View for person of id: 116975
Paul Copley
Born: 25th Nov 1944 Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Dept: Acting
Paul is a long established and much respected British actor and voiceover artist.
Born in Denby Dale, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 25th November 1944 he grew up beside a dairy farm. His father, Harold, was involved with local amateur dramatic productions, as were the rest of his family. He went to Penistone Grammar School, then the Northern Counties College of Education in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he received an Associate of the Drama Board (ADB) in Drama. He taught English and Drama in Walthamstow, before he joined the Leeds Playhouse Theatre-in-education Company in 1971.
In 1976, Paul won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play for his role in John Wilson's For King and Country.
With many and varied roles to follow, Paul soon established himself as one of the UK's leading stage, film, television and radio actors.
In 2011-2015 Paul gained worldwide recognition appearing in 16 episodes of the hugely popular television series Downton Abbey playing the popular role of farmer Mr Mason.
Paul is married to the actress Natasha Pyne. They married in 1972, after both performing in a Leeds Playhouse production of Frank Wedekind's Lulu, adapted by Peter Barnes, directed by Bill Hays in 1971.
[ToDo] Show list of extra photos here.
Film and Tv Credits
Total number of credits listed: 129
Film: 62 (48%)
Television: 67 (52%)
Remaining genres not in graph: Action & Adventure, History, Thriller, Horror, Fantasy, Animation, Music, Reality, Soap
Filmography
(No release date supplied. Possibly still in production.)
A VICTORIOUS JOURNEY OF FAITH AND PILGRIMAGE. Written while in prison by John Bunyan in 1676, The Pilgrim's Progress has for centuries captured the h ... view
Character:
Narrator
2025
A story about Edith and Arthur Thistle – for fifty-three years, they have managed to get by—never rich, never extravagant, but always together. Th ... view
Character:
Arthur Thistle
2025
When Mary finds herself at the center of a public scandal and the family faces financial strife, the entire household grapples with the threat of soci ... view
Character:
Albert Mason
Mar 2025 (first aired)
As Rose sets out to prove, it’s never too late to learn. Her ambitious plan to transform the lives of a group of old-timers is full of laughter and ... view
Character:
Narrator (voice) (2 ep.)
2023
Howard drives his partner Joseph from their farm to hospital to undergo high risk surgery. The unexpected discovery of an old mix tape in the glove co ... view
Character:
Howard
May 2022 (first aired)
DI Ray is set in Birmingham and follows Leicester-born Rachita Ray, a police officer who takes on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong person ... view
Character:
Terry Hunter (1 ep.)
2022
The Crawley family goes on a grand journey to the south of France to uncover the mystery of the dowager countess's newly inherited villa. Meanwhile, a ... view
Character:
Mason
2021
Henry is forced to stay with his passionless great-uncle and slips into a fantastical world where he meets Raygo, an elf-like hunter who reveals that ... view
Character:
Great Uncle Geoffrey
2020
While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord. ... view
Character:
Station Master
2020
A veteran washerman hangs thousands of wet clothes under the scorching sun: one oddity, he doesn't want them dry. ... view
Character:
Larry Windsor
Aug 2018 (first aired)
Drama anthology championing new film-making talent that serves up a raw slice of real life in modern Britain. ... view
Character:
Ray (1 ep.)
May 2017 (first aired)
Father Michael, a Catholic priest presiding over a Northern urban parish, who is modern, maverick, and reassuringly flawed, must be confidante, counse ... view
Character:
Joe Kerrigan (6 ep.)
2016
In June 2003, Reg Keys and his wife Sally return to their home in the Welsh countryside. As they switch on the TV to hear six military policemen have ... view
Character:
Man 2
Character:
2015
The popular musical is brought to life on soundstages at London's Three Mills Studio, in a live TV dramatisation of the timeless story of Maria and th ... view
Character:
Franz
Nov 2015 (first aired)
High-flying solicitor Jane Kennedy returns to the seaside town she left as a teenager to take up the post of coroner, becoming an advocate for the dea ... view
Character:
John Roxwell (1 ep.)
Apr 2015 (first aired)
Based on the extraordinary true story of Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by Detective Chief Superintendent David Bake ... view
Character:
Sidney Jeffreys (2 ep.)
