Richard James

In over twenty five years, Richard's career has taken him from patrolling the skies of an alien planet to touring the UK in stage adaptations of David Walliams' most famous books.

He trained at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where he won the Newton Blick Award for Outstanding Achievement. He is perhaps most well known for his appearances on children’s television playing many regular and recurring roles in various series, including Mr K in thirty episodes of The Mysti Show (CBBC) and Sir Gestion in twenty episodes of Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight In The Land (CITV). Other credits include George Bland in MI High, Dirk Searcher in Jinx, Cosmos in The Roman Mysteries, Stuart in Living It, Mr Simms in My Parents Are Aliens and Nelson’s Dad in My Spy Family. Further appearances on children’s TV include Dani’s House, Mighty Truck Of Stuff and Too Many Gods. Other television credits include Love Hurts, Pie In The Sky, McGyver, Drop The Dead Donkey, Bliss, Oktober, Crossroads, Murder City, Casanova, Filth; The Mary Whitehouse Story, Life Of Riley, Doctors, The Jury and Eastenders. Most notably, he also played Officer Orrin in twenty-four episodes of Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct.

His film credits include appearing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in Great Expectations, alongside Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds in A Bunch Of Amateurs and with the stars of Monty Python as Geoffrey Weasel in Terry Jones’ Wind In The Willows. Other film appearances include A Lover’s Prayer, Julius Caesar, Penelope, Stormbreaker, The Wolf Man and Foster.

On stage, he has played Alex in Outside Edge (Derby Playhouse) and Doctor Mortimer and Inspector Lestrade in The Hound Of The Baskervilles (New Victoria, Newcastle-Under-Lyme). He has toured the UK in a two man show, Thunderbirds FAB, and then more extensively with the Birmingham Stage Company, playing various roles in their Olivier-nominated Gangsta Granny (culminating in a sell out run at London’s Garrick Theatre) and 'Awful' Aunt Alberta herself in Awful Auntie. Following this he embarked on an arena tour of the UK in Walliams' Grandpa's Great Escape featuring Nigel Planer. Richard has also directed and performed in many productions of his own plays.

He has recorded several audio adventures for Big Finish Productions including playing Rembrandt in Doctor Who: The Waters Of Amsterdam, Officer Enab in Doctor Who: The Isos Network and alien talk show host Jeremy Vile in Terrahawks: Vile. Richard also co-hosts the weekly Gerry Anderson Podcast with Jamie Anderson and his own monthly Bowman Of The Yard Podcast with Peter Crouch.

As a writer, he has written nearly thirty plays, all of which have been published by Lazy Bee Scripts. They often win awards for their performances up and down the country and around the world. In 2014 he wrote a book, Space Precinct Unmasked, detailing his experiences working on Gerry Anderson’s last live action series. The three novels in the Bowman Of The Yard series, The Head In The Ice, The Devil In The Dock and The Body In The Trees, follow the investigations of Inspector George Bowman of Scotland Yard in 1892.