Mark Williams (actor)

For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation).

Mark Williams
Williams in 2021
Born	Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England
Occupations	Actor comic actor presenter screenwriter
Years active	1982–present
Children	1

Mark Williams is an English comic actor, presenter and screenwriter. He first achieved widespread recognition as one of the central performers in the BBC sketch show The Fast Show . His film roles include Horace in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and Arthur Weasley in seven of the Harry Potter films. He appeared in Doctor Who and Red Dwarf . Since 2013, Williams has portrayed the title character in the long-running BBC series loosely based on the Father Brown short stories by G. K. Chesterton.

Early life

Williams was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, ^{[1] [2]} and grew up in Sidemoor. ^[3] He was educated at North Bromsgrove High School and then Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated in English in 1978. ^{[4] [5]}

Career

Williams' acting work began in small-scale touring theatre, and he worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. ^[6]

Williams came to wider public attention in the 1990s through the BBC sketch comedy programme The Fast Show , in which he was one of the central performers. ^[6] He has said that for a while "people seemed to assume I was a comedian, which I've never been". ^[6]

He played Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, making his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002. Other high-profile appearances include the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro and Claire Danes in 2007 and a 2012 role in Doctor Who as Brian Williams, father of the Doctor's companion, Rory. ^[7]

Since 2013, he has appeared in the lead role in the BBC costume drama Father Brown . Williams also featured in the first series of Blandings , the BBC TV adaptation of the P. G. Wodehouse Blandings Castle stories, broadcast in 2013, in which he played Beach, the Emsworths' tipsy butler. Interviewed in 2014 by the Lancashire Evening Post , when asked if some people still saw him as a comedy actor, Williams replied, "Well, it's only a few people in the BBC. In America, they see me as a major British character actor, but unfortunately, the BBC is pretty parochial and people are institutionalised here." ^[8]

In 2014 and 2015, he presented the BBC daytime game show The Link . The show ran for two series. His other film roles include 101 Dalmatians and The Borrowers , both with Hugh Laurie.