2015
Christine Clarke brings a new man back to her flat from a New Year's Eve party, and immediately her life starts to unravel. Who is the terrifying stra ... view
Character:
Ernie
Feb 2014 (first aired)
An anthology of darkly comic twisted tales, each one taking place behind a door marked 'number 9'. ... view
Character:
Ernie (1 ep.)
Jan 2013 (first aired)
Father Brown is based on G. K. Chesterton's detective stories about a Catholic priest who doubles as an amateur detective in order to try and solve my ... view
Character:
Mr Feste (1 ep.)
Jan 2013 (first aired)
Series looking at the British genius for woodwork over the centuries. ... view
Character:
Narrator (3 ep.)
Nov 2012 (first aired)
Celia and Alan are both widowed and in their seventies. When their respective grandsons put their details on Facebook, they rediscover a passionate re ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (5 ep.)
Harry (24 ep.)
2012
In the summer of 2012, a company of nine actors and director Tim Crouch came together to create a production of King Lear specifically for young audie ... view
Character:
King Lear
Mar 2012 (first aired)
In 1965, seven students meet and, despite being an assorted mix of people, become friends while they share a flat together in London. As time passes, ... view
Character:
Alan (present day) (6 ep.)
Jan 2012 (first aired)
Drama following the lives of a group of midwives working in the poverty-stricken East End of London during the 1950s, based on the best-selling memoir ... view
Character:
Tommy Smith (1 ep.)
May 2011 (first aired)
A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping ... view
Character:
Malcolm Kenrich (1 ep.)
Sep 2010 (first aired)
A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effe ... view
Character:
Mr. Mason (11 ep.)
May 2009 (first aired)
Moving On is a British television series set in contemporary Britain consisting of standalone dramas all sharing the theme of someone going through so ... view
Character:
Ronnie (1 ep.)
Nov 2008 (first aired)
When a deadly virus wipes out most of the world's population, a handful of survivors struggle to stay alive. ... view
Character:
Ted (1 ep.)
Apr 2008 (first aired)
Crime drama set in the 1960s about an old-school detective trying to come to terms with a time when the lines between the police and criminals have be ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
2007
Sally Lockhart crosses paths with the nefarious industrialist Axel Bellman, the richest and most powerful man in Europe. She's determined to prove him ... view
Character:
Paton
Apr 2007 (first aired)
Kingdom is a British television series created by Simon Wheeler and stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk solicitor who is coping with family, ... view
Character:
Vincent Straker (1 ep.)
Oct 2006 (first aired)
The exploits of a team of people whose job is to investigate the unusual, the strange and the extraterrestrial. ... view
Character:
Clement McDonald (4 ep.)
2006
Kim and Aggie travel to Ealing, West London, to look at the standards of cleanliness and issues of hygiene facing Britain's hospitals. Ealing Hospital ... view
Character:
Self - Narrator (voice)
Apr 2006 (first aired)
Anthology drama following the lives and passions of neighbors on a northern English street. ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Jan 2006 (first aired)
Johnny Maxwell stumbles upon a time machine when he helps an old woman, but little does he know that his journeys back to 1941 cause a chain of events ... view
Character:
Sgt. Bourke (3 ep.)
Jan 2006 (first aired)
A detective chief inspector from 2006 is investigating a serial killer when he is knocked over by a speeding car. Waking up, he finds himself mysterio ... view
Character:
Reg Cole (1 ep.)
2005
School teacher Chris Bevan is a dutiful husband to his dull wife, Josie, and ingrate daughters. His best friend knows Chris' heart always belonged to ... view
Character:
Phillip Walsh
Jan 2005 (first aired)
Dead Man Weds is a 6-part comedy series shown on ITV on British TV in January and early February 2005.
The series was written by Dave Spikey who play ... view
Character:
Blind Man (6 ep.)
Jan 2004 (first aired)
The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council est ... view
Character:
Norman Owens (1 ep.)
Jan 2004 (first aired)
New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Ori ... view
Character:
Pat the Rat (1 ep.)
2003
The story of three generations told against the backdrop of the 20th century. The drama focuses on the life of Mary Corrigan, from her days as a rebel ... view
Character:
May 2003 (first aired)
How Clean Is Your House? is a British entertainment/lifestyle television programme in which expert cleaners Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie visit fil ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (0 ep.)
