Christopher Timothy

Timothy was born in Bala, Wales in 1940.{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-the-actor-christopher-timothy-1365972.html|title=Passed/Failed: An education in the life of the actor Christopher|date=15 January 2009|newspaper=The Independent }} He is the son of Anglican priest and BBC announcer Andrew Timothy and his first wife, Gwladys Marian nee Hailstone.Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, vol. 1, ed. Monica M. O'Donnell, Gale, 1984, p. 494{{Cite web | url=http://www.ciaranbrown.com/timothy.html | title=Ciaran Brown meets actor Christopher Timothy}}

When aged five Timothy moved with his family to south London, and at thirteen to Shrewsbury, where he attended Kingsland Grange Preparatory School and Priory Grammar School for Boys,{{cite book|last=Elderwick|first=David|title=50 Shropshire Celebrities Past and Present|year=1989|publisher=IMPRINT, Newtown, Powys|page=53}} and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. After leaving school and until his first paid acting engagements he worked in a Shrewsbury hat shop.

Timothy's first professional stage engagement was in the play Chips with Everything in London and New York, in the role of a RAF military policeman for more than six months. In the 1960s, Timothy was part of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company and appeared in such productions as The Master Builder, Juno and the Paycock and Olivier's Othello.Olivier at Work, ed. Lyn Haill, 1989, pp 89-95 Timothy's television career started with the 1969 series Take Three Girls, and he went on to appear in UFO (1970 episode "The Psychobombs"), Doctor at Large in 1971, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1973 and Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle in 1977 before winning the role of Herriot.

He played the role of James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small for the full 90 episodes, from 1978 until 1990.{{cite news |url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/what-happened-creatures-great-small-18879798 |title=What happened to the All Creatures Great and Small cast after the original BBC series ended |date=8 March 2021 |work=Examiner: Yorkshire Live |access-date=25 November 2021 |first=Craig |last=Jones }} Timothy later recalled meeting the author, Alf Wight, who had "a soft, lilting Scottish accent – though I was told to keep my speech neutral to retain the universality of the part. Which I thought was complete bollocks".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/feb/06/how-we-made-all-creatures-great-and-small-christopher-timothy |title=How we made All Creatures Great and Small |date=6 February 2018 |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=The Guardian |first=Jack |last=Watkins }}

His film career included roles in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967), Alfred The Great (1969), The Virgin Soldiers (1969), Spring and Port Wine (1970), The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970), Up the Chastity Belt (1971), and the sex comedy Eskimo Nell (1975).

In 1980, he played Jesus Christ in the York Mystery Plays.

In 2000, he was cast as Mac McGuire in the BBC soap opera Doctors staying in the series for six years, and directing some of the episodes.

In 2004, he made an appearance in Casualty as the murderer of long-standing character Finlay Newton. He also appeared as a special guest on ITV1 drama The Bill, which was aired on New Years Day 2009. More recently he has appeared in Lewis (ITV1) in the episode "Wild Justice", The Grapes of Wrath, All the Fun of the Fair, Haunting Julia and Casualty (2014).

He is the son of BBC announcer Andrew Timothy, and has done regular voice work himself including taking his father's place as the announcer for the Goon Again Show in 2001 marking the 50th anniversary of The Goon Show (Andrew had been the announcer for the show back in the early 1950s). He played the announcer role on The Kinks' 1974 double album, Preservation Act 2.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2000 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of Doctors at the BBC's Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham.{{cite web |url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4934866/ |work=IMDb |title=This Is Your Life - Christopher Timothy |date=10 April 2000 |access-date=25 November 2022 }}

He voiced and appeared in numerous television commercials for The Sun newspaper in the 1970s when Rupert Murdoch had entered British newspaper publishing; these were extremely unusual commercials for the time in the level of energy and even aggression evident in Timothy's delivery. As the person in these advertisements, he became a character, a role, in the 2017 stage production of Ink, a play about Australian Rupert Murdoch's start on Fleet Street in British newspaper publishing with The Sun. Timothy was played by Jack Holden in the Almeida opening{{cite web |url=https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/ink/17-jun-2017-5-aug-2017 |title=WORLD PREMIERE —INK |access-date=25 November 2022 |date=17 June 2017 |work=What's On at Almeida Theatre |department=Cast and Creatives}} and by Andrew Durand{{cite web |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Andrew-Durand/ |title=Andrew Durand |work=Broadway World |access-date=25 November 2022 }} in the Broadway production. The play was directed by Rupert Goold, at the Almeida Theatre, London, and later moved to the West End, and then performed on Broadway.{{cite web |url=https://playbill.com/article/see-the-cast-and-creative-team-of-broadways-ink-meet-the-press |date=5 March 2019 |first=Marc J |last=Franklin |title=Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of the James Graham play will begin performances April 2. |quote=Andrew Durand (Head Over Heels) as Beverly/Christopher Timothy, |work=Playbill |access-date=25 November 2022}}

He appeared in BBC Radio's Just a Minute in 1988 and 1989. He was also used in the marketing material for Dignity plc, primarily for their prepaid funeral plans.

