David Bradley (English actor)

For the actor who starred in Kes, see Dai Bradley.

David Bradley
Bradley at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	David John Bradley (1942-04-17) 17 April 1942 (age 82) York, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present
Spouse	Rosanna Bradley ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	3

David John Bradley (born 17 April 1942)^[1] is an English actor. He is best known for his screen roles including Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series, Walder Frey in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, and Abraham Setrakian in the FX horror series The Strain.

A character actor, Bradley has notably acted in Our Friends in the North, the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and After Life. He has made several appearances as the First Doctor in Doctor Who, having portrayed the role's originator, William Hartnell, in the TV biopic An Adventure in Space and Time. In 2021, he received an Annie Award for Best Voice Actor in a Television Series for his work as Merlin in Guillermo del Toro's animated Netflix series Tales of Arcadia.

An alumnus of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bradley is also an established stage actor, with a career that includes a Laurence Olivier Award for his role in a production of King Lear and appearing in the Harold Pinter play No Man's Land at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End.

Early life

Bradley was born in York, where he attended the Catholic St George's Secondary Modern School, where he was a member of the choir. He first performed on stage in musical productions, as a member of a youth club and with the Rowntree Youth Theatre. Upon leaving school, he completed a five-year apprenticeship with the optical instruments maker Cooke, Troughton & Simms and remained with the firm until 1966, when he moved to London to train as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.^[2]

Career

Bradley at the Harry Brown premiere in 2009

Bradley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company in the early 1970s.^[3] He first appeared on television in 1971, as a police officer in the comedy Nearest and Dearest. He was awarded a Laurence Olivier Award in 1991 for his supporting role as the Fool in King Lear at the Royal National Theatre. He appeared in the Royal National Theatre's 1997 production of The Homecoming, as well as productions of The Caretaker at Sheffield Theatres and the Tricycle Theatre from 2006 to 2007. In 2005 he played the title role in Nicholas Hytner's production of Henry IV Parts One and Two at the Olivier Theatre, London.^[4]

Bradley played fictional Labour Member of Parliament Eddie Wells in the 1996 BBC Two serial Our Friends in the North. Also in 1996, he appeared as gangster Alf Black in Band of Gold. In 1998, he appeared in the BBC adaptation of Vanity Fair as the miserly Sir Pitt Crawley, and Our Mutual Friend as the villainous Rogue Riderhood. Other television appearances include the 2001 series The Way We Live Now, directed by David Yates, who would work with Bradley five years later on the Harry Potter films.

From 2002 to 2004, Bradley starred as Jake in the BBC comedy series Wild West. Bradley acted in the 2004 musical drama serial Blackpool on BBC One. He appeared in the 2005 BBC drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, playing a morose coach driver who takes an unruly party of pupils on a trip to Salisbury Cathedral, and the 2006 BBC drama Sweeney Todd. He had a small role in a 2006 episode of the series Taggart. In 2003, he played Tom in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Green Man". He appeared as the electrolarynx-using gangster Stemroach in the BBC comedy series Ideal and as Electric in the BBC's Thieves Like Us, as well as the BBC One series True Dare Kiss in 2007–08.

No Man's Land starring Bradley playing at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End in 2008

Bradley appeared in the 2002 film Nicholas Nickleby which was based on The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, and had a small role in the 2007 comedy film Hot Fuzz as a farmer who illegally hoards weapons. He played Cohen the Barbarian in a Sky One adaptation of The Colour of Magic in 2008.^[5] That same year he appeared as Spooner in a production of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, which later transferred to London's West End.^[6][7]

In 2009, Bradley appeared in Ashes to Ashes, playing an animal rights activist, and in The Street, both on BBC. Bradley portrayed Will Somers, Henry VIII's court fool, in an episode of the Showtime series The Tudors in 2009. In 2010, he appeared in the film Another Year, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the London Film Critics Circle Awards. From 2011 to 2017, Bradley appeared as the villainous Lord Walder Frey in the HBO series Game of Thrones.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Bradley played Solomon, a ruthless buccaneer, in the 2012 Doctor Who episode "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship". He previously provided voice work for The Sarah Jane Adventures serial Death of the Doctor.^[12] It was announced in January 2013, that Bradley had been cast as actor William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, a BBC docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who in 1963. The special aired in November 2013, adding to the buildup to the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who later that month. He also appeared in the first series of Broadchurch, for which he won the BAFTA for "Best Supporting Actor". In 2013, he also appeared in The World's End, a follow-up to Hot Fuzz in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, this time portraying "Mad" Basil, an eccentric local man from the fictional English town Newton Haven.

