Christopher Ryan

---

title: "Christopher Ryan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1950-births", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "alumni-of-east-15-acting-school", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-stage-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "english-male-voice-actors", "english-people-of-greek-descent", "the-flying-pickets-members", "living-people", "male-actors-from-london"] description: "British actor (born 1950)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Ryan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British actor (born 1950) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Christopher Ryan
image	Christopher Ryan.png
caption	Ryan in "Back to School Mr. Bean" (1994)
birth_name	Christopher Papazoglou
birth_date
birth_place	Bayswater, London, England
alma_mater	East 15 Acting School
occupation	Actor
years_active	1971–present
::

| name = Christopher Ryan | image = Christopher Ryan.png | caption = Ryan in "Back to School Mr. Bean" (1994) | birth_name = Christopher Papazoglou | birth_date = | birth_place = Bayswater, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = East 15 Acting School | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1971–present

Christopher Papazoglou (born 25 January 1950), known professionally as Christopher Ryan, is a British actor. He is known for his sitcom roles including Mike The Cool Person in The Young Ones, Dave Hedgehog in Bottom, Edina Monsoon's ex-husband Marshall Turtle in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous and Tony Driscoll in Only Fools and Horses and its spin-off The Green Green Grass. He has appeared in Doctor Who in the alien roles of Kiv in The Trial of a Time Lord (1986) and Sontaran General Staal (2008, 2010).

Early life

Ryan was born Christopher Papazoglou on 25 January 1950 in Bayswater, London, to an English mother and a Greek father. It is not clear if he spent some time in a children's home in Hutton, Essex, during his childhood. He trained at East 15 Acting School from 1968 to 1971, then began his professional acting career with Glasgow Citizens' Theatre.

Career

''The Young Ones''

Ryan was the only Young Ones cast member who was not already well known in British comedy circles, the other principal parts being taken by The Comic Strip members Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, and Alexei Sayle. He was a last-minute replacement for Peter Richardson, for whom the "straight man" role of "Mike The Cool Person" was originally intended.

In 1986, Ryan reunited with the rest of the cast for the comedic charity single and music video for Cliff Richard's song "Living Doll", with Richard himself, for Comic Relief.

Later career

In 1987, he starred in the short-lived BBC sitcom A Small Problem. He played Lucky in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre in the West End in 1991, alongside Mayall and Edmondson. He later played Dave Hedgehog in Bottom, and Marshall Turtle, one of Edina's unloved ex-husbands, on Absolutely Fabulous. He has also appeared in two major sitcoms: he played one of the Driscoll brothers in an episode of Only Fools And Horses and spin-off The Green Green Grass, a pair of identical twin builders in the One Foot in the Grave episode "Hole in the Sky", and a plumber in the episode "The Valley of Fear". He appeared in Back to School Mr. Bean, My Family and Saxondale. He joined up again with Jennifer Saunders for two episodes of The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle.

In 1986, he appeared in the science fiction series Doctor Who as the alien creature Lord Kiv in the serial The Trial of a Time Lord, and as one of the rose-painting playing cards in the 1999 TV version of Alice in Wonderland. In 2008, he again guest-starred in Doctor Who in the episodes "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky", as the Sontaran leader "General Staal", and in the 2010 episode "The Pandorica Opens", playing another Sontaran character, "Commander Stark". In 2012 he appeared in the role of Marshall in Episode 3 "Olympics" of the Absolutely Fabulous 20th-anniversary specials.

Although so far his film appearances have been few, he has played small roles in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) playing Vout the elf, and in the film Dirty Weekend (1993), directed by Michael Winner playing a character credited as Small One.

