Roger Allam

Roger William Allam (born 26 October 1953) is an English actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received three Laurence Olivier Awards.

He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables, First Officer Douglas Richardson in the award-winning radio series Cabin Pressure, and DCI Fred Thursday in the TV series Endeavour. He is also known for his roles as Illyrio Mopatis in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Royalton in Speed Racer, Lewis Prothero in the 2005 adaptation of V for Vendetta and as Peter Mannion MP in The Thick of It.

Life and career Early years and education Allam was born in Bow, London, England. His father was rector of St Mary Woolnoth. In 1959, his family left Bromley-by-Bow, moving to Putney, later moving to Muswell Hill, due to his father's commitments. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and Manchester University.

Acting career He played Mercutio for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1983.

From 1985 to 1986, he played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables.

He has also appeared in many radio dramas for the BBC. In 2001, he starred in BBC Radio 4's adaptation of Les Misérables, as Valjean. In 2000 he played Adolf Hitler at the Royal National Theatre in David Edgar's Albert Speer. He won an Olivier Award as Best Actor 2001, for his role as Captain Terri Denis in a revival of Privates on Parade, opening in December 2001 at the Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden. In November 2002 at the Comedy Theatre he co-starred with Gillian Anderson in Michael Weller's romantic comedy What the Night Is For.

In 2003, he appeared as former West German federal chancellor Willy Brandt in Michael Frayn's play Democracy which opened at the Cottesloe Theatre, in the Royal National Theatre. He stayed with the show for its transfer to the West End. In December 2004 and January 2005, Allam appeared as the villainous Abanazar in a pantomime of Aladdin at the Old Vic theatre, co-starring Ian McKellen, Maureen Lipman and Sam Kelly. He reprised this role at the Old Vic, once again with Ian McKellen and Frances Barber in 2006–07. In August 2005, Allam appeared in Blackbird by David Harrower alongside Jodhi May at the Edinburgh Festival in a production by German star director Peter Stein. The play transferred to the Albery Theatre in London in February 2006. Blackbird subsequently won a best new play award.

In 2006 he appeared in Stephen Frears's film The Queen, starring Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren, as the Queen's private secretary. In February 2007, he performed in the 1960s farce Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy Theatre in the West End, co-starring Mark Rylance, Frances de la Tour and Tamzin Outhwaite. In 2007, he appeared for the first time as Peter Mannion MP in the special episodes of the BBC comedy The Thick of It. He reprised the role in the third series (2009), and returned in the final series (2012) as part of the expanded regular cast.

In 2008, Allam played the role of Max Reinhardt, the Salzburg Festival impresario in Michael Frayn's play Afterlife, the production staged by Michael Blakemore on the National Theatre's Lyttelton stage. In 2009, Allam played Albin/Zaza in La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse in London. Allam played Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 at Shakespeare's Globe, in the 2010 season. He won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. In October 2010, Allam was reunited with his former cast mates from Les Misérables in the 25th anniversary concert for a performance of "One Day More".

In January 2012, he starred in the first series of Endeavour, the prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse, playing the gruff but kind-hearted Detective Inspector Fred Thursday, young Endeavour Morse's mentor in 1960s Oxford. By 2018 Allam had portrayed his central character in five additional well-received series, which are also aired in America as part of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery! series. In March 2019, the show's sixth season had concluded on ITV, was scheduled for broadcast in the summer in the United States, and had been recommissioned for a seventh season to be set in 1970.

In April 2012 he also starred as Vanya in the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov at the Chichester Festival Theatre; in 2020 he returned to the play in the role of Serebrayakov in a filmed version of a production, replacing Ciaran Hinds from the stage version. In 2013 he played the role of Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London alongside Colin Morgan as Ariel and Academy-Award winner Jessie Buckley as Miranda. Allam presented Michael Frayn at the 2013 Olivier Awards with a Special Lifetime Award which was aired by ITV1. Allam has also reteamed with Stephen Frears in Tamara Drewe, the film version of Posy Simmond's popular comic strip. He plays the crime novelist Nicholas Hardiment, who is bewitched by London journalist Tamara Drewe, played by Gemma Arterton. In the closing chapter of his Timebends autobiography (1987) Arthur Miller writes of Allam: "To play Adrian....in the 1986 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Archbishop's Ceiling, Roger Allam gave up the leading role as Javert in the monster hit Les Misérables because he had done it over sixty times and thought my play more challenging for him at that moment of his career. Nor did he consider his decision a particularly courageous one. This is part of what a theatre culture means and it is something few New York actors would have the sense of security even to dream of doing."

Allam narrated the Channel 4 series The Auction House.

In October and November 2016 Allam appeared as Brigadier Adrian Stone in the BBC series The Missing.

Since January 2020, Allam has co-starred with Joanna Lumley in the BBC Radio 4 comedy drama series Conversations from a Long Marriage. As of May 2025, the show is in its sixth series.

In March 2022, Allam debuted in the lead role of Antoine Verlaque in Murder in Provence, a BritBox cosy crime drama based on the Verlaque & Bonnet detective novels by ML Longworth, alongside Nancy Carroll as his romantic partner Marine Bonnet.

Allam voices the demon Azazel in the 2022 Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.

In 2026 Alam co-starred as Sir Alan Brabazon, the Chief of MI6, in the espionage thriller Secret Service, a television serialisation in 5 episodes of a novel of the same name by Tom Bradby. The series premiered on 27 April 2026 on ITV1 and ITVX.

