Clive Merrison

Clive Merrison (born 15 September 1945) is a British actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, having played the part in all 64 episodes of the 1989–1998 series of Sherlock Holmes dramatisations, and all 16 episodes of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2002–2010). Television He has made numerous television appearances. He appeared as Boris Savinkov the White Russian commander in the series Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983) starring Sam Neill as Reilly. He has twice appeared in supporting roles in Doctor Who, in The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) and Paradise Towers (1987). He has also appeared in Yes, Prime Minister, Kit Curran, The Labours of Erica, Bergerac, Mann's Best Friends, Double First, Drop the Dead Donkey, Time Riders, Pie in the Sky, The Tomorrow People, Mortimer's Law, The Bill, Believe Nothing, Midsomer Murders (twice), Foyle's War, Lewis and The Brief. He played Mark's father in the 2010 Peep Show Christmas special, and also played Clement Attlee in the 2012 TV movie Bert and Dickie. He has also done voice work as a guest appearance in the children's animated series Testament: The Bible in Animation and Shakespeare: The Animated Tales. Stage He portrayed Antonin Artaud in the Rome and London premieres of Charles Marowitz's play, Artaud at Rodez. He also portrayed the headmaster in the original National Theatre and Broadway productions of Alan Bennett's hit play, The History Boys which went on to win 6 Tony Awards and an Oliver for Best New Play. Merrison was a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company in the 1970s and the Royal Shakespeare Company, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon. Film Merrison played the onscreen father of Kate Winslet in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson, and the traditionalist headmaster in Alan Bennett's The History Boys, filmed in 2006. He was the forger in the 1981 film Escape to Victory and also played Bartholomew Sholto in The Sign of Four (1983), Desmond Fairchild in An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) and the lawyer in Saving Grace (2000). His other film credits included roles in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), Riddles of the Sphinx (1977), Coming Out of the Ice (1982), the Clint Eastwood film Firefox (1982), The English Patient (1996), True Blue (1996), Photographing Fairies (1997), Janice Beard (1999) and Pandaemonium (2000).