Self - Narrator (voice) (74 ep.)
Feb 2003 (first aired)
Carl, Jon and Andy have been mates forever. They are Generation X-hardened party animals but their party train is grinding to a halt. Andy is getting ... view
Character:
Terry Grimshaw (10 ep.)
Jan 2003 (first aired)
The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series of standalone contemporary dramas aired during the afternoons of 2003–07 on BBC One, fea ... view
Character:
Dave (1 ep.)
Jan 2003 (first aired)
Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles. ... view
Character:
Nesbitt (1 ep.)
2003
Admiral Pellew interrupts Hornblower's wedding reception and tasks him to locate a British ship which has disappeared off the French coast, where Napo ... view
Character:
Matthews
2003
Hornblower must deliver a French nobleman to a secret rendezvous near Brest, all while coping with enemy agents in his own ranks. ... view
Character:
Matthews
Apr 2002 (first aired)
In the 1950s at the fictional Lancashire village of Ormston, a father and son, both doctors, navigate the challenges of running a cottage hospital und ... view
Character:
Hubert Gough (1 ep.)
2002
After killing his English partner, a Canadian businessman assumes his identity. Things begin to fall apart for him when the murdered man's body is fou ... view
Character:
Danny Peck
Jun 2001 (first aired)
A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases. ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Clifford Day (1 ep.)
May 2001 (first aired)
Crime drama series following the investigations of DCI Red Metcalfe. ... view
Character:
Ian Fleet (2 ep.)
2001
Hornblower and the other officers of the Renown must return to Jamaica to face a court-martial and possible execution for their actions in relieving t ... view
Character:
Matthews
2001
Hornblower and his comrades come under the command of a revered but mentally unstable captain and are forced to mutiny in order to save their ship, th ... view
Character:
Mathews
2001
The annual British Hairdressing Championship comes to Keighley, a town where Phil and son Brian run a barbershop and Phil's ex-wife Shelly and her lov ... view
Character:
Ken
1999
Lieutenant Hornblower and his shipmates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France. ... view
Character:
Mathews
1999
Acting Lieutenant Hornblower and his crew are captured by the enemy while escorting a Duchess who has secrets of her own. ... view
Character:
Matthews
Feb 1999 (first aired)
Stuart Jones has got it all. He's rich, drop-dead gorgeous and always the centre of attention. He can be forgiven the arrogance because he's pretty cl ... view
Character:
Roy Maloney (2 ep.)
1998
Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew ... view
Character:
Mathews
Oct 1998 (first aired)
Mildred Hubble is a young witch attending Cackles Academy. She's called the "Worst Witch" because she's always caught getting into trouble. ... view
Character:
Algernon Rowan-Webb (2 ep.)
Algernon Rowan Webb (3 ep.)
Oct 1998 (first aired)
Set during the 18th century Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, a young and shy midshipman, rises through the ranks to become an admiral. ... view
Character:
Matthews (8 ep.)
1998
Portsmouth, 1794. Under thundery skies and in lashing rain, 17-year-old midshipman Horatio Hornblower takes the first tentative steps of his naval car ... view
Character:
Matthews
1998
A century ago, a series of horrific murders rocked the city. Now, as the end of the millennium approaches, a copycat killer stalks seven victims, pray ... view
Character:
Brian Chappel
Sep 1997 (first aired)
The Lakes is a mystery drama created and written by Jimmy McGovern for BBC1. The first series – comprised of four episodes – broadcast from 14 Sep ... view
Character:
Peter Quinlan (14 ep.)
Mar 1997 (first aired)
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his ... view
Character:
Frank Dewar (1 ep.)
Mar 1996 (first aired)
Five aspiring lawyers are aiming for the top - but behind the scenes they're a mess of love, drugs and excess. ... view
Character:
Jerry Cook (6 ep.)
Mar 1996 (first aired)
British crime drama based on the "Dalziel and Pascoe" series of books by Reginald Hill, set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton. The unlikely ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Feb 1996 (first aired)
A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible. ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (3 ep.)
1996
In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is t ... view
Character:
Mr. Willis
Jun 1994 (first aired)
Roughnecks is a BBC comedy-drama series that ran over two series between 1994 and 1995 on BBC One. The show centred on the working and personal lives ... view
Character:
Ian (13 ep.)
