Sacha Dhawan

Sacha Dhawan (born 1 May 1984) is a British actor. He began his career in the ITV series Out of Sight (1997–1998), The Last Train, and Weirdsister College (2001–2002). He originated the role of Akthar in the play The History Boys (2004–2006) and reprised his role in its film adaptation (2006).

Dhawan has since played Paul Jatri in the BBC One comedy-drama Last Tango in Halifax (2012), Waris Hussein in the BBC Two docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time (2013), Davos in the Marvel series Iron Fist (2017–2018), Count Orlo in The Great (2020–2023) on Hulu, and The Master in the science fiction series Doctor Who (2020, 2022).

Early life and education Sacha Dhawan was born in 1984 in Bramhall, Stockport, to Indian parents from Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

Dhawan trained at the Laine-Johnson Theatre School in Manchester, and started acting at the age of twelve. He attended the Roman Catholic school Aquinas College in Stockport. He also appeared in 2008 ITV drama, Wired, as Ben Chandrakar, alongside Jodie Whittaker and Laurence Fox. He was part of an ensemble cast on the NBC sitcom Outsourced, which aired during the 2010–2011 season. In November 2013, Dhawan portrayed director Waris Hussein in An Adventure in Space and Time, a BBC Two biographical television film on the creation of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration. He also appeared as Paul Jatri, a 22-year-old man involved with a woman twice his age, in the first series of BBC One's Last Tango in Halifax. He plays the part of Davos in the Netflix series Iron Fist in both the seasons. He starred as Sathnam Sanghera in the critically acclaimed The Boy with the Topknot, shown on BBC 2 in 2017. He appeared in four episodes of the twelfth series of Doctor Who as the latest incarnation of the renegade Time Lord known as the Master, acting opposite Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. He reprised the role in the 2022 special The Power of the Doctor, Whittaker's last episode. From 2020 to 2023, he played the role of Count Orlo, advisor to Catherine the Great, in comedy-drama TV series The Great.

Dhawan was cast as the title character in the BBC crime drama Virdee, adapted from the novels by A A Dhand. He was later replaced in the role by Staz Nair.

Theatre Dhawan originated the role of Akthar in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys. After playing Akthar in the original stage production he reprised the role in the Broadway, Sydney, Wellington and Hong Kong productions, and radio and film versions of the play.

In July 2018, Dhawan reunited with History Boys playwright Alan Bennett and co-star Samuel Barnett for Bennett's new play Allelujah! at the Bridge Theatre.

Personal life , Dhawan was in a relationship with actress Anjli Mohindra. The couple became engaged during a trip to Machu Picchu in 2024. On 30 August 2025, they married in a Hindu ceremony in Tuscany.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2006 The History Boys Akthar 2010 Splintered Sam 2012 Girl Shaped Love Drug Him The Mystery of Edwin Drood Neville Landless Miniseries 2013 After Earth Hesper Pilot 2015 The Lady in the Van Doctor at Gloucester Crescent 2018 National Theatre Live: Allelujah! Dr. Valentine 2023 The Glassworker Vincent Oliver Voice

Television

Audio drama

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2010 Gray Matter Malik Voice 2012 Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes Durrig 2014 Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series Gryff Whitehill 2017 Mass Effect: Andromeda Additional voices Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 Steel Serpent 2018 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Prince Faris, additional voices Voice (English version)2024 Dragon Age: The Veilguard Elek Tavor

Radio and theatre

Year Title Role Notes 1998 Chocky Matthew Gore Radio play, BBC Radio 4 2001 East is East Sajid Live theatre, Haymarket Theatre, Leicester 2002 The Witches Boy Live theatre, Haymarket Theatre, Leicester2004–2006 The History Boys Akthar Live theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London Live theatre, Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway Live theatre, Sydney Theatre, Sydney Live theatre, St. James Theatre, Wellington Live theatre, Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong2007 The Prospect Hanif Radio play, BBC Radio 4Pretend You Have Big Buildings Danny Live theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Borstal Boy Live theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008 Pornography Live theatre, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 2009 England People Very Nice Norfolk Danny/Carlo/Aaron/Mushi Olivier Theatre, National Theatre 2018 Allelujah! by Alan Bennett Dr. Valentine Live theatre, Bridge Theatre 2022 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall by James Swallow Charlie Cole Radio drama, BBC Radio 4