James Fleet

James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral and the dim-witted but kind-hearted Hugo Horton in the BBC sitcom television series The Vicar of Dibley. Since 2020, he has played King George III in the Netflix series Bridgerton.

James Fleet
Born	James Edward Fleet (1952-03-11) 11 March 1952 (age 73) Bilston, Staffordshire, England[1]
Alma mater	Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Jane Booker (m. 1984)
Children	1

Early life

Fleet was born in Bilston, Staffordshire,^[2][3] to a Scottish mother, Christine, and an English father, Jim. He lived in Bilston until he was 10 but, when his father died, he moved to Aberdeenshire with his mother.^[4] He studied engineering at university in Aberdeen, where he joined the university dramatic society.^[5] Afterwards, he studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

Career

Stage

Fleet began his career in the RSC, appearing in several plays in the early 1980s.^[6][7][8] He has since appeared in touring productions of, among others, Habeas Corpus ^[9] and In the Club,^[10] as well as in Festen and Mary Stuart ^[11] and others in the West End. He also played Alderman Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington in 2002.

In 2003, he played Kulygin in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters alongside Kristin Scott Thomas who played Masha.

In 2009, he portrayed Sir Andrew Aguecheek in the RSC Production of Twelfth Night. In 2011 he was in Richard Bean's The Heretic directed by Jeremy Herrin at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Starting in November 2011, he was in the original line-up of The Ladykillers as Major Courtney at the Gielgud Theatre.

Radio

Between 2000 and 2006, Fleet played the painfully upright and decent Captain Brimshaw in Revolting People, a BBC Radio 4 comedy set in pre-revolutionary America. He also appeared in the radio legal sitcom Chambers, which later moved onto television. As of 2005, he has starred as Duncan Stonebridge MP in the topical radio sitcom The Party Line.^{[citation needed]} He also appeared as the Captain on the BBC Radio 7 series The Spaceship. He also plays the part of Sir John Woodstock in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom The Castle and Inspector Lestrade in the first, third and fourth series of The Rivals. Fleet played John Aubrey in the 2008 BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour production by Nick Warburton of Aubrey's Brief Lives.

Television

From 1999–2001, Fleet was the voice of "Dog" in the children's TV show Dog and Duck.^[12] Probably his most famous role is that of Hugo in The Vicar of Dibley; he appeared in all 20 episodes, broadcast between 1994 and 2007. In 2004, he appeared in an episode of Monarch of the Glen. In 2005, he played a leading role in an episode of the long-running ITV murder mystery series Midsomer Murders. In 2007, he was a guest star in one episode of the sitcom Legit. He appeared as Frederick Dorrit in the BBC's 2008 production of Little Dorrit.^[13] When Fleet appeared on the quiz show School's Out,^[14] it was revealed that one of his teachers at Banff Academy had written in his school report that "[James] is the stupidest boy I have ever had to teach, out of all the stupid boys I have ever had to teach," and that he was the only student in his sixth form not to have been made a prefect. Despite his apparent lack of scholastic ability, he still won the show. In 2009, Fleet appeared in a cameo role in the third series of Skins.

Earlier in his career, Fleet was seen in a 1983 episode of Grange Hill as a teacher at the eponymous school's upmarket rival Rodney Bennett. In 1992, he played Paul Morgan in an episode of The Bill 'Runaway'. In 1999, he starred in the sitcom Brotherly Love.

Fleet appeared in Coronation Street in 2010. He played a character called Robbie Sloan, a recently released convict, helping escaped prisoner Tony Gordon plot revenge on his ex-wife Carla Connor. They intend to kidnap and kill her. Sloan lures Connor into her Underworld factory, and holds her at gunpoint. Leaving her tied to a chair with her mouth taped shut, Sloan also lures Hayley Cropper into the hostage situation. Sloan was eventually shot by Gordon during a siege at the factory.

In February 2011, Fleet appeared as George (senior), the father of werewolf George Sands, in Being Human.

