Shrapnel was born in Birmingham Warwickshire the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy née Edwards and journalistauthor Norman Shrapnel1 As a stage actor he was a member of Laurence Oliviers Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal directed by Deborah Warner at the Barbican Centre in 2011 He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R ZCars Edward and Mrs Simpson 101 Dalmatians Space 1999 Inspector Morse Coogans Run Notting Hill and Foyles War He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBCs 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles In America he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom an epic fantasy miniseries He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexters Inspector Morse and William Gibsons Neuromancer He is the soninlaw of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley They have three sons the actors Lex Shrapnel b1979 Tom Shrapnel b1981 and the writer Joe Shrapnel b1976 They live in Highbury north London
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