Shaun Dooley

For the American politician, see Shawn Dooley.

Shaun Dooley
Alma mater	Arden School of Theatre
Years active	1997–present
Spouse	Polly Dooley ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	4

Shaun Dooley is an English actor, narrator and voice-over artist.

Early life and career

Dooley attended Barnsley Youth Theatre in 1989 ^[1] before going on to study at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995.

Dooley's first acting role was as Shaun in Groove on a Stanley Knife in 1997. He later played Ritchie Fitzgerald in Coronation Street from 1997 until 1998. He appeared occasionally in EastEnders as Tom Stuart between 2001 and 2004. He appeared in Series 1 of The Street . He had a role in P.O.W. .

Dooley played Peter Harper in BBC drama series The Street. ^[2] He also featured in the 2007 television docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess . Dooley portrayed Kieran in the British horror film Salvage. ^[3] He portrayed police inspector Dick Alderman in all three parts of the Red Riding trilogy and in 2017 appeared as Reverend Michaelmas Winter in the Sky 1 drama Jamestown . Among his many voiceover roles, Dooley narrates the Discovery Channel series Gold Rush for its UK broadcast.

In 2019, Shaun and his wife Polly produced an album, Got It Covered, for Children in Need. The album featured Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Luke Evans, Suranne Jones, Adrian Lester, Himesh Patel, David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker and Shaun himself singing unique cover versions of songs personal to them. The album was released on 1 November 2019. The album and accompanying documentary was co-produced by their company 20four7films, BBC Studios and SilvaScreen Records. ^[4]

Dooley received an Honorary Master's Degree from Leeds Arts University in July 2025. ^[5]

Personal life

Dooley has been married to his wife Polly since 1998 and the couple have four children. Shaun is the older brother of Kimberly Dooley, and Stephanie Ann Dooley, who is known professionally as Stephanie Dooley-Day and is an actress.

He is a lifelong supporter of Barnsley F.C.