From 2014, Bradley played a leading role as Professor Abraham Setrakian, a Holocaust survivor turned vampire hunter in Guillermo del Toro's TV series The Strain.^[13] In 2015, Bradley became a public supporter of Chapel Lane Theatre Company based in Stratford-Upon-Avon.^[14] In 2017, Bradley joined the cast of Guillermo del Toro's animated Netflix series Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia playing the role of Merlin. In 2021, he received an Annie Award for Best Voice Actor in a Television Role for his role in the final chapter of the trilogy, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia as the wizard Merlin.

In 2017, in the final episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who, "The Doctor Falls", Bradley returned to portray the First Doctor, having previously portrayed Hartnell, who originally played the character. He reprised the role in the 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time",^[15][16] in an audio series for Big Finish Productions titled Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures alongside his An Adventure in Space and Time cast,^[17] and in the immersive theatre show Doctor Who: Time Fracture.^[18] This makes him the third actor to play the role in the television programme, after William Hartnell and Richard Hurndall since the premiere of Doctor Who in 1963, and at the age of 75, he is the also the oldest actor to play the role of the Doctor on television.^[19] He again played the First Doctor in the final episode of the 2022 specials, "The Power of the Doctor".^[20][21]

From 2019 to 2022, Bradley played Ray Johnson, the demented father of Tony (Ricky Gervais) in the Netflix series After Life. In 2021, it was announced that Bradley would be joining the cast of Allelujah, a film adaptation of Alan Bennett's play of the same name directed by Richard Eyre, which will star Jennifer Saunders, Bally Gill, Russell Tovey, Derek Jacobi, and Judi Dench.^[22] In 2022, it was announced that Bradley would voice Fowler in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.^[23]

Personal life

Bradley married his wife Rosanna in 1978. They have three children. His eldest son, George, is an architect, who has featured on the ITV series Love Your Home and Garden alongside Alan Titchmarsh.^[24] His daughter, Francesca, works in casting, having worked on Michael Bay's 6 Underground.^[25][26] He has said that it was his children who turned his attention to the Harry Potter film franchise and coached him for the role of Argus Filch.^[27]

Bradley is the president of Second Thoughts Drama Group, which performs in and around Stratford-upon-Avon.^[28] He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Warwick (17 July 2012)^[29] and York St John University (19 November 2015).

