Tony Pitts

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Tony Pitts
Born (1962-10-10) 10 October 1962 (age 62)
Sheffield, England
Occupation(s)Actor, screenwriter
Years active1981–present

Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap Emmerdale Farm between 1983 and 1993. [1]

Contents

Early life

Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was working-class, his parents worked as a joiner and a midwife. Pitts originally intended to become a physician but ended up working as a car mechanic in his early career. He wrote a letter to the college to get out of college classes to become an actor. His family were livid at this. During his time at Stannington College, Sheffield Barry Hines paid a visit looking for extras for his upcoming drama Looks and Smiles . Pitts was cast and soon upgraded to a bigger role in the production. He decided to follow his ambition to become an actor in 1983.[ citation needed ]

Emmerdale

In 1983, Pitts was selected for the role of Archie Brooks in the British soap opera Emmerdale . Pitts was chosen for the role by Kevin Laffan, who watched Pitts portray the title character in a theatrical adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby , and believed that Pitts' versatile acting ability and his strong Yorkshire accent, meant that he was well suited for the role. The role was Pitts' first role in a television series, and he first appeared on the show on 18 November 1983, and remained in the show for ten years, and his character was involved in storylines that included his prison sentence in 1989 for setting fire to Seth Armstrong's property, becoming a suspect of whether or not he was the father of Elsa Feldmann's child in 1990, and his relationship with lesbian Zoe Tate in 1993.

In 1993, Pitts' character Archie was killed in the Emmerdale plane crash. Pitts' last appearance on the show was on 30 December 1993.

Other work

Apart from Emmerdale , Pitts had guest appearances in shows including Casualty as Aidan Phillips in 1996, EastEnders as Cliff in 1996, The Bill as Chris Riley in 1999, The Royal as Alec Glazer in 2004 and Unforgiven in 2009 as Adam Boothroyd. Tony was the original choice for Terry Duckworth in Coronation Street , but Nigel Pivaro ended up playing the role instead. Pitts starred in Lilyhammer as Danny Croc Hammer, the brother of Duncan Hammer.

Pitts has appeared in the police drama Heartbeat on two occasions, the first time in 1998 as Carl Southall and the second time in 2005 as Brian Gilbert. In 2002, he appeared as DI Healey in the miniseries In Deep alongside Nick Berry and Stephen Tompkinson.

He has also worked as a screenwriter, as well as an actor. [2]

Pitts appeared in Scott & Bailey on ITV1/ITV1HD as Adrian Scott (the husband of Lesley Sharp's character, DC Janet Scott). He also had a small role in the 2012 film War Horse . In 2012 he appeared in the third episode of Dirk Gently as Robbie Glover. In 2012 he also appeared as the Chief Superintendent in the Sherlock episode "The Reichenbach Falls". In 2013 he appeared as Sergeant Moss in the BBC drama series Peaky Blinders . Pitts played Captain Patero in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016. [3] He also appeared as Detective Chief Superintendent Les Hargreaves in the 2014 second series of BBC's Line of Duty , made an appearance in the series finale of series four in 2017, and then appeared in series five in 2019. From 2017 he appeared in two seasons of the series Jamestown as Edgar Massinger. Pitts also appeared in Wild Bill on ITV in 2019.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1981 Looks and Smiles Alan Wright
2003Johnny Vegas: Who's Ready For Ice CreamParamount
2011PowderRoger
2011 War Horse Sgt. Martin
2012 When the Lights Went Out Hilary Barnes
2014 Hyena Keith
2016 Triple 9 Major Crimes Detective
2016 Away Col
2016 Rogue One Captain Pterro
2017 Funny Cow Bob
2017 Journeyman Richie
2023 Sweet Sue Ron

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983–1993 Emmerdale Archie Brooks Series regular
1996 Casualty Aidan Phillips
1996 EastEnders Cliff
1998 Heartbeat Carl Southall
1999 The Bill Chris Riley
2002In DeepDI Healey
2004 The Royal Alec Glazer
2005 Heartbeat Brian Gilbert
2009 Unforgiven Adam Boothroyd
2011–2013 Scott & Bailey Adrian ScottSeries 1-3
2012 Dirk Gently Robbie GloverEpisode 3
2012 Sherlock Chief SuperintendentEpisode: "The Reichenbach Falls"
2013-2017 Peaky Blinders Sergeant Moss
2014–2015 My Mad Fat Diary Chloe's DadSeries 2, 3
2014–2019 Line of Duty DCS Lester HargreavesSeries 2, 4, 5
2017–2018 Jamestown Edgar Massinger
2020 Roadkill Mick 'the Mouth' Murray
2020- All Creatures Great and Small (2020) Richard AldersonRecurring role