In 2008 Timothy took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about his Welsh family history. In 2011, he played himself in the audio drama We are not the BBC{{Cite web|url=http://www.wirelesstheatrecompany.co.uk/index.php/component/jotloader?Itemid=15&cid=1&id=130|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022152128/http://www.wirelesstheatrecompany.co.uk/index.php/component/jotloader?Itemid=15&cid=1&id=130|url-status=dead|title=We are not the BBC|archive-date=22 October 2013}} written by Susan Casanove and produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.

He returned to theatre in March 2013 in The Living Room.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/mar/13/living-room-review |title=The Living Room – review |first=Michael |last=Billington |newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 March 2013 |access-date=22 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530031337/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/mar/13/living-room-review |archive-date=30 May 2014 |url-status=live}} In 2014 he played Inspector Hubbard in the UK tour of the stage thriller Dial M for Murder.{{cite web|url=http://dialmonstage.co.uk/|title=Dial M for Murder - UK Tour 2014|access-date=22 September 2014|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816000539/http://dialmonstage.co.uk/|archive-date=16 August 2014}}

In April 2017, it was announced that he would be joining the BBC soap opera EastEnders as regular character Ted Murray, in which he made his last appearance on 27 September 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/02/eastenders-casts-new-couple-played-by-maggie-steed-and-christopher-timothy-6548312/|title=EastEnders casts a new couple carrying secrets from the past |first=Duncan |last=Lindsay |date=2 April 2017 |work=Metro |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170529050945/http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/02/eastenders-casts-new-couple-played-by-maggie-steed-and-christopher-timothy-6548312/ |archive-date=29 May 2017|url-status=live}}

Timothy appeared with Peter Davison in two series of Great British Car Journeys for Channel 4 in 2018 and 2019.{{cite web |title=Great British Car Journeys |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/great-british-car-journeys |website=Channel4.com |access-date=5 December 2020}}

He also appeared in Midsomer Murder S21E1 "The Point of Balance" as Ned Barnaby. In February 2020 Timothy appeared in Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators as Major Terence Benedick episode #3.3 "The Sticking Place".

In April 2020 Timothy appeared in ITV Series Kate & Koji (Series 1, episode 5).

When Kate's flashy ex-husband Dennis arrives in town with his much younger wife, Kate feigns an attachment to Koji

Timothy had narrated the first nine series of Channel 5's The Yorkshire Vet, which features veterinarians Julian Norton and Peter Wright. He had hoped to do so for the tenth series as well, but was self-isolating owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Peter Davison was asked to take on the role because his home was equipped with a recording studio, allowing him to complete the project in spite of the lockdown. Timothy was gracious in his comments. "I'm so sorry not to be able to do the voiceover for The Yorkshire Vet right now, but I can't tell you all how delighted I am that Peter is taking over. He most definitely would be my first choice while I'm in lockdown!"{{cite web |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/peter-davison-will-now-narrate-yorkshire-vet-instead-christopher-timothy-2544164 |title=Peter Davison will now narrate The Yorkshire Vet instead of Christopher Timothy |date=21 April 2020 |work=Yorkshire Post |access-date=26 February 2021 |quote=Peter Davison, who played Tristan Farnon in the television adaptation of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small stories, will take over from Christopher Timothy to narrate The Yorkshire Vet.}}{{cite web |url=https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainment/peter-davison-to-narrate-channel-5s-the-yorkshire-vet/ |title=Peter Davison to narrate Channel 5's The Yorkshire Vet |date=20 April 2020 |work=Evening Express |access-date=26 February 2021 |quote=}}

Timothy had also narrated the audio books of the James Herriot series.{{cite web |url=https://www.overdrive.com/creators/83486/christopher-timothy |title=Christopher Timothy, narrator of books by James Herriot |work=Libby by OverDrive |access-date=25 November 2022 }}

Timothy has been married twice; first to Susan Boys, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. During the 1978–1980 first run of All Creatures Great and Small, he had an affair with his screen wife, Carol Drinkwater.{{Cite news |first=Peter |last=Stanford |date= 15 November 2008 |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/a-tear-in-provence-26492836.html |title=A tear in Provence |newspaper=Irish Independent |access-date=23 October 2018}} He has been married to Annie Veronica Swatton since 1982, and they have one daughter.{{cite web|url=http://tattys-thoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/whatever-happened-to-all-creatures.html|title=Whatever Happened to the "All Creatures Great and Small" Cast?|author=Mike Godfrey|date=4 April 2012|access-date=3 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817093259/http://tattys-thoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/whatever-happened-to-all-creatures.html|archive-date=17 August 2016|url-status=live}} He is a supporter of National League football club Hartlepool United. Timothy learned to play violin whilst at school and plays occasionally in a local amateur orchestra although he described his ability as moderate (Right Notes May 1992).

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0863790}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timothy, Christopher}}

Category:1940 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Welsh actors

Category:21st-century Welsh actors

Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Category:People educated at The Priory Boys' Grammar School, Shrewsbury

Category:People from Bala, Gwynedd

Category:British male soap opera actors

Category:Welsh male stage actors

Category:British male television actors

Category:British male voice actors

Category:Male actors from Gwynedd