In December 2013, the BBC aired one of their major dramas for the Christmas season, Death Comes to Pemberley, a three-part British television drama based on characters created by Jane Austen in her novel Pride and Prejudice. The first episode was broadcast on BBC One at 8.15 pm on Boxing Day 2013. It was based on the best-selling novel by P. D. James, in which the characters of Pride and Prejudice are involved in a new story involving a murder. Fleet played the part of Mr. Bennett in the series. In September 2014, Fleet appeared in the BBC Three sitcom Bad Education as Richard, an ex-boyfriend of Rosie Gulliver. He has most recently appeared in an episode of ITVs second series of Plebs, as Stylax's racing patron. In 2013, Fleet was engaged to play Scottish historian, the Reverend Dr. Reginald Wakefield, in seasons 1 and 2 of the Award-winning Starz adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, broadcast from 2014–2016.

An April 2021 announcement stated that Fleet would be joining the cast of the second season of All Creatures Great and Small in the role of Colonel Merrick.^[15]

Fleet has recurred as King George III in the Netflix romantic period drama Bridgerton, reprising the role in spin-off series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

Film

Fleet has appeared in numerous films. He played the role of Kevin's father in the 2000 film Kevin & Perry Go Large. He played the roles of Lefevre in the 2004 film adaptation of Phantom of the Opera, John Dashwood in 1995's Sense and Sensibility, and Lytton Strachey in the 2003 film Al Sur de Granada (South from Granada). In 2014, he played John Constable in the Mike Leigh film Mr. Turner. In 2016, he played Sir Reginald DeCourcy in Whit Stillman's Love and Friendship.

Personal life

Fleet lives in Sibford Gower, Oxfordshire with his wife, actress Jane Booker, and their son Hamish.^[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Defence of the Realm	Ministry Man
1992	Electric Moon	Simon Lidell
	Blue Black Permanent	Jim Thorburn
1994	Four Weddings and a Funeral	Tom - Wedding One
1995	The Grotesque	Inspector Limp	aka Grave Indiscretion and Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets
	Sense and Sensibility	John Dashwood
	The Butterfly Effect	Oswald
1997	Thursday	Patrick	Short film
	Remember Me?	Donald
1999	Big Dreams and Paper Planes	Son	Short film
	Milk	Adrian
2000	Kevin & Perry Go Large	Dad
2001	Charlotte Gray	Richard Cannerly
2002	Two Men Went to War	Major Bates
2003	South from Granada	Lytton Strachey	aka Al sur de Granada (original title)
	Blackball	Alan the Pipe
2004	The Phantom of the Opera	Monsieur Lefevre
2005	Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story	Simon
2007	Lady Godiva: Back in the Saddle	Alan Jenkins
2011	The Decoy Bride	William
2014	Mr. Turner	John Constable
2016	Love & Friendship	Sir Reginald DeCourcy
	Revolution: New Art for a New World	Wassily Kandinsky (voice)	Documentary film
2017	Love of My Life	Tom
2018	The Spy Who Dumped Me	Tom
2019	Born a King	George V
2020	Blithe Spirit	Harry Price
2021	Operation Mincemeat	Charles Fraser-Smith
2022	Wolf Manor	Oliver	aka Scream of the Wolf (U.S. title)
	The Lost King	John Ashdown-Hill
2023	North Star	Actor	aka My Mother's Wedding (U.S. title)
2024	Broken Bird	Mr. Thomas