Writing/Directing Credits

YearTitleCompany and FormatRoleCastNominations/Wins
2002Night ClassRadio 4

Comedy Series

6x30 mins episodes

Creator & Co-writerJohnny Vegas, Rebecca Front, Nicola Stephenson, Tony Pitts, Tony Burgess, Lyndsey Marshal, Gwyneth Powell, Christian Knowles
2003Johnny Vegas: Who’s Ready For Ice Cream?Paramount VideoWriterJohnny Vegas, Tony Pitts, Tony Burgess, Adrian Manfred

Director  - Stewart Lee

2005 18 Stone of Idiot Channel 4

6hrs Entertainment  

Writer

& Performer

Guest Include: Elvis Costello, Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Rhys Ifans, David Soul, Huey MorganNOMINATED- Golden Rose of Montreal
2009 The Gemma Factor BBC

6x30min episode sitcom

Writer/ActorGwyneth Powell, Angus Barnett, Philip McGinley, Ross Adams, Claire King, Tony Pitts
2012Shedtown - Series 1 [4] Radio 4

Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/DirectorTony Pitts, Kevin Eldon, Johnny Vegas, Suranne Jones, Shaun Dooley, Ronni Ancona, Emma Fryer, Adrian Manfredi, Caron May Carly, Jessica Knappett, James Quinn, Warren Brown
2012On It [5] Radio 4 Afternoon playWriter/DirectorTony Pitts, Adam Gillen, Maxine Peake, Joanne Mitchell, Gwyneth PowellWON - BBC Best Audio Drama (Single Play) 2013

WON - Sony Gold at the Sony Awards 2012 (Best Radio Drama)

2013Shedtown - Series 2Radio 4  Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/DirectorTony Pitts, Stephen Mangan, Ronni Ancona, Johnny Vegas, Emma Fryer, Adrian Manfredi, Rosina Carbone, Shaun Dooley, James Quinn, Warren Brown, Eleanor Samson, Maxine Peake
2013Shedtown - Series 3Radio 4

Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/DirectorStephen Mangan, Tony Pitts, Warren Brown, James Quinn, Shaun Keaveny, Rosina Carbone, Debra Stephenson, Seymour Mace, Emma Fryer, Neil Maskell, Juliet Oldfield, Maxine Peake
2014Pact [6] Radio 4

Afternoon Play

Writer/DirectorRichard Hawley, Tony Pitts, Maxine Peake, Gwyneth Powell, Dominic Brunt, Polly MaberlyWON - Bronze

BBC Audio Drama Awards 2014

2015Monster [7] Radio 4

Afternoon Play

Writer/DirectorNeil Maskell, Sean Dooley, Richard HawleyNominated - BBC Audio Awards 2016, Best Audio Drama, Single Play  
2018 Funny Cow Feature FilmWriter/Producer/ActorMaxine Peake, Stephen Graham, Paddy Considine, Tony PittsNominated - BIFA Best Actress and Best Music 2018
2019A Badge [8] Radio 4

Afternoon  Play

Writer/Director Katherine Kelly (actress), Corinne Bailey Rae, Warren Brown, Kate Hardie, Isaac Whitmore, Tony Pitts, Caleb Potter WilliamsNominated - BBC Audio Awards 2020, Best Actress (Katherine Kelly)
2022Curl Up And D.I [9] Podcast

6 episodes Scripted Comedy

Writer/DirectorVic Reeves, Morgana Robinson, Mark Benton, Katherine Kelly (actress), Burn Gorman, Nancy Sorrell, Jennifer Saayeng
2022Let Her Go [10] Short FilmWriter/Director Katherine Kelly (actress), Lisa Allen, Gracie Kelly
2021-CurrentThree Little Words [11] Podcast, BiographicalCreator &

Co-Presenter

With John Bishop and many special guests including Ian McKellen, Robbie Williams  
2024Classic

(In development)

Feature FilmCreator Writer/Director/ProducerSally Philips, David Morrissey, Leigh Francis, Robbie Williams, Mark Benton, Morgana Robinson, Burn Gorman

References

  1. Stuart Golland obituaryThe Independent, 9 October 2003
  2. – "Diary: Wicked bad girl" Manchester Evening News , 16 June 2009
  3. Tony Pitts at IMDb
  4. "BBC Radio 4 - Shedtown - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  5. "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, On It". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  6. "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Pact". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  7. "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Monster". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  8. "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, A Badge". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  9. Curl Up & D.I. (Comedy), Folding Pocket, 30 June 2022, retrieved 12 January 2024
  10. Pitts, Tony (18 November 2022), Let Her Go (Short, Comedy), Lisa Allen, Gracie Kelly, Make Me Films, retrieved 12 January 2024
  11. Three Little Words (Talk-Show), Amazon Music, Folding Pocket, Wondery, 14 December 2020, retrieved 12 January 2024