1994
Receiving a tip from his dentist Jack Shorter, policeman Peter Pascoe takes a closer look at the Calliope Kinema Club, a film club notorious for showi ... view
Character:
Charlie Heppelwhite
1993
A rule-bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with ... view
Character:
Harry Smith
Sep 1993 (first aired)
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind. ... view
Character:
Pathologist (5 ep.)
Sep 1993 (first aired)
Harry is a television drama series produced by Union Pictures for the BBC, and shown on BBC1 between 18 September 1993 and 12 April 1995. The programm ... view
Character:
Thomas Thomas (1 ep.)
May 1993 (first aired)
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors w ... view
Character:
Tim Shardlow (1 ep.)
DS Patrick Hopkins (2 ep.)
Apr 1992 (first aired)
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines. ... view
Character:
Dick Radcliffe (1 ep.)
Herbie Lloyd (1 ep.)
Malcolm Stainsby (1 ep.)
1991
During World War II a young city boy is evacuated to the country. ... view
Character:
Jack
Dec 1989 (first aired)
Drama about a small-time gangster Thomas Gynn (Dennis Waterman) from London who discovers a new life up north in Yorkshire. Helping widowed, self-suff ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Sep 1989 (first aired)
Focuses on brothers Frank and Danny Kane. Their mother is the matriarch of a South London criminal gang, assisted by Danny. Frank has become a priest ... view
Character:
Mousey Pavitt (1 ep.)
1989
Being accused of child abuse is a nightmare every family dreads. The Taylors are an ordinary happy family, but Paul and Jill are worried about their 1 ... view
Character:
Gerry
Jan 1989 (first aired)
The challenging and spirited early life of cinema's first great comedic artist, Charlie Chaplin, is portrayed. The innately talented young Charlie mus ... view
Character:
Chimnery Sweep (1 ep.)
1986
Oedipus's wanderings come to an end when he finds his final resting place, as foretold by the gods. But his brother-in-law and his son each try to tak ... view
Character:
Local Man
Sep 1986 (first aired)
Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional ... view
Character:
Frederick Chambers (1 ep.)
Mick McCarthur (1 ep.)
Arthur (4 ep.)
1985
Adaption of George Eliot's novel. When a respectable weaver is wrongfully accused of theft, he becomes a virtual hermit until his own fortune is stole ... view
Character:
William Dane
1985
The documentary features the British miners and their family experiences told through songs, poems, pictures and words. ... view
Character:
Narrator (voice)
1985
There's big money in pigeon racing if you've got a fast flyer, and Joe Desmond's blue-pied hen is a natural winner. But Joe's lucky streak with the bi ... view
Character:
Roy Pearson
Oct 1984 (first aired)
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and d ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)
Oct 1984 (first aired)
The ups and downs of small time London gambler Robby Box, and the effect that his poker addiction has on his long suffering girlfriend Jan Oliver and ... view
Character:
Max (1 ep.)
Sep 1983 (first aired)
The saga of Manchester lad Joe Henshaw, a story that takes in family life, the trials and tribulations of the Labour movement and World War Two ... view
Character:
Bob Henshaw (6 ep.)
Character:
Social Worker
1982
Judith Allchurch and Ian Stevens star in this drama based on the story by Edward Chitham. When young historians Teresa (Allchurch) and David (Stevens) ... view
Character:
Mr. Reed
1981
"That order to scatter was as good as a death sentence to those merchant ships. And there isn't one officer or rating who doesn't agree with me." A Br ... view
Character:
PO Jordan
1981
James van Santen, a white South African writer facing imminent arrest for acts of sabotage, has escaped to England. He leaves behind him not only a vi ... view
Character:
Robert
Oct 1981 (first aired)
Based on real-life experiences, Tenko remains one of the most fondly remembered and acclaimed BBC dramas of the early 1980s. It follows a group of wom ... view
Character:
POW (1 ep.)
Feb 1981 (first aired)
A look at Soho life through the eyes of likeable rogue Fiddler and his two cronies, Bishop and Checkie. ... view
Character:
Herbert (1 ep.)