Dooley and his wife Polly are also trustees for the Barnsley Youth Theatre.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Groove on a Stanley Knife	Shaun	Short film
2005	Pitch Perfect	Ellis	Short film
2006	Ex Memoria	Martin, carer	Short film
2007	The Mark of Cain	Corporal Gant
2008	Eden Lake	Jon	Celador Films
2009	The Appointment	Karl	Short film
	Salvage	Kieran
	Kandahar Break: Fortress of War	Richard Lee
2011	The Awakening	Malcolm McNair
	Junkhearts	Josh
2012	Rachael	Dad	Short film
	The Woman in Black	Mr. Fisher, village innkeeper	Hammer Films
	Peekaboo	Andy	Short film
	Offender	Jackie Nash
2014	The Karman Line	Dave	Short film
	Cowboy Ben	Cowboy Ben	Short film
	Blood Moon	Calhoun
	Devil Makes Work	Devil	Short film
2017	Blood Shed	Jack	Short film
2018	Pond Life	Russ Buckfield
2019	Official Secrets	John, Internal Security
	The Corrupted	Eamonn McDonagh
2023	Saltburn	Jeff Quick
	The Toxic Avenger	Melvin Ferd (The Crusading Reporter)
2024	Tyger	Neil
	The Can	Adam
	The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim	Freca (voice)	[6]
2025	Stay Calm	Stuart	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1997–1998	Coronation Street	Richie Fitzgerald	12 episodes
	Casualty	Fire Officer	Episodes: "The Golden Hour" & "Internal Inferno: Parts 1 & 2"
1998	The Grand	Heckler	Series 2; episode 2
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Robert Pascoe	Episode: "The Wood Beyond"
1999	Peak Practice	Paramedic 2	Episode: "Race Against Time"
	Warriors	Pte. John Hookway	Mini-series; 2 episodes
2000	Holby City	Tom Gold	Series 3; episode: "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
2001–2004	EastEnders	Reverend Tom Stuart	32 episodes
2002	Shackleton	Hubert Hudson	Mini-series; 2 episodes
	Plain Jane	PC Graham	Television film
	Silent Witness	Paul Preston	Series 6: episodes: "The Fall Out: Parts 1 & 2"
	P.O.W.	Brown	6 episodes
2004	Foyle's War	Gordon Drake	Episode: "Enemy Fire"
2005	The Royal	Martin Tomlinson	Episode: "It's What's on the Inside That Counts"
	Holby City	Dave Wilson	Series 7; episode: "The Honeymoon Is Over"
	New Tricks	Rick Mayo	Episode: "Family Business"
	Murphy's Law	DC Ollington	Episodes: "The Goodbye Look", "Boy's Night Out" & "Hard Boiled Eggs and Nuts"
	Vincent	Malcolm	Series 1; episode 3
	Child of Mine	Simon	Television film
	The Ghost Squad	Barry Mills	Episode: "Heroes"
2006	Rosemary & Thyme	Becker	Episode: "Three Legs Good"
	The Bill	Harvey Taylor	Episode: "A Day to Remember"
	Vital Signs	Rob Glover	Series 1; episode 1
	The Street	Peter Harper	Episodes: "The Accident" & "Stan"
	Comiung Up	Steve	Episode: "Heavenly Father"
	Strictly Confidential	Gary Shelton	Series 1; episode 3
2007	Mobile	DI George Fleming	Mini-series; episodes: "The Engineer", "The Soldier" & "The Boss"
	Diana: Last Days of a Princess	Trevor Rees-Jones	Television film
2008	Harley Street	Nick Marsh	Series 1; episode 2
	Midsomer Murders	Mark Purdy	Series 11; episode: "Left for Dead"
	Silent Witness	DI Adam Tranfield	Series 12; episodes: "Terror: Parts 1 & 2"
	Apparitions	Liam	Mini-series; 2 episodes
	Stovepipe	Lead role	HighTide's production at the West 12 Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush
2009	Red Riding	Dick Alderman	Television film trilogy: "Red Riding 1974", "Red Riding 1980" & "Red Riding 1983"
	Law & Order: UK	Jack Gilmore	Episode: "Love and Loss"
2010	Five Days	Sgt. Don Parker	Series 2; 5 episodes
	Married Single Other	Eddie	6 episodes
	The Road to Coronation Street	Derek Bennett	Television film
	Inspector George Gently	Darren Paige	Episode: "Gently Evil"
	Moving On	Anthony	Episode: "Skies of Glass"
	Accidental Farmer	Matt	Television film
2011	Hustle	Cool Hand Cooper	Episode: "The Delivery"
	South Riding	Mr. Holly	Mini-series; 3 episodes
	Exile	Mike Eldridge	Mini-series; 3 episodes, alongside John Simm
	Sugartown	Jason Burr	3 episodes
	Postcode	Dean	2 episodes
	The Borrowers	Robert Millman	Television film
	Great Expectations	Joe Gargery	Mini-series; 3 episodes
2012	Benidorm	Pete Garvey	Series 5, episode 3
2012–2013	Misfits	Greg	Series 4 & 5; 16 episodes
2013	Common Ground	Porno Bri	Episode: "Rupert"
	The White Queen	Sir Robert Brackenbury	Mini-series; episodes: "The King Is Dead", "The Princes in the Tower" & "The Final Battle"
2014	Our World War	Fred Firth	Mini-series; episode: "War Machine"
	Wolfblood	Alexander 'Alex' Kincaid	Series 3; 6 episodes
	The Game	DC Jim Fenchurch	Mini-series; 6 episodes	[7]
2015	Broadchurch	Rickie Gillespie	Series 2, 6 episodes	[8]
	Ordinary Lies	Dave	Episode: "Beth's Story"
	This Is England '90	Mr. Lewis	Mini-series; episode: "Autumn"
	Cuffs	DC Carl Hawkins	Mini-series; 8 episodes
2016	Hoff the Record	Greg	Episode: "Wedding"
	DCI Banks	Steve Richards	Series 5; 5 episodes
	CBeebies Bedtime Stories	Himself - Storyteller	3 episodes
2017	Jamestown	Reverend Michaelmas Whitaker	7 episodes
	Gunpowder	Sir William Wade	Mini-series; 3 episodes
2018	Doctor Who	Epzo	Episode: "The Ghost Monument"
	Doctor Who Access All Areas	Himself - Guest	1 episode	[9]
2019, 2021, 2025	The Witcher	King Foltest of Temeria	5 episodes
2019, 2022	Gentleman Jack	Jeremiah Rawson	Series 1 & 2; 7 episodes
2020	The Stranger	Doug Tripp	Mini-series; 8 episodes
2021	It's a Sin	Clive Tozer	Mini-series; 5 episodes
	Innocent	DCI Mike Braithwaite	Main role. Series 2; 4 episodes	[10]
	Grantchester	Johnny Richards	Series 6; 4 episodes. DI Geordie Keating's fellow ex-prisoner-of-war
	The Great British Bake Off	Himself - Contestant	Episode: "The Great Christmas Bake Off"	[11]
2023	Black Mirror	Len Fisher	Episode: "Demon 79"
	The Long Shadow	DCS Chris Gregg	Mini-series; 1 episode	[12]
	Midsomer Murders	Eli Trask	Series 24; episode: "Book of the Dead"
2023–present	Changing Ends	Graham Carr	Series 1–3; 18 episodes	[13]
2024	Mr Bates vs The Post Office	Michael Rudkin	Mini-series; 3 episodes	[14]
	Vera	Matthew McSwain	Episode: "Tender"
	Criminal Record	DS Kim Cardwell	7 episodes	[15]
2025	Grace	Terrence Maxwell	Episode: "Find Them Dead"