Williams has also presented several documentary programmes exploring industrial history which is his passion; ^[5] Mark Williams' Big Bangs on the history of explosives, a follow-up to the previous series Mark Williams on the Rails, Industrial Revelations and More Industrial Revelations. ^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Privileged	Wilf
1987	Out of Order	PC
1988	High Season	Benny
1994	Prince of Jutland	Aslak
1996	101 Dalmatians	Horace
1997	The Borrowers	Exterminator Jeff
1998	Shakespeare in Love	Wabash
1999	Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?	Roland Thornton
2001	High Heels and Low Lifes	Tremaine
	Second Star To The Left	Duke
2002	Anita and Me	The Reverend 'Uncle' Alan
	The Final Curtain	Declan Farrell
	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Arthur Weasley
2004	Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London	Inspector Crescent
	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Arthur Weasley
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2006	A Cock and Bull Story	Ingoldsby
2007	Stardust	Billy the Innkeeper
	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Arthur Weasley
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
	Flutter	Raymond
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2	Arthur Weasley
	Albert Nobbs	Sean
2016	Golden Years	Phil (Publican)
2018	Early Man	Barry (voice)
2022	Surprised by Oxford	Professor Nuttham
2024	Robin and the Hoods	The Mayor
TBA	Dream Hacker	Edgar Wainwright	Post-production
TBA	The Dark Channel	Mabuse	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Coppers	Constable Spud Murphy
	The Storyteller	Fearnot's brother	Episode: "Fearnot"
	Red Dwarf	Olaf Petersen	Three episodes: "The End", "Balance of Power" and "Stasis Leak"
	Alexei Sayle's Stuff		First series, six episodes
1989	Tumbledown	Lumpy
1990	Kinsey	Danny
	Making Out	Manfred	Episodes 1 and 2
	KYTV		Episode: "Launch"
1991	Merlin of the Crystal Cave	Cerdic
	Bottom	Boris	Episode: "Accident"
1993	The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer	Don Powell	Seven episodes 1993–1995
1994	Health and Efficiency	Steven	Episode: "Cinderella Rockafeller"
	The Fast Show	Various characters	23 episodes 1994–2000
	Chef!	Policeman 2	Episode: "Masterchef"
1995	The Big Game	Tommy Hollis
	Searching	Gerald
	Peak Practice	Roland Grogan	Episode: "Life and Soul"
1998	The Fast Show Live	Various characters
	The Canterbury Tales	Chanticleer	Episode: "Leaving London" – voice
	Ted & Ralph	Confirmed Bachelor
1999	Hunting Venus	Peter
2000	Gormenghast	Professor Perch
	The Strangerers	Cadet Flynn	Nine episodes
2001	Fun at the Funeral Parlour	Larry Nazareth	Episode: "The Jaws of Doom"
	Industrial Revelations	Himself	Two series (as presenter)
2002	Shackleton	Dudley Docker[ citation needed ]
2003	Grass	Ben	Six episodes
2004	Mark Williams on the Rails	Himself	Presenter
	Carrie and Barry	Kirk	Twelve episodes
2006	Mark Williams' Big Bangs	Himself	Presenter
	Saxondale	Deggsy	One episode
2007	Tumbledown	Lumpy
2008	Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV series)	Sir John Middleton
2009	Inspector George Gently	Joe Bishop	Episode: "Gently into the Night"
	Blood in the Water	Jerry Hourihan
	Agatha Christie's Marple	Claud Evans	Episode: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"
	New Tricks	David Beaumont	Episode: "The Truth is out There"
2010	The Indian Doctor	Richard Sharpe [9]	Five episodes
	Merlin	Voice of the Goblin	Episode: "Goblin's Gold"
2011	Frankenstein's Wedding	Alphonse Frankenstein
2012	Being Human	Regus
	Hustle	Dale Ridley
	Doctor Who	Brian Williams	Episodes "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and "The Power of Three"
2013	Blandings	Sebastian Beach	Six episodes
	Still Open All Hours	Planter's Salesman
2013–present	Father Brown	Father Brown	Title character, 100(+) episodes
2014–2015	The Link	Presenter	BBC daytime game show
2015	Drunk History	Robert Catesby	Episode: "Episode Four"
2016	The Comic Strip Presents...	Chief Constable	Episode: "Redtop"
2017	Hospital People	Tony	Episode: "The Local Millionaire"
2021	Midsomer Murders	Pat Everett	Episode: "The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy"
	The Dumping Ground	Les Vegas	Episode: "Old Friends"
2022	Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts	Himself	HBO Max Special
	Sister Boniface Mysteries	Father Brown	Cameo; episode: "My Brother's Keeper"

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2016	Lego Dimensions	Arthur Weasley (voice)

Theme park rides

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure	Arthur Weasley	Face capture & voice only (stunt double used in pre-show)

Voice-over

• Power Rangers Operation Overdrive - Big Mouth Monster (episode: "Both Sides Now")
• Merlin - The Goblin (episode: "Goblin's Gold")
• Power Rangers Samurai - Eyescar (episode: "The Rescue")
• Lego Dimensions - Arthur Weasley
• We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Dad
• Early Man - Barry

References

1. "Harry Potter star Mark Williams talks Bromsgrove, carol concerts and success". Bromsgrove Advertiser. 24 November 2021.
2. "The 10 famous faces who were born and bred in Bromsgrove". BirminghamWorld. 9 April 2023.
3. "North Awards 2023". North Bromsgrove High School & Sixth Form. 2023.
4. Chen, Peter (2022–2023). "The Arts Committee" (PDF). The Brazen Nose. 57. bnc.ox.ac.uk: 34. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
5. "Mark Williams: Captain of industry". The Independent . 16 July 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
6. "Mark Williams: I'm not a comedian". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 12 January 2013. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
7. "Other Series 7 stars announced". Tardis Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.
8. "I'm a British character actor – not a comedian". Lep.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
9. Ian Wolf. "The Indian Doctor – Production Details". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2010.

External links

• Mark Williams at IMDb