1981
A black comedy about excessive consumption. A young couple are determined to make a break with a predictable future as servants of a large corporation ... view
Character:
Tom
1980
They train people to look after lads like Gary at the centre. So why does Vernon persist in keeping his brother at home? ... view
Character:
Vernon
1980
A journalist investigates a newspaper story of the execution of an Arab princess. ... view
Character:
Steve Jackson
Oct 1979 (first aired)
Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley. ... view
Character:
Palmer (1 ep.)
1979
A watchmaker finds his livelihood is threatened by cheaply imported digital watches. ... view
Character:
Andy
1979
When honest young Tolly is forced on the run with ‘Black Jack’, a villainous ruffian, adventure and mishap are never far away. As the two enter a ... view
Character:
Narrator
1979
In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership. ... view
Character:
Cpl. Storey
1978
An impressionistic look at Irish emigrants in London, representing the emigrant's journey, a confusion of anticipation, memories and experience. ... view
Character:
1978
As Old William stands in an autumnal Yorkshire graveyard at his wife's funeral, a young man's face strikes an uncanny chord and brings back memories o ... view
Character:
Young William/Middle William/Sales Rep
Jun 1978 (first aired)
Strangers is a 1978–82 ITV police procedural created and principally written by Murray Smith, based on characters created by Kenneth Royce in his no ... view
Character:
Des White (1 ep.)
1978
'I'm an expert on pigs now. How many people can claim they've castrated 1.000 baby pigs? Not many.' Brian is enthusiastic about his new job, but Thoma ... view
Character:
Brian Wilson
1978
Married life starts out full of bright hopes for Alex and Lynda - but soon they are trapped in a nightmare with their friend Bill. ... view
Character:
Bill
1978
A small town shopkeeper is conned into standing for an extreme right-wing party at a by-election, and later discovers that it's financed by the corpor ... view
Character:
Paul McShane
1978
Comedy in which a young Geordie, Peter, is put under pressure by his fiancee who wants him to name the wedding day. Enough pressure to make him consid ... view
Character:
Peter
1977
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his yout ... view
Character:
Fred (Scrooge's Nephew)
Oct 1977 (first aired)
Treasure Island is a 1977 television adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel. It was filmed in 1977 on location in Plymouth and Dar ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (4 ep.)
Sep 1977 (first aired)
An anthology of plays and novels adapted into feature length TV movies, broadcast on BBC2 from September 1977 to April 1979. ... view
Character:
Finnegan (1 ep.)
Bill (1 ep.)
Sep 1977 (first aired)
World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistan ... view
Character:
Eric Finch (1 ep.)
1977
The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in ... view
Character:
Pvt. Wicks
1976
Graeme Warrack was Divisional Chief Doctor of the 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. With other doctors, medical personn ... view
Character:
Finnegan
1976
Medieval Mystery Cycle first performed in Chester in the 14th century. ... view
Character:
Sep 1975 (first aired)
Days of Hope is a BBC television drama serial produced in 1975. The series dealt with the lives of a working-class family from the turmoils of the Fir ... view
Character:
Ben Matthews (4 ep.)
1975
Alfie meets his romantic match when the modern-day Casanova falls in love with a career woman. Alfie soon realises that Abby, a magazine editor, is ju ... view
Character:
Bakey
1975
Teenager Diane Weaver lives in a small council flat with her brooding father, the groundskeeper of a local church. What no one realises, is how close ... view
Character:
Jim
Dec 1974 (first aired)
Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britai ... view
Character:
Viventius (1 ep.)
Mar 1974 (first aired)
A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC. ... view
Character:
Jim (1 ep.)
Vernon (1 ep.)
1973
After divorcing his wife, Patrick Glover decides it is time to remarry, and chooses his literary agent, only to then mistakenly propose to the cleanin ... view
Character:
Dumbo
1973
Speech Day is a bit of a laugh if you are not one of nature's prize-winners. But now that they've finished with school and school with them, what come ... view
Character:
Woodwork Master
Oct 1970 (first aired)
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more tha ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (2 ep.)
Andy (1 ep.)
Sep 1967 (first aired)
ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhy ... view
Character:
Peter (1 ep.)
Oct 1965 (first aired)
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a ... view
Character:
Unknown/various (1 ep.)