| David Westhead | |
| Birth Name: | David William Logan Westhead |
| Birth Date: | 1 June 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, UK |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1988–present |
David William Logan Westhead (born 1 June 1963) is an English actor.
Westhead was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. He studied drama at Bristol University before going on to RADA, from where he graduated in 1987, after which he joined the Actors' Touring Company.
He is notable as having been a member of the regular cast of The Bill, Criminal Justice, Blackeyes, Stanley and the Women, Bramwell, The Silence, Life Begins, The Lakes, Grafters, The Time of Your Life and W1A. He has also had guest appearances in Wycliffe (Wycliffe and the Pea Green Boat as Freddie Tremaine), Doctor Who (The Shakespeare Code, as William Kempe), Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me as Charlie, Foyle's War (A War of Nerves), Midsomer Murders (The House in the Woods), Agatha Christie's Poirot (Cards on the Table) and Lewis (The Gift of Promise). He has also appeared in the film Mrs Brown (as the Prince of Wales), and onstage he has played Tristan Tzara in a 1993 British production of Travesties, which The Observer review said "David Westhead's Tzara [is] blissfully adept and funny".
David has for many years been a leading actor with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, and The Royal Court Theatre. His credits include the BAFTA nominated Donovan Quick, Wilde, Stage Beauty, 'Beyond the Sea', Golden Globe winning Gideon's Daughter, Wallis & Edward, 'Beneath the Skin', Emmy Award winning The Lost Prince, 'She's Gone', 'The Time of Your Life', 'The Key', 'Safe House', 'The Lakes', Turning World, Grafters, 'The Unknown Soldier', My Fragile Heart, Blackeyes. David has the title role in "Suicide Man" and has appeared in "The Real McCoy" for the BBC in the Cape Flats Townships of South Africa. In 2010 he starred as Frank Evans in the BBC's flagship drama "The Silence".
In 2002 he and two colleagues founded Wilton Pictures, a production company specialising in making documentaries.
Also a lecturer in drama it was whilst he was teaching in South Africa that he met a group of disadvantaged youngsters with potential as photographers. Along with professional photographer John Cole – who, like David, lives in Brighton – he put them on an eight-week crash course in photography, enabling them to make a professional living from it. The exhibition of their work, entitled 'Wembley to Soweto', was exhibited at London's South Bank in July 2011. He received the Media Society's 2013 bursary award for this project.[1]
In 2014, he played Neil Reid in W1A.
In 2016, Westhead played the role of Tony Blair's minder in the BBC television film Reg.[2] In 2016, he appeared in the Netflix comedy series Lovesick.
He played Prime Minister John Vosler in the 2018 BBC series Bodyguard.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Mrs Brown | Bertie, Prince of Wales | ||
| Wilde | Edward Carson | |||
| 2001 | Queen's Messenger | Sir Desmond Grey | ||
| 2004 | Stage Beauty | Harry | ||
| Beyond the Sea | Dr Fields | |||
| 2011 | Reg Prentice | |||
| 2022 | Enola Holmes 2 | Henry Lyon |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Jenny's War | Navigator | TV serial |
| 1989 | Blackeyes | Mark Wilsher | TV miniseries |
| 1991 | Stanley and the Women | Stillsman | TV miniseries |
| 1994 | Wycliffe | Freddie Tremaine | Episode: "The Pea Green Boat" |
| 1995 | Witness Against Hitler | Leo Lange | TV film [3] |
| 1996 | PC Mick Sampson | Episode: "Confession" | |
| Bramwell | Paul Mills | Episode: "The Rule of Thuggery" | |
| 1997 | Turning World | Danny Miller | Episode: 3 |
| 1997–99 | Arthur Thwaite | Main cast | |
| 1998 | Jeff Quinn | TV miniseries | |
| 1998–99 | Grafters | Nick Costello | Main cast |
| 2000–01 | McCready and Daughter | DCI Alan Kendall | Main cast |
| 2000 | Where the Heart Is | Mike | Episode: "No Regrets" |
| Dalziel and Pascoe | Peter Deller | Episode: "Above the Law" | |
| My Fragile Heart | DCI Peter Murray | TV miniseries | |
| Donovan Quick | George Mackie | TV film[4] [5] | |
| 2002 | Van Den Meer | Episode: "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" | |
| Always and Everyone | Phillip Mallett | Episode: "Against the State" | |
| Safe House | Father | TV film | |
| 2003 | Fred | TV miniseries | |
| William and Mary | Alistair Harper | Episode: 2 | |
| Servants | Mr Prothero | TV miniseries | |
| Neath | TV miniseries | ||
| Blue Dove | Malcolm Sharp | TV miniseries | |
| 2004–06 | Life Begins | Brian Middleton | 10 episodes |
| 2004 | Family Business | Tom Williams | Episode: 2 |
| She's Gone | Peter Vine | TV film | |
| Foyle's War | Mark Talbot | Episode: "A War of Nerves" | |
| 2005 | Beneath the Skin | Dominic Hintlesham | TV film |
| Born and Bred | Silas Craddock | Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me" | |
| Rose and Maloney | Wallace Canford | Episodes: "Carl Callaghan", "Annie Johnson" and "Alan Richmond" | |
| Midsomer Murders | Gerry Moore | Episode: "The House in the Woods" | |
| Wallis & Edward | Ernest Simpson, Wallis Simpson's second husband | TV film | |
| 2006 | Gideon's Daughter | Bill | TV film |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot | Superintendent Jim Wheeler | Episode: "Cards on the Table" | |
| 2007 | Wild at Heart | Bennett | Episode: 2.3 |
| Doctor Who | William Kempe | Episode: "The Shakespeare Code" | |
| Dave | TV miniseries | ||
| 2008 | Criminal Justice | Barry Coulter | Series one |
| 2009 | Moving Wallpaper | Gareth | Episode: "Renaissance Part VI" |
| New Tricks | Mike Barnes | Episode: "Death of a Timeshares Salesman" | |
| Murderland | Tony Philips | TV miniseries | |
| 2010 | Superintendent Frank Evans | TV miniseries | |
| 2011 | Ron Carver | TV miniseries | |
| Lewis | Leon Suskin | Episode: "The Gift of Promise" | |
| Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me | Charlie Archer | TV film | |
| 2012 | DCI Banks | Gareth Lambert | Episode: "Strange Affair" |
| 2013 | Silent Witness | DI Bob Cherry | Episodes: "Legacy – Part 1" [6] & "Part 2" [7] |
| 2014 | Endeavour | Val Todd | Episode: "Trove" |
| Common | Barnes-Williams | TV film | |
| 2014–20 | W1A | Neil Reid | |
| 2015 | Grantham Naseby | Episode: "Capsized" | |
| 2016 | Jericho | Jonas Sorsby | Episode: 4 |
| Reg | Tony Blair's minder | TV film | |
| Lovesick | Alexander | Episode: "Isabel" | |
| 2017 | Loaded | Lawyer | Episode: "Lawsuit" |
| 2018 | Bodyguard | Prime Minister John Vosler | TV miniseries |
Voice talent : Eric Ambler's Topkapi for BBC Radio 4 Extra