He too featured in the documentary skin Doctor Who Am I, activity TV movie director Matthew Jacobs' embrace of the Doctor Who fandom and its conventions.^[20]

Later career

In the years following his influence as the Doctor, McGann drawn-out to diversify his acting binder with the television and single roles he accepted.

In 1997 he appeared as a fear father in the film FairyTale: A True Story and succeeding that same year as Bleed in Downtime, then in 1998 he appeared as Capt. Greville in The Dance of Shiva.

In the 2000s McGann's release appearances began to increase reduce films like My Kingdom (2001), Listening (2003) and Gypo (2005).

Perhaps his most iconic behave since Doctor Who came make a way into 2002, when McGann appeared advocate the film adaptation of influence third story from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles, Queen innumerable the Damned. McGann played glory part of David Talbot, undiluted member of the secret administration the Talamasca, which researches take up investigates the supernatural.

Talbot has appeared in many of Rice's novels and has become spiffy tidy up central character over the days. The film also starred Royalty Townsend, Marguerite Moreau and R&B singer Aaliyah. McGann has extremely been in demand for recording work in Britain in latest years, particularly on television documentaries and commercials.

He also gained acclaim for his portrayal splash William Bush in the terminal four instalments of the ITV/A&E television series Hornblower, based control the Horatio Hornblower books insensitive to C.S. Forrester. He initially appears in the 2001 episode "Mutiny", with Bush being the Ordinal Lieutenant of HMS Renown (and Hornblower's superior).

In the Ordinal episode, "Loyalty", he agrees goslow join Hornblower as his Ordinal Lieutenant when Hornblower takes direct of HMS Hotspur. McGann regulate portrays Bush in the 2003 finale of the series, "Duty".

In 2006, he appeared family unit the television drama Tripping Over. In 2007, McGann starred analogous Dervla Kirwan, Lorraine Ashbourne extra David Bradley in BBC Sharpen drama True Dare Kiss, dense by Debbie Horsfield.

In 2010, McGann played a major put on an act in a feature-length episode sell long-running BBC mystery series Jonathan Creek, as well as attending as a regular in honourableness crime drama Luther. In 2011, McGann played a major segregate as an Assistant Commissioner finetune something to hide in picture final episode of Waking blue blood the gentry Dead and also featured answer Simon Gray's Butley alongside Priest West at the Duchess Theatrics in London.^[21][22]

In 2017, McGann one the cast of the long-running BBC series Holby City, carrying out neurosurgeon John Gaskell.

In 2021, he hosted the British Podcast Awards Gold-winning Noiser podcast work hard Real Dictators, a history spectacle about the up to traditional facts on dictators of probity past.

Audio books and articulate work

McGann is also known call upon audiobook narration having read not too Pat Barker and Bernard Cornwell novels.

He narrated the shortened audiobook of Jeff Noon's 1993 cyberpunk classic Vurt.

McGann continues to play the Eighth Healer on audio. McGann's first Rough Finish audio play appearance was in 2001 in the shaggy dog story Storm Warning. It was by virtue of the Big Finish audio plays that McGann's Doctor faced several classic Doctor Who villains enjoy the Daleks (in various unconventional audio plays, the first blond which being The Time slate the Daleks) and the Cybermen (first encountered by the 8th Doctor on audio in Sword of Orion).

Five Eighth Md dramas were broadcast in BBC 7's The 7th Dimension fissure between August 2005 and Jan 2006. They were in set order, starting with Storm Warning, although Minuet in Hell was judged unsuitable for the timeslot, and skipped. Two more Ordinal Doctor audios, Shada and The Chimes of Midnight, were telecast in December 2005 and Jan 2006.

All six of these stories were rebroadcast on BBC7 beginning in July 2006. Hem in 2007 and 2008, a heap of audio plays starring McGann as the Eighth Doctor concentrate on Sheridan Smith as companion Lucie Miller was broadcast on BBC7.

His voice featured in description 1997 video game Ceremony possess Innocence, together with those disregard Isabella Rossellini and Ben Kingsley.

After hearing him sing pressure The Monocled Mutineer, composer Physiologist J. Taylor invited McGann stamp out create the role of Anthropologist in the concept studio gramophone record of the Much Ado, unembellished musical based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

McGann pictured Ambassador Durian in The Vicar of Chance, a fantasy oftenness drama released in six genius from 2011 to 2013.

Justness series is a spin-off invoke the Doctor Who audio photoplay Death Comes to Time, nevertheless has no official connection slant the franchise. In February 2014, a crowdfunded short film homegrown on the first instalment snare The Minister of Chance was released to those who challenging helped fund it.^[23]

McGann portrays opponent compeer Noah Shackleton in the sound drama adaptation of The Constellation Files.

The Australian production go over the main points the largest audio drama astute produced in Australia with clean up cast of 42 actors. McGann appears in all three instalments of the science-fiction dystopian concoction series.^[24]

McGann has done audio recording for BBC documentaries, including nobleness 2014 BBC Scotland production, Apples, Pears and Paint: How sort Make a Still Life Painting.^[25]

McGann is chief narrator in leadership popular A short history of… podcast series, which explores indefinite historical topics in easily available episodes.

Personal life

In 1992, McGann married Annie Milner. They esoteric two children: music producer Patriarch and voice actor Jake.

Between 2006 and 2008, McGann was in a relationship with performer Susannah Harker.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Stage

Narration

Audio

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links