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	The Omega Factor	Ian	Episode 9: "Double Vision"
1983	Grange Hill	Mr. Perkins	Series 6; episode 5
1984	All the World's a Stage	Reading from the 1572 Act of Parliament	Mini-series; episode 5: "A Muse of Fire"
1985	Dempsey and Makepeace	Man in Office	Series 2; episode 9: "In the Dark"
1987	Still Crazy Like a Fox	Bellhop	Television film, aka Crazy Like a Fox: The Movie
	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Neil Fairfax	Series 3; episodes 4 & 5: "A Sleeping Life: Parts One & Two"
1991	Boon	Keith Dawson, Prosecution Barrister	Series 6; episode 3: "Trial and Error"
	Screen Two	Bob	Series 7; episode 11: "They Never Slept"
1992		Peter Wentworth	Series 8; episode 8: "Common Pursuit"
	The Advocates	Philip Jackson	Series 2; episodes 1–3
	The Bill	Paul Morgan	Series 8; episode 43: "Runaway"
	Screen One	James Grahame	Series 4; episode 6: "Running Late"
1993	Screen Two	Algie	Series 9; episode 4: "Femme Fatale"
	A Year in Provence	Hugo Compton	Mini-series; episode 7: "Room Service"
	An Exchange of Fire	Michael Shanks	Episodes 1 & 2
1994	Headhunters	Alan Spence	Episodes 1–3: "The Golden Hello", "Maradonna Land" & "Right as Rain"
	Murder Most Horrid	Tom	Series 2; episode 4: "We All Hate Granny"
	Cracker	Michael Trant	Series 2; episodes 4–6: "The Big Crunch: Parts 1–3"
	Milner	Hugh Bonning	Television film
1994–2020	The Vicar of Dibley	Hugo Horton	Series 1–3 & various specials; 29 episodes
1995	3 Steps to Heaven	Harry Roberts	Television films
1996	Lord of Misrule	Prime Minister
	Eskimo Day	Simon
	Screen Two	Prime Minister	Series 14; episode 1: "Crossing the Floor"
	The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders	James Bland	Mini-series; episode 3
1997	Cows	Thor Johnson	Pilot episode
	Harry Enfield and Chums	Teacher, Mr. Banks	Series 2; episode 3
	Gobble	Prime Minister (voice)	Television film
	A Dance to the Music of Time	Moreland	Mini-series; episodes 2–4
	Underworld	William Smith	Mini-series; episodes 1–6
	Spark	Ashley Parkerwell	Episodes 1–6
1998	Frenchman's Creek	Sir Harry	Television films
1999	The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything	William the Conqueror
2000	Brotherly Love	Frank Robertson	Episodes 1–6
2000–2001	Chambers	Hilary Tipping	Series 1 & 2; 12 episodes
2002	Dick Whittington	Alderman Fitzwarren	Television films
	Fields of Gold	Alan Buckley
	Dog and Duck	Dog (voice)	Series 1–3; 195 episodes
	Young Arthur	Merlin	Television films
2003	Promoted to Glory	Michael Prendergast
2004	Three Sisters	Kulygin
	Family Business	David	Episode 5
	Murder in Suburbia	John Stanton	Series 1; episode 5: "A Good Deal of Attention"
	Monarch of the Glen	Liam	Series 6; episode 6
2005	Midsomer Murders	Ralph Plummer	Series 8; episode 7: "Sauce for the Goose"
	Sea of Souls	Findlay Morrison	Series 2; episodes 1 & 2: "Amulet: Parts 1 & 2"
2007	Legit	Peter	Episode 5: "Danny, Champion of the World"
2008	Harley Street	Max Rogers	Episode 5
	Little Dorrit	Frederick Dorrit	Mini-series; 9 episodes
2009	Skins	Martin	Series 3; episode 4: "Pandora"
	Hotel Babylon	Martin Armstrong	Series 4; episode 5
	Micro Men	Kenneth Baker	Television film
2010	Coronation Street	Robbie Sloan	7 episodes
2011	Being Human	George Senior	Series 3; episode 6: "Daddy Ghoul"
