Neil Dudgeon

Neil Dudgeon was born in Doncaster South Yorkshire on 2 January 1961 and attended Danum Grammar School among others He established himself as an actor in school plays and went on to study drama at university He made his first screen appearance in 1987 The following year he appeared as a World War II pilot in Piece of Cake alongside Tim Woodward Jeremy Northam and Nathaniel Parker As well as occasional appearances in longrunning series such as Casualty Londons Burning and Lovejoy he has appeared as George the Chauffeur in The Mrs Bradley Mysteries alongside Diana Rigg in Inspector Morse episode The Way Through The Woods A Touch of Frost with David Jason Between The Lines Common As Muck in 1994 1997 Out of the Blue Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking and all four series of Messiah with Ken Stott In 2007 Dudgeon appeared in the eponymous role of selfmade millionaire Roman Pretty in the BBC2 sitcom Romans Empire Since 2009 he has played Jim Riley in the BBCs successful comedy Life of Riley In 2010 Dudgeon appeared in an episode of the longrunning ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders called The Sword of Guillaume He was introduced in the episode as the cousin of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby played by John Nettles who has announced his retirement from the role Neil also cast as a senior detective will take over as the lead character in Midsomer Murders after the last episodes featuring John Nettles are screened in 2011 Neil appeared for the first time in Midsomer Murders in the opening episode of the fourth series Garden of Death Neil is married to Radio Producer Mary Peate they have two children