Richard Crispin Armitage was born on August 22nd 1971 and raised in Leicestershire. Aged 14 he attended Pattison College, an independent school in Coventry specialising in the performing arts.

After leaving school he went to Budapest for 6 months to work in a circus in order to obtain his Equity card, which is still a popular subject for interviewers.

Returning to the UK he took work as an assistant choreographer and in musical theatre in shows such as Cats, 42nd Street and Annie Get your Gun. These roles allowed him to save enough money to enrol in a three year course at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art).

During his time at LAMDA, Richard gained a one line part in the new Star Wars film The Phantom Menace. His line eventually ended up on the cutting room floor and you'll struggle to spot him in the movie.

After graduating in 1998 and a short stint in theatre, he landed a small part in the film This Year's Love starring Douglas Henshall and Jennifer Ehle and then in the film Cleopatra starring Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane. Various theatre roles followed, including an 18 month tour with the Royal Shakespeare Company during which he played Angus in Macbeth. This production was eventually filmed in 2001. It was critcially acclaimed and starred Antony Sher and Harriet Walter.

Then Richard's TV career started to take off. First with a two episode appearance in Doctors as locum Dr Tom Steele and then as Craig in one episode of Casualty. But it was in 2002 that Richard took his first major TV role, playing John Standring in Sally Wainwright's Sparkhouse, a modern interpretation of Wuthering Heights.

In 2003 Richard appeared in three ITV dramas. First as flirty lifeguard Lee in series 5 of ITV's Cold Feet, then in series 2 of Ultimate Force playing Captain Ian MacAlwaine and finally, shown on ITV in Nov/Dec 2003, he played Paul Andrews in Kay Mellor's Between the Sheets also starring Julie Graham and Alun Armstrong.

North and South

Richard then landed the role which was to see his career take a giant leap forward, that of the northern cotton mill owner John Thornton in the dramatisation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

His portrayal of Thornton was applauded by fans and critics alike. So popular was the role that the number of people accessing the BBC's North and South message board resulted in the board crashing under the weight.

Richard was known to have posted on the message board somewhat surprised by the furore he had created and this began several years of messages sent to various fansites and the proliferation of a number of fan forums and sites dedicated to him.

2005 to 2006 and Robin Hood

Following his role as Steven in the British film Frozen released in 2005, he also had guest roles in the popular BBC drama The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and in the one-off ITV drama Malice Aforethought in which he sported what some fans refer to as the 'Moustache of Evil'.

2005 was a busy year for Richard as he gained the lead role of Dr Alec Track in ITV's hospital drama, The Golden Hour. Unfortunately the drama was not recommissioned for a second series after mixed reviews. A role as Peter Macduff in the BBC's Shakespeare Re-Told followed, co-starring with James MacAvoy in the title role.

It was 2006 that saw his career take yet another step up. He took the lead role as Claude Monet in BBC Two's three part story The Impressionists and then in October he appeared in yet another career milestone as the evil Sir Guy of Gisborne in the new adaption of Robin Hood. Cast alongside Keith Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, the baddies quickly became popular with the viewing public. Whilst the show's reviews have been mixed at best the ratings have consistently topped 5 million.

Richard may have wanted the public to hate Guy but the underlying vulnerability and his evident love for Marian, played with aplomb by newcomer Lucy Griffiths, had quite the opposite effect. Toys were marketed for the series and even now the Gisborne toy is still available, complete with his super-posable horse, evidence if any was needed of his popularity.

Richard also made an appearance on the children's BBC channel CBeebies in October 2006 reading five bedtime stories for children. These proved very popular with children and their mothers for some reason.

2006 - The Vicar of Dibley

Richard's popularity and familiarity on television benefitted enormously from his appearance in the two-part Christmas special of The Vicar of Dibley in 2006. Playing Harry Kennedy, a new-comer to Dibley who romanced and married Dawn French's Geraldine it attracted more viewers than any other programme on Christmas Day gaining audience figures of 11.4 million. The role was reprised for a Comic Relief special in 2007.

2007

In 2007, Richard was enormously busy filming the one-off dramas George Gently for BBC1, Marie Lloyd for BBC4 (in which the 'Moustache of Evil' made a second malevolent appearance) and Miss Marple: Ordeal By Innocence for ITV. He also went back to Budapest for six months in the summer to play Guy of Gisborne in series 2 of Robin Hood.

2008 - the introduction of Lucas North

In early 2008 it was announced that Richard had landed a part in the successful BBC One drama series Spooks (known as MI-5 in the US).

Filming for the seventh series began in January 2008 in and around London and also in Moscow. In October 2008 we watched Lucas North re-join the team in the Grid, returning tattooed, exhausted and with questionable loyalty following his incarceration in a Russian prison.

Richard lost weight to effectively portray the malnourished Lucas, however, in typical Spooks style, within minutes he was thrust back into the unrelentingly fast-paced action barely having time to finish his tea and doughnuts. The series was applauded by critics and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama in 2008.

