Joseph was born on 22 June 1964 in Willesden Green, Middlesex, to parents from Saint Lucia.[4] He attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C. High School in north-west London, a predominantly Irish Catholic school.[5] He has described himself as a "terrible bunker" while at school, opting to spend the best part of two years in the local public library instead.[6][7]
In 2006, he became a patron of OffWestEnd.com, a listings site for theatre outside the mainstream.[12] Other stage appearances in 2006 and 2007 include the leads in The Royal Hunt of the Sun and The Emperor Jones at the Olivier Theatre, London.[13][14] In 2015, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance, a solo play written and performed by Joseph and based on the life of Ignatius Sancho, was staged in Oxford and Birmingham, and toured in the US starting in October.[15][16][17]
He has played many roles in British television programmes, both drama and comedy. These include Reuben in William and Mary, alongside Martin Clunes; Mark Grace in Casualty; the Marquis de Carabas in Neverwhere; Alan Johnson in Peep Show; Lyndon Jones in Green Wing; and Shorty in the first episode of Jericho.
In 2007, Joseph played Space Marshall Clarke in two series of the BBC sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, and was Benjamin Maddox in the BBC drama series Jekyll. Joseph also provided the voice of K.O. Joe in Chop Socky Chooks.
From 2008 to 2010, Joseph played Greg Preston in Survivors, the BBC remake of the 1970s science-fiction drama of the same name. Also in 2008, Joseph appeared as former hitman Patrick Finch in Series 1, Episode 5 of The Fixer.
Joseph played DI Wes Layton in Law & Order: UK from 2013 to 2014.
He played the messianic "Holy Wayne" Gilchrest on the original HBO dramatic series The Leftovers, which began airing in 2014, and General Arnold Gaines on You, Me and the Apocalypse.
He took up the main role of Connor Mason in the television series Timeless, which ended in 2018.[19]
As voice actor, Joseph provided the narration for the National Geographic series Mega Cities from 2005 to 2011, Wild Russia in 2009 and the BBC Two documentary Inside Obama's White House in 2016.[21] He played Tyler in the BBC Switch film Rules of Love in 2010.
Joseph has also appeared in several short films, including Stop the World, directed by Richard Leaf. He voiced the character of Victor in the 2023 drama short film Bet Your Bottom Dollar[23] produced by British-Canadian filmmaker Jonathan Tammuz.
Voice work
In 2011, Joseph returned to Doctor Who, where he appeared in the audio drama Earth Aid, playing Victor Espinosa.[24] In November 2016 he played the title role in the BBC radio adaptation of the short story by Neil Gaiman, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back. Joseph had previously played the part of the Marquis de Carabas in the 1996 BBC TV six-part drama Neverwhere. He played the role of Colonel Arbuthnott in the Audible production of Murder on the Orient Express.
In October 2022, Joseph's debut novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho was released, published by Dialogue Books.[28] The book charts the life of Charles Ignatius Sancho through fictionalised diary entries, letters and commentary. Writing in The New York Times, reviewer Thomas Mallon concluded: "With the conjuring tricks of historical fiction, Joseph has taken an actual man and, two and a half centuries later, made him as thoroughly himself, and as fully present, as he was the first time round."[29] The novel was shortlisted for the 2023 Jhalak Prize,[30] and won the 2023 RSL Christopher Bland Prize.[31][32]
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