Personal life Allam is married to actress Rebecca Saire, with whom he has two sons, William, an actor, and Thomas. Rebecca and William appeared together as mother and son in the Endeavour episode Raga (series 7, episode 2, broadcast February 2020).

Allam identifies as politically left, and has publicly castigated Donald Trump.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1989 Wilt Dave 2002 Stranded Thomas Blunt 2005 A Cock and Bull Story Adrian 2006 V for Vendetta Lewis Prothero The Wind That Shakes the Barley Sir John Hamilton The Queen Robin Janvrin 2008 Speed Racer E.P. Arnold Royalton Inkheart Narrator Voice 2010 Tamara Drewe Nicholas Hardiment 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Henry Pelham The Iron Lady Gordon Reece 2012 The Woman in Black Mr. Bentley The Angels' Share Thaddeus 2013 The Book Thief Narrator/Death Voice 2015 Mr. Holmes Dr. Barrie A Royal Night Out Stan The Lady in the Van Rufus 2016 The Truth Commissioner Henry Stanfield 2017 The Hippopotamus Ted Wallace 2020 Say Your PrayersProfessor Huxley 2023 Tetris Robert Maxwell 2025 The Choral Bernard Duxbury Steve Sir Hugh Montague Powell TBA Frank Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1989 Ending Up Dr. Mainwaring TV film The Fairy Queen Oberon 1990 The Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing Charles Tremayne 1992 Shakespeare: The Animated Tales Duke Orsino/Narrator VoiceTV mini-seriesEpisodes: "The Winter's Tale" & "Twelfth Night" 1994 Screen Two Stephen Summerchild TV seriesEpisode: "A Landing on the Sun" 1997 Inspector Morse Denis Cornford TV seriesEpisode: "Death Is Now My Neighbour" The Bill Ralph Marchbank TV seriesEpisode: "Hitting the Nerve" 1998 Heartbeat Graham Hayes TV seriesEpisode: "Echoes of the Past" Midsomer Murders Alan Hollingsworth TV seriesEpisode: "Faithful unto Death" 1998–2000 The Creatives Charlie Baxter TV series 1999 RKO 281 Walt Disney TV film 2002 Foyle's War Alastair Graeme TV seriesEpisode: "Eagle Day" Waking the Dead Benjamin Gold TV seriesEpisode: "Thin Air" 2003 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone Christopher TV film 2005 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Simon Featherstonehaugh TV seriesEpisode: "The Seed of Cunning" 2005–present Muffin the Mule Narrator Audiobooks only 2006 Spooks Paul Millington TV series 2007–2012 The Thick of It Peter Mannion TV series 2008 The Curse of Steptoe Tom Sloane TV film 2009 The Old Guys Ned TV seriesEpisode: "The Therapist" Margaret John Wakeham TV film Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire General Arcadius TV series Ashes to Ashes DSI Mackintosh 2011 Game of Thrones Magister Illyrio Mopatis TV series; Episodes: "Winter is Coming" & "The Wolf and the Lion" The Jury John Mallory, QCTV serial; Series 2 2012 Parade's End General Campion TV series 2012–2023 Endeavour DI Fred Thursday 2013 The Politician's Husband Marcus Brock 2013–2016 Sarah & Duck Narrator 2014 Bad Education Maurice Hewston 2016 The Missing Adrian Stone Ethel & Ernest Middle Aged Doctor VoiceTV film 2020 The Station: Trouble on the Tracks Narrator Documentary Uncle Vanya Serebryakov A TV film initially released in cinemas of the play performed at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London to an empty theatre due to Covid restrictions.2022 Murder in Provence Investigating Judge Antoine Verlaque TV series The Sandman Azazel TV series TBA Berlin Noir Ernst Gennat Upcoming series

Theatre Source:

Radio Year Title Role Notes 1992 Les Liaisons Dangereuses Valmont BBC Radio 4 adaptation 1992 The King's General Sir Richard Grenvile. BBC Radio 4 adaptation 1997 The Man in the Elephant Mask Joseph Merrick. BBC Radio 4 two-parter 2008 The Ring and the Book Guido Franceschini BBC Radio 4 adaptation 2008 Will Smith's Midlife Crisis Management Will's godfather, Peter BBC Radio 4 series 2008–2014 Cabin Pressure First Officer Douglas Richardson. Four series on BBC Radio 4, and two specials 2010 Mark Lawson – What do you know? DCI Parsons BBC Radio 4 drama 2010–present How Does That Make You Feel? Richard Fallon MP Ten series, BBC Radio 4 comedy 2011 The Magnificent Andrea Barry BBC Radio 4 comedy drama 2012 Blithe Spirit Charles BBC Radio 4 comedy 2014 Edmund Gosse – Father and Son Philip Henry Gosse BBC Radio 4 drama 2014–2015 War and Peace General Mikhail Kutuzov BBC Radio 4 adaptation, episode aired on New Years Day 2015 2018–present Conversations from a Long Marriage Roger BBC Radio 4 comedy

Audiobooks Allam has narrated several audiobooks, including Solar by Ian McEwan and An Introduction to Buddhism by the Dalai Lama.

He provided the narration for the 2005 recording of Weber's opera Oberon on the Philips label conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.