2009 - the end of Guy and Spooks 8

Richard reprised his role as Guy of Gisborne in the third and final series of Robin Hood, the final episode of which aired on 11 July 2009 on BBC1 and BBC HD. (We still haven't got over this btw.)

He also recorded an audiobook of Georgette Heyer's Sylvester produced by Naxos Audiobooks, details can be found on the RA on DVD page.

In May 2009, Richard appeared in a daytime drama on BBC1 entitled Moving On, produced by Jimmy McGovern, which was repeated in the evening in July 2009.

In his interview with Vulpes Libris published on 8 July 2009, Richard listed a number of projects that he was looking forward to, saying "A new 6-part TV series, a film, and a stage play based on a novel, which became a 60’s film classic. (Answers on a postcard please!) Hopefully, Spooks 9."

The first episode of Spooks 8 aired on Wednesday 4 November at 9pm on BBC1, which saw Lucas battling his inner demons when an old adversary from his prison days surfaces. He also gained a girlfriend Sarah, played by Genevieve O'Reilly although it was soon clear that the relationship was doomed from the start.

He also mentioned the Richard III project, saying "I strongly suspect that this will be a long way off, probably outside of my ability to play the role, but I wouldn’t rule out playing another role".

From September to December 2009 he travelled to South Africa to film a new six part drama series in South Africa entitled Strike Back, based on the novel of the same name by Chris Ryan. There is more information about this production on the Strike Back page.

During the run-up to Spooks series 8, interviews with Richard and articles about Spooks appeared in many magazines and online articles. A full list can be found on the Spooks Reviews page.

The last episode of Spooks 8 aired on Wednesday 23 December, 9pm on BBC1.

Voicework in 2010

Since January this year, Richard has provided voiceovers for three Santander adverts and the Alfa Romeo Mito Multiair advert. He has also promoted the BBC Winter Olympics coverage, which included several different adverts broadcast on BBC television and radio.

In April 2010 Richard helped to promote the Leaders' Debates on Sky in the run up to the General Election, which were heard on many different local radio stations around the UK. In July, adverts on radio were heard for Sky's Sports HD channels and he provided the voiceover for a Sky Sports HD television advert featuring Eric Cantona.

All broadcasts can be heard and downloaded on our 2010 Advertisements page.

He has also provided voiceovers for two documentaries: The Natural World's Forest Elephants: Rumbles in the Jungle shown on BBC2 on Thursday 4 March and Too Poor for Posh School? shown on Channel 4 on Thursday 11 March.

Richard has read an abridged version of Georgette Heyer's Venetia which was released week beginning 8 March 2010. Details and link to Amazon are here. You can download an audio extract of Venetia and listen to an interview with Richard on the Naxos Audiobooks website.

An audiobook of Georgette Heyer's novel, The Convenient Marriage will be released on 2 August 2010. There are links to Amazon and further details on The Convenient Marriage career page.

Richard starred as Robert Lovelace in Radio 4's four-part serialisation of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa which was broadcast on Sundays from 14 March to 4 April. More details and links to reviews are on the Clarissa career page.

On television and radio in 2010

Richard starred as John Porter in Strike Back, in three two-part stories, the first of which was broadcast on Sky1 and Sky HD on 5th May 2010 at 9pm.

He attended the Premiere of Strike Back along with many of his co-stars on Thursday 15 April, at the Vue Cinema in London's Leicester Square.

Full details of the production, including links to the Strike Back premiere, pictures, downloads, clips and lots of other information are on the Strike Back career page.

On 20th April, the Press Association released an interview with Richard, in which he contrasted Lucas with his role as John Porter in Strike Back: "what's really interesting about Lucas this year is he's much less physical than he has been in the past, it's almost as if, and not through choice, John's been out there doing all the fighting, and Lucas is back engaging the cerebrum". Read more on the Interviews page.

The region 1 and 2 versions of the Strike Back DVD were released on 7 June. The Spooks 8 DVD can be pre-ordered from Play.com and Amazon UK and are due to be released on 11 October 2010. Details and links to Play.com and Amazon are on the RA on DVD page.

On 4th May Richard was out and about in London promoting Strike Back. He first appeared on GMTV, interviewed by Lorraine Kelly and then visited three radio stations. Downloads of the broadcast interviews and pictures are on the Strike Back Downloads page.

One of the most revealing interviews for a long time was conducted by the Sunday Mirror and published on 30 May 2010. In the article Richard describes how involved he became in the role of John Porter, finding it difficult to keep in touch with home as a result: "I was so in the character, I’d dream about him at night. Even I thought, ‘This is crazy, I’m too involved.’ I found it hard to call or Skype friends – it was almost as though I couldn’t get out of the character." You can read the online article or a scan of the printed copy on the Interviews page.

Richard on the Stage?

Appearing Next...

last updated 5 August 2010