2012	Lewis	Dr. Alex Falconer	Series 6; episode 1: "The Soul of Genius"
	Comedy Showcase	Arthur Marvin	Series 3; episode 6: "The Function Room"
	Just Around the Corner	Ed	Television film
2013	Death in Paradise	Jeremy Tipping	Series 2; episode 3: "Death in the Clinic"
	Red Nose Day 2013	Hugo Horton	Vicar of Dibley sketch for Comic Relief
	It's Kevin	Various characters	Episodes 1 & 3–5
	Murder on the Home Front	Professor Stephens	Television film
	Toast of London	Various characters	Series 2; episode 1
	Big Bad World	Neil Turnbull	5 episodes
	Citizen Khan	Professor Stevens	Series 2; episode 1: "Alia's College"
	Death Comes to Pemberley	Mr. Bennett	Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2
2014	Father Brown	Dr. Adam Crawford	Series 2; episode 9: "The Grim Reaper"
	Blandings	Colonel Fanshawe	Series 2; episode 5: "Sticky Wicket at Blandings"
	Comedy Playhouse	Father Abbot	Series 16; episode 3: "Monks"
	Bad Education	Richard	Series 3; episodes 2 & 3: "After School Clubs" & "Sports Day"
	Plebs	Gaius Maecenas	Series 2; episode 4: "The Patron"
2014–2016	Outlander	Reverend Wakefield	Series 1 & 2; 6 episodes
2015	Partners in Crime	Major Anthony Carter	Mini-series; episodes 1–6
	Top Coppers	Charles Leatherby	Episodes 2 & 3: "The Girdle of Randall Rogers" & "The Venom of Doctor Schafer"
2016	Billionaire Boy	Mr. Darrow	Television film
	Indian Summers	Lord Hawthorne	Series 2; episodes 2–5
	Houdini and Doyle	Dr. Pilsen	Mini-series; episode 7: "Bedlam"
	The Hollow Crown	Hastings	Series 2; episodes 2 & 3: "Henry VI, Part 2" & "Richard III"
2017	Urban Myths	The Professor	Series 1; episode 3: "Hitler the Artist"
	Tracey Ullman's Show	Tough Man / Award's Host / Archie	Series 2; episodes 1, 5 & 6
	Hospital People	Neville Burley	Episode 6: "The Charity Single"
	Midsomer Murders	Michael Falconer	Series 19; episode 6: "The Curse of the Ninth"
2018	Unforgotten	Chris Lowe	Series 3; episodes 1–6
	Patrick Melrose	Sir Victor Eisen	Mini-series; episode 2: "Never Mind"
	Death on the Tyne	Jack	Television film
2019	One Red Nose and a Wedding	Tom	Television short film for Comic Relief
	The Importance of Being Oscar	Canterville Ghost / Basil Hallward	Television documentary film
	Thanks for the Memories	Patrick Conway	Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2
2020	The Pale Horse	Oscar Venables	Mini-series; episode 1: "Part One"
	Belgravia	Reverend Stephen Bellasis	Mini-series; episodes 2–6
	The Watch	Archchancellor of Unseen University	Episodes 2 & 5: "Ook" & "Not on My Watch"
2020–2022	Bridgerton	King George III	Series 1; episodes 5 & 6, & series 2; episode 6
2021	All Creatures Great and Small	Colonel Merrick	Series 2; episode 2: "Semper Progrediens"
2022–2023	Dodger	Judge Fang	Series 1 & 2; 6 episodes
2023	Tom Jones	Squire Allworthy	Mini-series; episodes 1, 2 & 4
	Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story	King George III	Mini-series; episode 6: "Crown Jewels"
	Beyond Paradise	Ernest Buchanan	Series 2; episode: "Christmas Special"
2024	The Devil's Hour	Greg Wiseman	Series 2; episode 3: "Something Beginning with D"
2025	Brian and Maggie	Ronnie Millar	Episode 1
	I, Jack Wright	Bobby	6 episodes
TBA	The Feud	Derek Abshire	6 episodes. Completed[16]

