Jeff Rawle

---

title: "Jeff Rawle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1951-births", "living-people", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "alumni-of-the-london-academy-of-music-and-dramatic-art", "british-male-film-actors", "british-male-soap-opera-actors", "english-male-stage-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "english-male-voice-actors", "male-actors-from-birmingham,-west-midlands", "people-educated-at-king-edward-vi-aston-school", "people-educated-at-high-storrs-grammar-school-for-boys", "politicians-from-sheffield"] description: "English actor (born 1951)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Rawle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English actor (born 1951) ::

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

Field	Value
name	Jeff Rawle
image	Jeff Rawle.jpg
caption	Rawle in 2011
birth_name	Jeffrey Alan Rawle
birth_date
birth_place	Birmingham, England
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1973–present
spouse
children	2
::

| name = Jeff Rawle | image = Jeff Rawle.jpg | caption = Rawle in 2011 | birth_name = Jeffrey Alan Rawle | birth_date = | birth_place = Birmingham, England | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1973–present | spouse = | children = 2 Jeffrey Alan Rawle (born 20 July 1951) is a British actor. He is known for playing Billy in Billy Liar (1973–1974), and for portraying George Dent in the news-gathering sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1998), and Silas Blissett in Hollyoaks (2010–2022). Other credits include Minder (1993), Doc Martin (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Grantchester (2023), and Beyond Paradise (2024).

Early life

Rawle was born on 20 July 1951, in Birmingham. His first secondary school was King Edward VI School in Aston, Birmingham. When he was 15, his family moved to Sheffield, and it was at High Storrs Grammar School that he first became interested in drama when he appeared in school plays. He worked at the Sheffield Playhouse before training at LAMDA.

Career

Rawle landed his first significant role in 1973 as the protagonist in the television version of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's Billy Liar. He played Billy Fisher for two seasons, 26 episodes from 1973 to 1974.

In 1979, he appeared as Rudy with Ian McKellen and Tom Bell in the premiere production of Bent at the Royal Court Theatre, London. In 1984, he appeared in the story Frontios as the character Plantaganet in Doctor Who. In 1980, he appeared in the Hammer House of Horror, episode "Charlie Boy." In 1981, he appeared in an episode of Juliet Bravo. In 1983, He starred as Jeff Harris in three episodes of Angels and appeared in Bergerac (1983).

In 1989, he starred as W.O. Wilson in the three-part miniseries Vote for Them, which was about allied troops still based in Cairo in 1943. He appeared in Minder (1993) and Faith in the Future on ITV from 1995 to 1998. In 2004, Rawle appeared as Roger Fenn in the ITV series Doc Martin. The actor made a guest appearance as lawyer Jonathan Blunt in the fourth episode of the fourth series of New Tricks (2007).

In 2005, Rawle portrayed Amos Diggory, father of Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

2008 saw Rawle play Gilbert Murray in the National Theatre's production of Tony Harrison's play Fram. The following year, he guested in The Bill and appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures on CBBC. During 2010, Rawle joined the cast of Hollyoaks as serial killer Silas Blissett. He stated that he was delighted to be playing such a sinister character. He has won various awards for his portrayal of Silas. He initially left the role in 2012, before making guest returns from January to May 2016, and from October 2020 to January 2021. He reprised the role in September 2022, when his grandson, Bobby, finally killed off his character.

In October 2012, it was announced that Rawle had joined the ''Doctors''' cast as Rory Bishton, a road sweeper with something to hide. Rawle made his screen debut as Rory in early 2013. He had previously appeared in the series in 2004.

Rawle has provided numerous narrations, including A Bear Called Paddington, three series of the Duchess of York's Budgie the Little Helicopter, Stephen Hawking's Universe and Tom Fort's The Grass is Always Greener for BBC Radio 4. Rawle's writing credits include The Young Poisoner's Handbook in 1995 and Who Goes There?

