

Cast & creator
Best known for Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat, Sharpe
After training at the Drama Centre London, he has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre playing in many productions including The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Oedipus, In His Own Write, Hamlet, Tamburlaine, No Man's Land, The Passion, Despatches, Half Life, The World Turned Upside Down, Julius Caesar, The Madras House, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth, Tales from the Vienna Woods, The Crucible, Piano, Troilus and Cressida, Money, Summerfolk, The Villain's Opera, Life x 3. At the Royal Court Theatre, he has appeared in The Local Stigmatic, The Duchess of Malfi, Man is Man, The Enoch Show, Erronenous Zones, The Tutor by Brecht, Lear and Bingo by Edward Bond and Piano/Forte by Terry Johnson. He was a founder member of Joint Stock appearing in their inaugural production The Speakers by Heathcote Williams. At The Royal Shakespeare Company he has played in The Marrying of Ann Leete, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III, The Plain Dealer, Some Americans Abroad by Richard Nelson, Brand by Ibsen. His West End appearances include The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff, Benefactors by Michael Frayn (in whose Liberty Hall he also appeared in at the Greenwich Theatre), An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, Life x 3 by Yasmina Reza, and Brand by Ibsen. He has also played the title role in King Lear at the Southwark Playhouse and Malvolio in Shakespeare's Globe's all-male production of Twelfth Night. His many TV appearances have included The Borgias (Cesare Borgia), David Copperfield, The Year of the French, The Play on One, Redemption, Poirot, The Camomile Lawn, Westbeach, Zorro, Sharpe's Battle, Rhodes, All Quiet on the Preston Front, Innocents, Judge John Deed, Inspector Lynley, Waking the Dead, M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, Beastly Games, Sensitive Skin, Midsomer Murders, Hotel Babylon. His films include Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, The Day Christ Died, Firefox, Oliver Twist, The Sicilian, Eleni, Hiding Out, Christopher Columbus, Son of the Pink Panther, The Innocent Sleep, Phoenix Blue, The Opium War, Beowulf, Baby Blue, The Dancer Upstairs, Shanghai Knights, The Bone Collector, Raindogs, Colour Me Kubrick.
Also known as: 올리버 코튼
38
film credits
36
television credits
73
1965–2026 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Across film & television
Showing 74 of 74 credits

Michael Maybury
1997
Harry Adams
1992
Loup
1993
Turkish Captain
1965
Sir Charles Stewart
2001
Maciek
2018
Hugh Dryden
2004
2 Star Air Force General
2012
Jacques Laronde
1981
Spy
1965
Keith Henshaw
1996
Spearman
1975
Daniel Goldman
2012

Frobel
1986
Simon Stagg
2020
Removal Man
1965
Istvan
1977
Trooper John Roper
1974
Andrew Ford
1988
Jean de Carrouges III
2021
Lord Owen of Clun
1984
Tylan Gershom
1994

Mr. Dovic
2006
Jack the Ripper
2003Paul Collier
1993
Declan
1994Cyril
1973
Artyom Biartoulis
2003
Dmitri Priabin
1982
Young Man
1969
Lorne Guyland
2010
Sam
2005
Architect
1995
Creator
2020

Cmdr. Roccofino
1987
Beltane
1970
King Haroak
1993
Max
1992
Edward Murdstone
1986
Arsenius
2009
Harana
1992Alan Cromer
1993
Cesare Borgia
1981
Hrothgar
1999
Merino
2002
Monks
1982
Moshe Perl
2003
King Henry IV
2012
Curtis
1968
PC Metcalf (uncredited)
2005
Katis
1985
Istvan
1978
John
1980
Hit-Man
1987
Neville Nunn
1991
Flowers
2026
Ron Wood
2001
Andrew Ford
1988
King Henry IV
2012
Brigadier General Guy Loup
1995
Lusano
1996

Sender
1970
Earl of Surrey
1979
Actius
2008
Giacomo
1975Interviewee
2023
Brian Galloway
2015
Michael Heseltine
2009
The Chairman
2017
Duke