He is an avid fan of football clubs Aston Villa and York City.^[30][31] On 22 November 2014, he took part in a video paying tribute to Aston Villa on their 140th birthday.^[32]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	The Frisco Kid	Julius Rosensheine
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	Undertaker
1997	Seeing Things		Short
1998	Left Luggage	Concierge
1999	Tom's Midnight Garden	Abel
2000	The King Is Alive	Henry
2001	Blow Dry	Noah
	Gabriel & Me	Grandad
	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Argus Filch
2002	This Is Not a Love Song	Mr. Bellamy
	Crossings	Yorkshire Farmer	Short
	The Intended	The Priest
	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Argus Filch
	Nicholas Nickleby	Nigel Bray
	Pas de Trois	Porter	Short
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Argus Filch
	Exorcist: The Beginning	Father Gionetti
2005	Red Mercury	Neil Ashton
	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Argus Filch
2006	Lycanthropy	Club Owner
2007	Hot Fuzz	Arthur Webley
	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Argus Filch
2008	The Daisy Chain	Sean Cryan
	I Know You Know	Mr. Fisher
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Argus Filch
	Harry Brown	Leonard Attwell
2010	Another Year	Ronnie
2011	Lucy and the Attack of the Malevolon	Narrator	Short, voice role
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	Argus Filch
	Captain America: The First Avenger	Church Keeper
	The Holding	Cooper
2013	The World's End	"Mad" Basil
2016	The Young Messiah	Old Rabbi
	Broadcast Signal Intrusion	James' Father	Short
2017	The Lodgers	Bermingham
	Edmund the Magnificent	Farmer	Short
2018	Await Further Instructions	Grandad
2020	Doctors Assemble	The First Doctor	Short, voice role
2021	Roy	Roy	Short
	Jolt	Gareth Fizel
	Emily the Little Match Girl	Harry Smith
2022	Allelujah	Joe Colman
	Catherine Called Birdy	Lord Gideon Sidebottom
	Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio	Geppetto	Voice role
	Your Christmas or Mine?	Jack
2023	Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget	Fowler	Voice role
	Your Christmas or Mine 2	Jack
	Good Grief	Duncan
2025	Frankenstein		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Nearest and Dearest	2nd Policeman	Episode: "Barefaced in the Park"
	A Family at War	Colin Woodcock	Recurring role
1972	ITV Sunday Night Theatre	Parker Street Goalie	Episode: "Another Sunday and Sweet F.A"
	Thirty-Minute Theatre	The Evangelist	Episode: "That Quiet Earth"
1976	Bill Brand	Peter Malone	Episode: "August for the Party"
1978	The Professionals	Tony Kristo	Episode: "Close Quarters"
1980	Coronation Street	Detective Sergeant Simms	1 episode
1981	Play for Today	Communist speaker	Episode: "The Union"
	BBC2 Playhouse	Wike	Episode: "Clapperclaw"
		Barman	Episode: "Findings on a Late Afternoon"
1982	Frost in May	Rambler	Episode: "The Lost Traveller"
1983	Tartuffe, or The Imposter	Cleante	TV film
1985	One by One	Mr. Fazakerly	Episode: "To Hear the Sea Maid's Music"
	Theatre Night	Charron	Episode: "Molière"
1986	King of the Ghetto	Ralph	Mini-series
1989	Shadow of the Noose	Edward Lawrence	Episode: "Gun in Hand"
	The Play on One	Harry	Episode: "A Master of the Marionettes"
1992	ScreenPlay	Mr. Preach	Episode: "Bad Girl"
	Between the Lines	Sergeant Harry Ross	Episode: "Lies and Damned Lies"
1993	Full Stretch	Don Naylor	Episode: "Deals on Wheels"
	The Buddha of Suburbia	Helen's Father	Mini-series
1994	Screen Two	Headmaster	Episode: "Criminal"
	Performance	Barnadine	Episode: "Measure for Measure"
	Martin Chuzzlewit	David Crimple	Mini-series
1995	The Vet	Dick Sims	Episode: "Relative Values"
	Casualty	Stanmore	Episode: "Hit and Run"
1996	A Touch of Frost	Les James	Episode: "Unknown Soldiers"
	Band of Gold	Alf	Episode: "Hustling"
	Our Friends in the North	Eddie Wells	Series regular
	Wycliffe	Joe Mawnan	Episode: "Total Loss"
	In Your Dreams	Tutor	TV film
	Cracker	Frank Carter	Episode: "White Ghost"
	Kiss and Tell	Superintendent Hines	TV film
1997	Reckless	Arnold Springer	Series regular
	Bramwell	Charles Matthews	1 episode
	The Moth	Dave Waters	TV film
1998	Our Mutual Friend	Rogue Riderhood	Mini-series
	Where the Heart Is	Derek Woodford	Episode: "She Goes On"
	Reckless: The Movie	Arnold Springer	TV film
	Vanity Fair	Sir Pitt Crawley	Mini-series
	The Canterbury Tales	January	Animated series, voice role
1999	Doomwatch: Winter Angel	Angel	TV film, voice role
2000	The Wilsons	Ray Wilson	Series regular
	Black Cab	Gerald	Episode: "Marriage Guidance"
2001	Shades	Alan Roberts	Mini-series
	Station Jim	Elliot	TV film
	Murphy's Law	Hatcher Snr.	TV film
	The Way We Live Now	Mr. Broune	Mini-series
	Sweet Dreams	Jim	TV film
2002–2004	Wild West	Old Jake Trethowan	Series regular
2003	The Mayor of Casterbridge	Councillor Vatt	TV film
	Midsomer Murders	Tom	Episode: "The Green Man"
	Charles II: The Power and the Passion	Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey	1 episode
	Blue Dove	Max Turnbull	Mini-series
	Murphy's Law	Hatcher Snr.	Episode: "Pilot"
2004	Blackpool	Hallworth	Mini-series
2005	Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle	Archie	TV film
2006	Sweeney Todd	Sweeney's Father	TV film
	Taggart	Elijah Buckland	Episode: "Law"
2006–2008	Ideal	Stemroach	Recurring role
2007	Thieves Like Us	Electric	Recurring role
	True Dare Kiss	Stanley Tyler	Recurring role
2008	The Colour of Magic	Cohen the Barbarian	Episode: "Part 2: The Light Fantastic"
	The Invisibles	'Knacker' Locke	Mini-series
2009	The Tudors	Will (Court Fool)	Episode: "Problems in the Reformation"
	Ashes to Ashes	Robin Elliot	1 episode
	The Street	Joe	Episode: "Meet the Parents"
2010	Arena	Various roles	Episode: "Harold Pinter: A Celebration"
	Five Daughters	Patrick Palmer	Mini-series
	New Tricks	Simon Beswick/John Plummer	Episode: "Dead Man Talking"
	The Sarah Jane Adventures	Shansheeth Blue	Episode: "Death of the Doctor"
2011	Waking the Dead	George Barlow	Episode: "Waterloo"
2011–2017	Game of Thrones	Walder Frey	Recurring role
2012	Doctor Who	Solomon	Episode: "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"
	Eternal Law	Mack Steen	1 episode
	Benidorm	Stan Garvey	1 episode
	The Hollow Crown	Gardener	Episode: "Richard II"
	Bad Education	Ennis	Episode: "School Trip"
	World Without End	Brother Joseph	Recurring role
	Bad Sugar	Ralphfred Cauldwell	TV film
2012–2013	Prisoners' Wives	Frank	Recurring role
2012–2014	Mount Pleasant	Charlie	Series regular
2013	Broadchurch	Jack Marshall	Recurring role
	An Adventure in Space and Time	William Hartnell	TV film
2014	Silk	LJ Reynolds	1 episode
2014–2017	The Strain	Abraham Setrakian	Series regular
2016	Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands	Gorrik	1 episode
	Medici	Bardi	Episode: "The Dome and the Domicile"
2017, 2022	Doctor Who	First Doctor	3 episodes ("Twice Upon a Time" and "The Power of the Doctor"); cameo in "The Doctor Falls"; replaced William Hartnell
2017–2018	Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia	Merlin	Series regular, voice role
2018	Hang Ups	Frank Ellerby	1 episode
2018–2019	Les Misérables	Gillenormand	Series regular
	Britannia	Quane	Series regular
2019–2022	After Life	Ray Johnson	Series regular
2020	Gangs of London	Jim	1 episode
	Wizards: Tales of Arcadia	Merlin	Animated series, voice role
	Mandy	Frank	Episode: "Meat"
2021	Adventure Time: Distant Lands	Old Finn	Episode: "Together Again", voice role
2022	The Responder	Davey	2 episodes
2024	Coma	Harry	2 episodes