Radio dramas

Year	Title	Role	Radio	Notes	Ref.
1986	The Vacillations of Poppy Carew	Victor	BBC Radio 4		[17]
1996–1999	Chambers	Hilary Tripping
2000	As You Like It	Touchstone	BBC Radio 3	Sunday Play	[18]
2000–2006	Revolting People	Captain Brimshaw	BBC Radio 4
2005	The Party Line	Duncan Stonebridge MP
	The Spaceship	Captain Gordon 'Flashdance' Taylor	BBC Radio 7
2006	Quartermaine's Terms	Mark Sackling	BBC Radio 4
2007–2012	The Castle	Sir John Woodstock
2008	Brief Lives	John Aubrey
	Fortunes of War	Yakimov		Classic Serial
	Max Warp	O'Reilley	BBC Radio 7	Big Finish Productions
2011	Gormenghast	Prunesquallor	BBC Radio 4	Classic Serial
	The History of Titus Groan
	The Rivals	Inspector Lestrade
2013	Greenmantle	Sandy Arbuthnot	BBC Radio 4 Extra
2015	Decline and Fall	Prendergast	BBC Radio 4		[19]
2018–2020	Quanderhorn	Professor Darius Quanderhorn
2019	Coriolanus	Menenius Agrippa	BBC Radio 3		[20]
2023	Henry IV, Part 2	Robert Shallow			[21]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Venue	Notes	Ref.
1981	The Witch of Edmonton	Somerton	Barry Kyle	The Other Place	Press night
1981–1982	Money	Club Member / Servant	Bill Alexander	Barbican Theatre
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Francis Flute	Ron Daniels	Royal Shakespeare Theatre		[22]
1982	Henry IV, Part 1	Peto	Trevor Nunn	Barbican Theatre		[23]
	Henry IV, Part 2	Peto / Francis Feeble				[24]
	Within a Word	Performer	Cicely Berry	Gulbenkian Studio
	The Twin Rivals	Subtleman	John Caird	Pit Theatre	Press night
1982–1983	Peter Pan	Slightly	Trevor Nunn & John Caird	Barbican Theatre	World premiere	[25]
1983	The Dillen	Joshua Farr / Postmaster / Walt Clack	Barry Kyle	The Other Place	Press night
	A New Way to Pay Old Debts	Amble / Creditor	Adrian Noble
	The Time of Your Life	Willie	Howard Davies
	Volpone	Peregrine	Bill Alexander			.
1984				Gulbenkian Studio
				Pit Theatre
1984–1985	A New Way to Pay Old Debts	Amble / Creditor	Adrian Noble	Barbican Theatre
	Waste		John Barton
1987	The Taming of the Shrew	Hortensio	Jonathan Miller	Royal Shakespeare Theatre		[26]
	Hyde Park		Barry Kyle	Barbican Theatre
1987–1988	The Jew of Malta	Lodowick				[27]
1988	The Churchill Play	Captain Thompson
1989	As You Like It	Oliver	Tim Albery	The Old Vic		[28]
1990	Berenice	Arsace		Royal National Theatre		[29]
1991	The Government Inspector	Bobchinsky	Matthew Francis	Greenwich Theatre
	Just Between Ourselves	Neil	Terry Johnson	Bristol Old Vic		[30]
1999	The Late Middle Classes	Charles Smithers / Holly in 40s	Harold Pinter	Watford Palace Theatre		[31]
2005	Mary Stuart	Sir Amyas Paulet	Phyllida Lloyd	Donmar Warehouse		[32]
2005–2006				Apollo Theatre		[33]
2009	Cloud 9	Clive	Thea Sharrock	Almeida Theatre		[34]
	Twelfth Night	Sir Andrew Aguecheek	Gregory Doran	Courtyard Theatre		[35]
	The Observer	Saunders	Richard Eyre	Royal National Theatre		[36]
2011	The Heretic	Professor Kevin Maloney	Jeremy Herrin	Royal Court Theatre		[37]
	The Ladykillers	Major Courtney	Sean Foley	Gielgud Theatre		[38]
2016	Les Blancs	Dr. Willy Dekoven	Yaël Farber	Royal National Theatre		[39]
2023	Noises Off	Selsdon Mowbray	Lindsay Posner	Theatre Royal Haymarket		[40]