Narration

In addition to his acting work, Dooley has provided voice-overs for numerous film and TV documentaries, including:

Year	Title	Notes
2010	Gazza's Tears: The Night That Changed Football	ITV4 film
2010–2011	Britain's Underworld	National Geographic series; 6 episodes
2012	When Life Means Life	TV series
	Revealed	Channel 5 series; episode: "Nazi Temple of Doom"
	Space Dive	BBC documentary on the record-breaking skydive by Felix Baumgartner (UK version)
	Our War	Series 2. BBC documentary series on the war in Afghanistan as seen by the British Army soldiers
2013	Hillsborough - Never Forgotten	BBC TV Special
2013–2018	Speed with Guy Martin	Channel 4 series; 15 episodes
2014	The Miners' Strike and Me	ITV film
	Life and Death Row	BBC documentary series; episode: "Crises Stage"
	Tsunami: Survivors' Stories	ITV1 film
	Web of Lies	Series 1. Discovery Communications crime documentary series. The series was originally called Evil Online
2014–2017	Edge of Alaska	Discovery Channel reality TV series; 18 episodes
2015	Our Guy in India	Channel 4 mini-series; 2 episodes
	Richard III: The Princes in the Tower	Channel 4 TV film
	Strangeways: Britain's Toughest Prison Riot	BBC TV film
	Wastemen	BBC series; 3 episodes
	The Detectives	BBC series following Greater Manchester Police over the course of multiple investigations of serious crime; 3 episodes
	Panorama	BBC series; episode: "NHS: The Perfect Storm"
	Wild Space	Short film
	The Gift of Life	Channel 5 series; 3 episodes
	Guy Martin: The Last Flight of the Vulcan Bomber	Channel 4 TV film
	Our Guy in Latvia	Channel 4 TV Special
	The Force: Manchester	Sky 1 series which follows officers of Greater Manchester Police
2015–2023	SAS: Who Dares Wins	Channel 4 series; 45 episodes
2016	Abused: The Untold Story	BBC One TV film
	Sydney Harbour Patrol	Discovery Channel series; 2 episodes
2017	Idris Elba: Fighter	Discovery Channel mini-series
	Everest Rescue	Discovery Channel mini-series; 6 episodes
	American Justice	BBC Two series which follows prosecutors and cop in Jacksonville, Florida; 3 episodes
	The Detectives: Murder on the Streets	BBC Two documentary series shadowing members of Greater Manchester's Murder Investigation Team; 4 episodes
	Guy Martin WW1 Tank	Channel 4 TV film
	Guy Martin vs. The Robot Car	Channel 4 TV film
	Blitz: The Bombs That Changed Britain	BBC Two series; 4 episodes
2018	Four Days That Shook Britain	ITV documentary film which covers the four terrorist attacks of 2017, in England
	Our Guy in Russia	Channel 4 mini-series; 3 episodes
	Daydream Believers	Film
	Guy Martin: The World's Fastest Van?	Channel 4 TV film
2018–2025	Surgeons: At the Edge of Life	BBC Two series; 20 episodes [16]
2019	One Day in Gaza	BBC TV film
	Guy Martin: World's Fastest Tractor	Channel 4 TV film
	Railroad Australia	Quest documentary which covers the highs and lows of drivers and engineers of Australian freight and tourist trains
2019–2023	When Missing Turns to Murder	Netflix true crime documentary series; 20 episodes
2019–2025	Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins	Channel 4 series; 45 episodes
2020–2021	Guy Martin's Best Bits	Channel 4 mini-series; 4 episodes
2021	Guy Martin's Battle of Britain	Channel 4 mini-series; 2 episodes
	Yellowstone Supervolcano: The Next Pompeii	Channel 5 TV film (UK version)
	Guy's Garage	Channel 4 mini-series; 4 episodes
	Guy Martin's Lancaster Bomber	Channel 4 TV film
	Extreme Ice Railroad	ITV series
	Gold Rush	Discovery Channel series
2022	Stolen: Catching the Art Thieves	BBC TV series; 3 episodes
2023	Guy Martin's Great British Power Trip	Channel 4 mini-series; 3 episodes
	Our Guy in Columbia	Channel 4 two-part documentary [17]
2023–2025	Special Forces: World's Toughest Test	Fox series; 18 episodes
2024	Guy Martin's Lost WW2 Bomber	Channel 4 TV film
	Guy Martin: Top Gun	Channel 4 TV film
	Guy Martin: Arctic Warrior	Channel 4 mini-series; 2 episodes
2025	Our Guy in Vietnam	Channel 4 mini-series; 2 episodes
	Guy Martin: The British Train That Changed the World	Channel 4 TV Special