Music video

Year	Title	Artist
2020	Youth And Love	Jack Savoretti
2023	"Wish You the Best"	Lewis Capaldi

Attractions

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	Doctor Who: Time Fracture	First Doctor	Pre-recorded video

References

1. "Birth details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
2. "David Bradley Interview: From a York childhood to Doctor Who". Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
3. "NATIONAL THEATRE: 1970s". ROB WILTON THEATRICALIA. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
4. Billington, Michael (5 May 2005). "Henry IV Parts One and Two Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
5. Laws, Roz (15 June 2007). "Harry Potter and the Magical Midlanders". Sunday Mercury. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
6. Michael Coveney (9 October 2008). "No Man's Land (Duke of York's)". What's on Stage. whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
7. BWW News Desk (10 November 2008). "Photo Flash: NO MAN'S LAND at the Duke of York....Photos by Jeremy Whelehan". BroadwayWorld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
8. Martin, George R. R. (24 November 2010). "wedding guest". Retrieved 24 November 2010.
9. "'Game of Thrones' actor 'loved' doing Red Wedding scene". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
10. "David Bradley | United Agents". www.unitedagents.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
11. "Game of Thrones season 7: release date, cast, trailers, spoilers & more". NME. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
12. "Other Series 7 stars announced". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
13. Ng, Philiana (21 November 2013). "FX's 'The Strain' Casts 'Harry Potter's' David Bradley to Replace John Hurt". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
14. Harvey-Ball, Thom (23 March 2015). "New Supporter – David Bradley!". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
15. Reporters, Telegraph (1 July 2017). "First look pictures of the First and Twelfth Doctors together in the Doctor Who Christmas special". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
16. Gill, James (1 July 2017). "New Doctor Who Christmas special pictures tease history-making reunion for Peter Capaldi's Doctor". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
17. "David Bradley returns to the TARDIS in Doctor Who - The First Doctor Adventures! - News - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
18. Warner, Sam (27 April 2021). "Doctor Who announces John Barrowman and David Bradley for Time Fracture show". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
19. Martin, Dan (1 July 2017). "Doctor Who recap: series 36 finale – The Doctor Falls". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
20. "BBC One - Doctor Who, The Power of the Doctor". BBC. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
21. "Doctor Who trailer revealed for Jodie Whittaker's epic final episode". Radio Times. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
22. "Crowds Throng U.K.-Wide BFI London Film Festival – Global Bulletin". 25 October 2021.
23. "New 'Wallace & Gromit' Film in Works From Aardman/Netflix; 'Chicken Run 2' Cast and Title Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 January 2022.
24. "Love Your Home and Garden (ITV) - Eltham – byBradley Van Der Straeten". Retrieved 21 July 2020.
25. "Francesca Bradley". IMDb.
26. "6 Underground (2019)". IMDb.
27. Rees, Jasper (8 December 2017). "David Bradley interview: 'JK Rowling told me I was fabulously foul'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
28. Second Thoughts Our President for several years now has been David Bradley.
29. "Honorary Graduates 2012". warwick.ac.uk. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
30. "Harry Potter star Bradley: Villa Park is truly magical". Avfc.co.uk. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
31. "Potter star is potty over York City". Retrieved 21 July 2020.
32. "BAFTA-winner David Bradley on Villa's 140 years". Aston Villa. 22 November 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.

External links

• David Bradley at IMDb
• Podcast interview with David Bradley on his career Interview with David Bradley on the occasion of receiving his honorary degree from the University of Warwick