Filmography and television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
–	Billy Liar	Billy Fisher
	Play for Today	Steve	episode: "The Death of a Young, Young Man"
	Whodunnit	Arthur	TV series episode 22 "Worth Dying For"
	Crown Court	Robert Gray	episode: "Bad Day at Black Cape: Part 1"
	Van der Valk	Diederick	TV series; episode: "The Professor"
	**	Johannes
1978	**	'Sniffy' Kemp
	**	Pusher	TV series; episode: "A Game for Two Players"
	Leave It to Charlie		TV series; episode: "Never a Cross Word"
	Home Before Midnight	Johnnie McGee
	Hammer House of Horror	Franks	TV series; episode: "Charlie Boy"
	Juliet Bravo	Steve Ramsey	TV series; episode: "Lies and Liars"
	Crystal Gazing	Julian
	Bergerac	Mitch	TV series; episode: "Almost Like a Holiday"
	Angels	Jeff Harris	TV series; episodes 22 and 24 of season 9
1984	**	Norbert
	Doctor Who	Plantagenet	TV series; episode: "Frontios"
	Remington Steele	Chalky	TV series; episode: "Steele Searching: Parts 1 and 2"
	**	Lambert
	Call Me Mister	Guy	TV series; episode: "Humpty Dumpty"
	Fortunes of War	Sgt. Ridley	TV miniseries
	Boon	Maurice,
also known as Billy Clutterbuck	TV series; episode: "Credit Where it's Due"
	Screen Two	Billy	TV series; episode: "Run for the Lifeboat"
	South of the Border	Stig	BBC TV series; Series 1, episode 3
	**	Derek Pardoe	TV series; episode: "Alarms and Embarrassments"
	Vote for Them	W.O. Wilson	3 part mini-series
	ScreenPlay		episode: "Testimony of a Child"Jeff Rawle is not in the Radio Times listing for "Testimony of a Child"
	ScreenPlay	The Man	episode: "Beyond the Pale"
	The	Gift	dab=British TV series}}''
1990–1998	Drop the Dead Donkey	George Dent	TV series
	This is David Harper	Bob Benchley	TV series; episode: "A List of Abuses"
	**	Service Policeman	TV series
	**	Ezra Pratt	TV series
	Casualty	Len Jackson	TV series; episode: "Silent Night", series 7 episode 15
	Minder	Jehovah's Witness	TV series; episode: "Uneasy Rider"
–	Budgie the Little Helicopter	Narrator and Dell the baggage cart towing truck	TV series; voice
	Wycliffe	Reverend Jordan	TV series; episode: "The Last Rites"
	Look at the State We're In!	Jeff Jarndyce	TV mini-series
–	Faith in the Future	Paul	TV series
	Lord of Misrule	Derek	TV
1998	Neville's Island	Neville	TV
–	Microsoap	Colin	TV series
	I Saw You	Frank	TV
	Take a Girl Like You	Mr. Charlton	TV
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Raymond Miles	TV series; episode: "Mens Sana"
	Midsomer Murders	Derrick Seagrove	TV series, episode: "A Talent for Life"
	Blackball	Dennis
	Death in Holy Orders	Father Peregrine Glover	TV
2004	Doctors	John Marshall	TV series; episode: "A Late Flowering"
	**	Banks	TV series; episode: "Doing Time"
	**	Graham Hammond	TV
	Heartbeat	Ken Simner	TV series; episode: "Scent of a Kill"
	William and Mary	George Emerson	TV series; series 2 episode 5
	My Dad's the Prime Minister	Union leader	TV series; episode: "Powerless"
–	Doc Martin	Roger Fenn	TV series; episodes: "Gentlemen Prefer", "Sh*t Happens", "Haemophobia", "The Family Way", "Happily Ever After"
	Ultimate Force	David Cox	TV series; episode: "Never Go Back"
	Holby City	Ron Fell	TV series; episode: "It's Kinda Rock 'n' Roll"
	Spooks	Home Secretary	Also known as MI-5 in the USA
TV series; episodes: "The Special: Part I" and "The Special: Part II"
	**	Steve Markham	TV series; episode: "Near Death Experience"
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Amos Diggory
	Holby City	Roger Nash	TV series; episodes: "Team Holby", "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Lost", "Now or Never"
	Sea of Souls	James Norman	TV series; episode: "Oracle"
2006	**	Mr. Large	TV series; voice
	**	George Fielding	TV series, episode: "Innocence Betrayed"
2009	**	Lionel Harding	Museum Curator, Mona Lisa's Revenge
2010–2011, 2012, 2016, 2020–2021, 2022	Hollyoaks &
Hollyoaks Later	Silas Blissett	Series regular
	Midsomer Murders	Gerry Dawkins	TV series, episode: "Dark Secrets"
2011	My Family	Antiques expert	episode: Germs of Endearment
2012	The Charles Dickens Show	Charles Dickens	TV miniseries
2013	**	Mervyn Pinfield	Television docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who in 1963
	Heading Out	Donald	One episode
–	Holby City	Jerry Clark	TV series; episodes: "Hanssen/Hemingway", "Unravelled", "Black Dog", "We Need to Talk About Fredrik"
2016	Bottersnikes and Gumbles	Happi	Voice only
2016	Steptoe and Son	Albert Steptoe	A one-off episode, part of the BBC's Lost Sitcom season, recreating lost episodes of classic comedies
	Peterloo	Magistrate Rev. Hay	Film directed by Mike Leigh
	Father Brown	Professor Robert Wiseman	Season 7 episode 3: "The Whistle in the Dark"
	Brassic	Mr. Bates	Season 2 episode 3: "Antique Hunters"
	**	Duke George 'Bluey' Stilton
	Lockwood & Co.	Sebastian Saunders	Netflix series; two episodes
	Grantchester	Dr. Abbot	Season 8, episode 3
	Beyond Paradise	Douglas Bevan	Season 2, episode 6
::

References

References

1. "Jeff Rawle".
2. "Billy Liar". comedy.co.uk.
3. (2 June 1989). "Vote for Them". Radio Times.
4. "Jeff Rawle". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
5. "Jeff Rawle Credits". tvguide.com.
6. "Silas". E4.com.
7. (2011-09-20). "Jeff Rawle thrilled with 'Oaks Silas role". [[Digital Spy]].
8. "Silas is dead! Hollyoaks star Jeff Rawle reacts to shock exit".
9. Kilkelly, Daniel. (4 October 2012). "'Doctors' role for 'Hollyoaks' star Jeff Rawle". [[Digital Spy]].
10. [https://web.archive.org/web/20201117041520/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/95a5a516f5b7496086964c6ed44742fa "Testimony of a Child", BBC ''Radio Times'', 5 July 1989]
11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141023183532/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e7904ace47a94cb2a4676a496af78d80 "The Gift", BBC ''Radio Times'', 28 March 1990]
12. "The Screen Guide: Bottersnikes and Gumbles". Screen Australia.
13. "Lost Sitcoms". BBC Four.

::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. ::