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Right Place, Wrong Time	Alan	BBC Radio 4 drama
2015	The Farthest Shore	Ged	Judith Adams's adaptation of Ursula Le Guin's novel for Radio 4	[18]

Video games

Year	Title	Role (voice)	Notes
2022	Elden Ring	Yura / Shabriri / Fire Giant / Kaiden Sellswords	[19]
	Xenoblade Chronicles 3	Gray	English version [19]
2024	Still Wakes the Deep	Roy

References

1. Richard Armitage and Shaun Dooley, Red Production Company Podcast (March, 2020).
2. "Shaun Dooley profile on The Street's website". Archived from the original on 17 April 2006.
3. "Alien Breed is Back and Better Than Ever for iOS – Dread Central". 2 August 2012.
4. Martin, Laura (30 October 2019). "Children in Need: Got it Covered: songs and singers on the album – and what time the documentary is on BBC One". i.
5. "Kathryn Sargent and Shaun Dooley awarded Honorary Masters degrees". 8 July 2025.
6. "Freca and Fréaláf roles revealed for The War of the Rohirrim". theonering.net. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
7. Frost, Vicky (7 May 2015). "The Game recap: series one, episode two – Operation Glass is revealed". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 April 2022.
8. Frost, Caroline (21 April 2015). "WORDS: Shaun Dooley, Star Of 'Broadchurch' And 'Ordinary Lies' On A Father's Advice, And Hitting Pause". Huffington Post . Retrieved 13 April 2022.
9. "Access All Areas | Doctor Who: Series 11". YouTube. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
10. "ITV announce a second series of hit series, Innocent". ITalkTelly. 21 September 2020.
11. "Great British Bake Off 2021 Christmas special: Release date, celebrity guests, and latest news". Radio Times. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
12. "The Long Shadow casting announcement". itv.com/presscentre. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
13. "Filming commences on ITVX comedy Changing Ends". itv.com/presscentre. 29 January 2023.
14. Morris, Nicky (1 January 2024). "Mr Bates vs The Post Office: the shocking true story behind ITV's Post Office scandal series". HELLO!. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
15. Hibbs, James (10 January 2024). "Criminal Record cast | Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo star". Radio Times . Retrieved 11 August 2025.
16. "BBC Two – Surgeons: At the Edge of Life".
17. "Our Guy in Columbia". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
18. "BBC Radio 4 Extra – Earthsea, Series 1, Dragonfly".
19. "Shaun Dooley (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 November 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

External links

• Shaun Dooley at IMDb