James Atherton

For other people named James Atherton, see James Atherton (disambiguation).

James Atherton
James Atherton in 2013
Born	James Conway (1987-07-16) 16 July 1987 (age 38) [1] Cumbria, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2009–present
Television	Hollyoaks Coronation Street

James Atherton (born James Conway; 16 July 1987) is an English actor, known for his roles as Will Savage on Hollyoaks and Jamie Bowman on Coronation Street . In 2017, he appeared in the stage production of Rita, Sue and Bob Too . ^{[1] [2]} In 2019, he played Tim Collins in Ackley Bridge and Dr. McKenzie in the Dave sitcom Porters .

Early life

Atherton grew up in the Cumbrian village of Talkin and attended Austin Friars School in nearby Carlisle. ^[2]

Career

On television, Atherton played the serial killer Will Savage in Hollyoaks from 2011 to 2015 and joined the cast of Coronation Street as Jamie Bowman in October 2015. ^{[2] [3]}

On stage, he co-starred as title character Bob in the Out of Joint Theatre Company's revival of Andrea Dunbar's play Rita, Sue and Bob Too , which opened at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, in September 2017 before touring the UK, and later played at the Royal Court Theatre in January 2018. ^{[1] [4] [5] [6]} In January 2019, he appeared as Keiran in "Blindspot", an episode of the ITV crime drama Vera . Later that year, he appeared in the third series of Ackley Bridge as Tim Collins. ^[7]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Babs	Cliff	TV film
2018	Macbeth	Second Murderer
2020	Paper Boy	Jacob	Short film
TBA	Slammer†	John Howlett	Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Inspector George Gently	David Swift	Episode: "Peace and Love"
2011	Hollyoaks Later	Will Savage	Series 4, Episode 5
2011–2015	Hollyoaks		Series regular; 245 episodes
2015	Casualty	Luke Krieger	Episode: "Objectum Sexual"
2015–2016	Coronation Street	Jamie Bowman	Recurring role; 20 episodes
2017	Midsomer Murders	Jensen Marsh	Episode: "Crime and Punishment"
2017–2019	Porters	Dr. McKenzie	Recurring role; 4 episodes
2019	Vera	Kieran Webb	Episode: "Blind Spot"
	Krypton	Sagitari One	Episode: "Ghost in the Fire"
	Ackley Bridge	Tim Collins	Recurring role; 3 episodes
	Sanditon	Fred Robinson	Recurring role; 5 episodes
2020	The Jewish Enquirer	North London Clarkson	Episode: "Bad Hair Day"
2023	Van der Valk	Valentijn Meijer	Episode: "Magic in Amsterdam"
2023	The Lazarus Project	Michael	Episodes: S02E02, S02E04

Theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2008	Treasure Island	Tom Morgan	Theatre Royal Haymarket, London	[8]
2009	Wallenstein	Kinsky	Minerva Theatre, Chichester	[9]
2014	Crocodiles	Vincent	Royal Exchange, Manchester	[10]
2017	Rita, Sue and Bob Too	Bob	Octagon Theatre, Bolton	[11]
2024	The Other Boleyn Girl	Henry VIII	Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester	[12]

References

1. Saul, Rosalind. "Self-confessed soap 'bad lad' talks stage sex scenes and making a love-rat look good". The Bolton News. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
2. "From Carlisle to the cobbles: Meet Corrie's new bad boy". ITV News. 12 October 2015.
3. Lindsay, Duncan (6 August 2015). "Hollyoaks star James Atherton lands Coronation Street role". Metro .
4. Love, Catherine (14 September 2017). "Rita, Sue and Bob today: Andrea Dunbar's truths still haunt us". The Guardian .
5. "Theatre reverses decision to axe play". BBC News. 16 December 2017.
6. "Royal Court reverses decision to cancel Rita, Sue and Bob Too". The Guardian. 15 December 2017.
7. "Ackley Bridge cast: Who plays new headteacher Sian's fiancé Tim? Who is James Atherton?". topcelebritiesonline.com. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
8. Clapp, Susannah (23 November 2008). "Great idea, too much horseplay". The Guardian. The Observer . Retrieved 11 June 2023.
9. Billington, Michael (1 June 2009). "Wallenstein". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2023.
10. Hickling, Alfred (7 October 2014). "Crocodiles review – family drama and dysfunction in a seaside town". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2023.
11. Billington, Michael (12 January 2018). "Rita, Sue and Bob Too review – Dunbar's comedy bleaker than ever in #MeToo era". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2023.
12. Writer, Staff (12 March 2024). "Full companies announced for The Other Boleyn Girl and The House Party at Chichester Festival Theatre". Theatre Weekly. Retrieved 9 August 2025.

External links

• James Atherton at IMDb
• James Atherton on Spotlight