Brian Bovell

Brian Bovell is an English actor. Bovell was born in London. He has appeared regularly on television since 1980, as well as featuring in the cult film Babylon released the same year. He has also appeared in the play Where There Is Darkness in 1981, winning the 1982 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor of 1981 for his performance. Bovell starred with Gary Olsen in the 1986 TV series Prospects about two men in the Docklands trying their hand at anything to make a "few bob". The feature films he has appeared in include Love Actually, Shoreditch, All or Nothing, Sorted, Secrets and Lies and Down a Dark Hall. Some of his most famous roles have been DC Rob Thatcher in The Bill, Jez Littlewood in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, and Detective Andy Sharp in My Dad's the Prime Minister.He portrayed Leo Valentine in Hollyoaks from 2006 to 2010 and voices Uncle Hairy on the children's programme Humf on Nick Jr. In 2016 he began playing Mr Hansard, teacher and football coach in the CBBC series Jamie Johnson. He has appeared in all three series to date. He portrayed Bishop John Thornber on ITV's Coronation Street in July 2006. Bovell took part in Celebrity MasterChef in 2017 and made it to the semi-finals.