Ryan starred as Baron Hardup in the pantomime of Cinderella at the Theatre Royal, Norwich from 17 December 2013 to 19 January 2014.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Santa Claus: The Movie	Vout
1993	Dirty Weekend	Small One
1997	Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Not!	Marshall	Direct-to-video
2009	Dead Man Running	Bookie at the Dogs	Uncredited
2012	City Slacker	Frank
2016	Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie	Marshall
2019	Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor	Kiv	Direct-to-video
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Target	Jock	Episode: "A Good and Faithful Woman"
1979	Angels	Harry	Episodes 5.13 & 5.15
Premiere	Clive	Episode: "Deasey"
1980	Fox	East	Episode: "Stick or Twist"
1981	BBC2 Playhouse	Tony	Episode: "Days at the Beach"
Play for Today	Hound Dog	Episode: "A Turn for the Worse"
The Olympian Way	Mickey Farr	Episode: "Slim Chance"
1982–1984	The Young Ones	Mike The Cool Person
1984	The Tempest, Act IV	Ferdinand	TV movie
1985	Inside Out	Tommy	Episodes 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3
Summer Season	Twerp	Episode: "Rachel and the Roarettes"
The Lenny Henry Show	N/A	Episode 2.2
Happy Families	Mell	Episode: "Cassie"
1986	Doctor Who	Kiv	Episode: Mindwarp
1987	A Small Problem	Howard
1989	Only Fools and Horses	Tony Driscoll	Episode: "Little Problems"
The Russ Abbot Show	N/A	Episode 4.12
1990, 1995	One Foot in the Grave	Plumber
McKendrick Twins	Episodes: "The Valley of Fear"
"Hole in the Sky"
1991–1995	Bottom	Dave Hedgehog	Episodes: "Accident"
"Parade"
"Holy"
"Terror"
"Dough"
1992	The New Statesman	Ioannis Douvalopoulos	Episode: "Speaking in Tongues"
1992–2012	Absolutely Fabulous	Marshall	Credited as Chris Ryan
1993	Maigret	Basie	Episode: "Maigret and the Maid"
Newman and Baddiel in Pieces	N/A	Episode: "Guilty"
1994	Requiem Apache	Club Barman	TV movie
Credited as Chris Ryan
Mr. Bean	Karate Student	Episode: "Back to School Mr. Bean"
Credited as Chris Ryan
1995	Health and Efficiency	Peter Hudson	Episode: "The Old Dope Peddler"
1997	Melissa	Les Maurice	TV mini-series
1998	Mike and Angelo	Brad Schnauzer	Episode: "Out of the Wardrobe"
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Royal Gardener 3	TV movie
Credited as Chris Ryan
2001, 2003	My Family	Mr. Hilliard
Rod Baxter	Episodes: "Parisian Beauty"
"Canary Cage"
2002	Fun at the Funeral Parlour	Rocky	Episode: "Dog Dago Afternoon"
2005–2006, 2009	The Green Green Grass	Tony Driscoll	Episodes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock"
"Brothers and Sisters"
"Home Brew"
2006	SpongeBob SquarePants	Professor Percy	Episode: "Chimps Ahoy"
Uncredited
2007	Saxondale	Ticket Inspector	Episode 2.5
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle	Miriam	Episodes 1.2 & 1.6
2008, 2010	Doctor Who	General Staal
Commander Stark	Episodes: "The Sontaran Stratagem"
"The Poison Sky"
"The Pandorica Opens"
2013	It's Kevin	The Great Spagboletti	Episode #1.4
::

Audio drama

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters	General Stenk/Flitch	"The Sontaran Ordeal"
2018	Ravenous	Macy	"How to Make a Killing in Time Travel"
Jeremiah Bourne in Time	Pete
Lady Christina	Grunt/Handley	2 stories
2019, 2020	The Paternoster Gang	Stonn	2 stories
2024	Doctor Who: Sontarans vs Rutans	Vrell / Trax	2 episodes
::

Video games

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role
2011	Black Mirror III	Additional Voices
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Artist/Writer
1986	"Living Doll"	Mike	Cliff Richard
::

Theatre

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Location	Ref.
1977	The Devil Is an Ass	Pug	Royal National Theatre
Measure for Measure	Abhorson
1978	The Cure for Love	Charlie Fox	Churchill Theatre	url=https://theatricalia.com/person/177v/christopher-ryan
1979	Bleak House	Conversation Kenge
Trooper George
Various	Royal Court Theatre
1980	A Flea in Her Ear	N/A	Thorndike Theatre
1984	Of Mice and Men	Curley	Mermaid Theatre
1987	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Puck	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
1988	Kiss Me, Kate	Joe Ambrosio	Royal Shakespeare Company
1990	* Valued Friends*	Stewart	Hampstead Theatre
1991	Waiting for Godot	Lucky	Queen's Theatre
1993	On the Ledge	Martin	Royal National Theatre/Nottingham Playhouse
2003	His Girl Friday	McCue	Olivier Theatre
2009	Arsenic and Old Lace	Dr. Einstein	Salisbury Playhouse	{{cite web
2013	Cinderella	Baron Hardup	Theatre Royal, Norwich
2015	Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense	Seppings	Theatre Royal, Nottingham
::

References

References

1. "Daily Mayall : 23 September 1991 : Waiting For Godot Previews - Rik Mayall News and Events".
2. "Living Doll by Cliff Richard and The Young Ones - SimplyEightys".
3. From the programme to the production.
4. (2 October 2007). "Doctor Who: Casting Update". [[BBC]].
5. (July 2019). "HCX Pick of Christmas Events". Her Campus Media, LLC }}{{Dead link.
6. "REVIEW: 'Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor' - The Doctor Who Big Blue Box Podcast".
7. "Jeremiah Bourne in Time - Big Finish Originals - Big Finish".
8. "Lady Christina Series 01 - The Worlds of Doctor Who - Special Releases - Big Finish".
9. "David Suchet - The Devil is an Ass (1976-77)".
10. "David Suchet - Measure for Measure (1976-77)".
11. "Christopher Ryan - Theatricalia".
12. "ROB WILTON THEATRICALIA Classic Play Programmes 1980-89".
13. "A Midsummer Night's Dream - shakespeareances.com".
14. "Photostage.co.uk".
15. "CalmView: Overview - National Theatre".
16. "Cinderella (Norwich) - WhatsOnStage".
17. "JEEVES & WOOSTER at Theatre Royal Nottingham - ItsMuchMore".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::