Nicholas Burns (actor)

Nicholas Burns (born 1977) is an English actor, best known for his comic performance as the title character in Nathan Barley (2005). He played Martin Weedon in Benidorm (2007–2009, 2014) and Alex in No Heroics (2008). His other credits include The Mighty Boosh (2005), The IT Crowd (2007), Doctor Who, The Crown, (both 2017), Manhunt (2019), Strike (2020), The Serpent Queen (2022–present), A Small Light and Black Mirror (both 2023).

Nicholas Burns
Burns at the IFFR 2015
Born	1977 (age 46–47) Derbyshire, England
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present
Known for	Nathan Barley Benidorm

Early life

Burns was born in Derbyshire,^[1] and educated at Repton School. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).^[2]

Career

In 2005, Burns played the titular leading role in the Channel 4 comedy Nathan Barley.^[3] Burns has had recurring roles in the TV series Absolute Power,^[3] Roman's Empire,^[3] and the sketch show Man Stroke Woman.^[3] Burns also made an appearance in The Mighty Boosh as the ruler of the planet Xooberon; in The IT Crowd as Jerome, the director of a musical called Gay!; and in episode "At Bertram's Hotel" of Agatha Christie's Marple as Jack and Joel Britten.^[3] He had the role of an Australian tennis coach in The McClintock Factor, a mockumentary chronicling the rise and fall of the former media tycoon and internet blogger Jeremy McClintock.^[4]

Burns played a main role as Martin Weedon in the first three series of the ITV holiday comedy Benidorm, alongside a cast that included Abigail Cruttenden, who played his wife, Sheridan Smith and Johnny Vegas.^[5]

Burns' stage credits include Much Ado About Nothing at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre,^[3] the satire The Madness of George Dubya and Ghost Stories,^[3] both of which transferred to London's West End, Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike at the Royal Court,^[3] The Recruiting Officer at the Donmar Warehouse and Pinero's The Magistrate at the Royal National Theatre,^[3] a production included in season 4 of National Theatre Live.^[3]

In April 2013, he returned to Benidorm as Martin Weedon, for series 6 of the show in 2014.^[5]

In 2020, Burns appeared in series four of Strike and in Small Axe.^[3] In 2022, he played the role of Antoine de Bourbon in Starz's The Serpent Queen, alongside Samantha Morton and Liv Hill.^[3]

In 2023, he starred as Keith Holligan in the series 6 episode "Demon 79" of Netflix's Black Mirror, alongside Anjana Vasan^[6] and in A Small Light as Victor Kugler.

Personal life

Burns is a lifelong supporter of Derby County Football Club.^[1] He has three sons.^[1]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2013	The World's End	Collaborator
2014	War Book	James
2015	The Lady in the Van	Giles Perry
2017	Ghost Stories	Mark Van Rhys
2018	The Little Stranger	Peter Baker-Hyde
2019	Hope Gap	Gary
2020	Emma	Mr. Cole
2021	Censor	Sanderson
2022	Allelujah	Minister

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Surrealissimo: The Scandalous Success of Salvador Dali	Young Artist	Television film
	The Bill	Simon Beaumont	Episode: "005"
	EastEnders	Adam	1 episode
	The House That Jack Built	Richard Asquith	Episode: "Dogs Don't Wear Hard Hats"
2003	Manchild	Max	Episode #2.4
	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries	Mick Cambrey	Episode: "A Suitable Vengeance"
	Cambridge Spies	Rightwing Student	Episode #1.1
2003–2005	Absolute Power	Nick Mayer	12 episodes
2004	A Touch of Frost	DC Tranter	Episode: "Dancing in the Dark"
	Swiss Toni		Episode: "Speed Date"
2005	The Mighty Boosh	The King	Episode: "Fountain of Youth"
	Nathan Barley	Nathan Barley	7 episodes
2005–2007	Man Stroke Woman	Various	12 episodes
2006	Fear of Fanny	Christopher	Television film
	Born Equal	Michael	Television film
2007	Agatha Christie's Marple	Jack & Joel Britten	Series 3, episode: "At Bertram's Hotel"
	Roman's Empire	Seb	5 episodes
	The IT Crowd	Jerome	Episode: "The Work Outing"
	Comedy Showcase	Rick Parish	Episode: "Other People"
2007–2009, 2014	Benidorm	Martin Weedon	Series regular, 23 episodes (series 1–3, 6)
2008	Never Better	Charlie	Episode: "First Week Euphoria"
	No Heroics	The Hotness	6 episodes
2009	Monday Monday	Nathan	Episode #1.3
	Misfits	PC Wilson	Episode #1.2
	Mister Eleven	Eddie	2 episodes
2010	Trinny & Susannah: From Boom to Bust	Leonard	Television film
2011	The Sinking of the Laconia	Captain Coutts	Television film
	Psychoville	Mark	Episode: "Hancock"
2012	New Tricks	DCI Rosser	Episode: "Blue Flower"
	Switch	Julian	Episode #1.3
	Eggbox	Mr. Bruce	Television film
2013	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Inspector Meadows	Episode: "The Big Four"
	The Tractate Middoth	George Earl	Television film
2014	The Crimson Field	Major Gerard Yelling	Episode #1.3
2014–2017	Crackanory	Various	4 episodes
	Uncle	Ben	11 episodes
2015	Coalition	Ed Balls	Television film
	The Vote	Kenneth Robson	Television film
2015–2016	Marley's Ghosts	Michael	9 episodes
2016	Houdini & Doyle	Frederick Batch	Episode: "In Manus Dei"
	Drunk History	Policeman	Episode: "Battle of Waterloo/Arthur Conan Doyle"
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Theseus	Television film
2017	Doctor Who	Lord Sutcliffe	Episode: "Thin Ice"
	The Crown	Anthony Nutting	Episodes: "Lisbon" and "Misadventure"
	The Tunnel	Richard Carver	2 episodes
2018	Wannabe	Neil Clark	4 episodes
	Midsomer Murders	Barrett Lounds	Episode: "Drawing Dead"
2019	Manhunt	DI Richard Ambrose	3 episodes
	Harlots	Lord Leadsom	8 episodes
2020	Strike	Torquil	Episode: "Lethal White: Part 3"
	Red, White and Blue	Mr. Purling	Part of Small Axe anthology
2022	SAS: Rogue Heroes	Pilot	Episode #1.3
2022–present	The Serpent Queen	Antoine de Bourbon	13 episodes
2023	A Small Light	Victor Kugler	TV miniseries, 7 episodes
	Black Mirror	Keith Holligan	Episode: "Demon 79"

References

1. "Interview with actor and Derby County supporter Nicholas Burns". footballnews.net. 17 February 2023.
2. "Hope Can Set You Free". londonshakespeare.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
3. "Nicholas Burns - actor credits". independenttalent.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
4. "The McClintock Factor". Jeremy Mclintock. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
5. "Nicholas Burns to return to Benidorm?". femalefirst.co.uk. 25 March 2017.
6. Morgan Cormack (25 June 2023). "Meet the cast of Black Mirror season 6". radiotimes.com.

External links

• Nicholas Burns at the Internet Movie Database (imdb)