Kris Marshall

Kristopher Marshall (born 11 April 1973) is an English actor, starring in films, television and on stage for more than 20 years. He has played Nick Harper in My Family, Colin Frissell in the 2003 film Love Actually, Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, and Dave in the first series of Citizen Khan (2012). He played DI Humphrey Goodman in Death in Paradise, taking over the role in April 2013 for the show's third series and leaving it in February 2017 in the sixth series.[1][2]

Kris Marshall
Marshall in January 2012
Born	Kristopher Marshall (1973-04-11) 11 April 1973 Bath, Somerset, England
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Hannah Dodkins ( m. 2012)
Children	2

Early life

Kristopher Marshall was born on 11 April 1973[3] in Bath, Somerset. His father was a Royal Air Force navigator, whose career included a posting to the Queen's Flight, eventually becoming a squadron leader.[4][5] He moved with his family to Hong Kong and later to Canada. Upon his return to England, he was educated at Wells Cathedral School as a boarding pupil. After failing his initial A-levels in his first year of sixth form, he enrolled at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire.[5]

Career

Marshall made an early career appearance on the police series The Bill but it was in 2000 that his major breakthrough role came as Nick Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family. In 2003, he appeared in the film Love Actually as Colin Frissell, an Englishman who goes to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States to find love.[6] In 2004, Marshall appeared as DS Luke Stone in the police drama series Murder City. From 2005 to 2011, Marshall appeared on TV and in print for BT Retail adverts, where he played the character Adam; with Esther Hall portraying his character's eventual wife Jane.[7] He also played The Ginger Dave in the BBC comedy series Citizen Khan in 2012 but left after season 1.

Since departing his full-time role in My Family in 2003, Marshall made guest appearances three times appearing in 2 episodes of season five in 2004 and his final appearance in a short Comic Relief special in 2005. He finished working on the film Heist at the end of 2006, which aired in April 2008 on BBC Four. During the summer of 2008, Marshall appeared at Trafalgar Studios in the first UK run of Neil LaBute's play Fat Pig. He became a regular castmember, playing the character of Ethan on the series Traffic Light in 2011.

In April 2013, it was announced that Marshall would be joining the cast of BBC drama Death In Paradise as the island's new lead detective, DI Humphrey Goodman.[1] His character was introduced in the first episode of the third series which aired in 2014, with his first case being to solve the murder of his predecessor, DI Richard Poole (played by Ben Miller).[8] In January 2017 it was leaked that Marshall would be leaving the series citing the pressures it placed upon his family and that he would be replaced by Ardal O'Hanlon who plays DI Jack Mooney.[9]

Marshall starred as Tom Sanger in the 2015 independent British romantic comedy Sparks & Embers.[10] He also appeared in the film Death at a Funeral as a student of pharmaceuticals who inadvertently drugged a member of the family.

In July 2017, Marshall became a favourite to take over the role of The Doctor from Peter Capaldi in the BBC's long running hit sci-fi series Doctor Who, but the role ultimately went to Jodie Whittaker who became the first female actress to portray The Doctor, a pre-appointment condition originated by Chris Chibnall of his becoming the show's showrunner.[11]

Filmography

Film, television, and radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Closing Numbers	Fredericks
1998	Trial & Retribution II	PC Henshaw
1999	The Most Fertile Man in Ireland	Éamonn
1999	Five Seconds to Spare	Martin
1999	The Bill	Hugh Kane	1 episode
2000	Dead Babies
2000–2005	My Family	Nick Harper	45 episodes
2001	Je t'aime John Wayne	Belmondo
2002	Iris	Doctor Gudgeon
2002	Mexicano	Jake Morton
2002	Doctor Zhivago	Pasha Antipov
2002	The Four Feathers	Castleton
2002	Deathwatch	Private Barry Starinski
2003	Love Actually	Colin Frissell
2004	The Merchant of Venice	Gratiano
2004	My Life In Film	Art	6 episodes
2004–2006	Murder City	DS Luke Stone	10 episodes
2005	Funland	Dudley Sutton	11 episodes
2007	Death at a Funeral	Troy
2007	Catwalk Dogs	Michael Purvis
2007	Sold	Matt
2008	Heist	Dick Puddlecote
2008	Easy Virtue	Furber
2008	Spending My Inheritance	Harry	Radio drama
2010	Human Target	Doug	1 episode
2010	D.O.A.	Tom Lassiter
2011	Traffic Light	Ethan
2011	Oka! Amerikee	Larry[12]
2011	A Few Best Men	Tom
2011–2013	The Diary of Samuel Pepys	Samuel Pepys	Radio drama
2012	15 Kids and Counting	n/a	Narrator
2012	Citizen Khan	Dave	6 episodes
2013	16 Kids and Counting	n/a	Narrator
2013	Derek	Himself	Cameo
2013	Lightfields	Paul
2014–2017	Death in Paradise	DI Humphrey Goodman	30 episodes[13]
2015	Sparks & Embers	Tom Sanger
2016	Ambulance	Narrator	1 Series, 3 episodes
2017	A Few Less Men	Tom
2017	Borderline	Baron of Sandwich
2018	Royal Affairs	Ambassador	Short film
2019	Better Things	Tibor	2 episodes
2019	Sanditon	Tom Parker	8 episodes
2019	Trick or Treat	n/a

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
2006	The Hypochondriac	Cleante
2006	The Revenger's Tragedy	Vindici
2007	Treats	Dave
2008	Fat Pig	Carter
2017	Ugly Lies the Bone	Kelvin
2017	Glengarry Glen Ross	John Williamson

Music video

• Chicane No More I Sleep

Awards

• 2002 – British Comedy Awards – Best Newcomer

Personal life

Marshall married Hannah Dodkins in 2012. They have lived in Bath with their son, Thomas and daughter, Elsie since 2014.[14] Previously they had lived in the Long Barton area of Wells.[4]

Marshall was hit by a car in Bristol in 2008.[15] The accident happened in the early hours of 28 April as he enjoyed a night out with friends in Bristol city centre. He was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary, where a scan revealed head injuries.[16] He made a full recovery and began his performances in the play Fat Pig three weeks later as scheduled.[17] Marshall passionately supports Aston Villa F.C. and has said that a card from the club helped him through his recovery.[18]

In October 2011, Marshall was charged with failing to provide a breath test after police stopped his car in the Tesco car park in Wells.[19] Marshall had failed a breath test at the scene, and then refused to provide a second sample at the police station.[20] He pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for six months.

Controversy

In June 2020 Marshall sparked outrage following an interview on Good Morning Britain in which he said he decided to leave the BBC series Death in Paradise because he believed his son was “becoming too Caribbean”. Referring to life in Guadeloupe where the show is filmed, Marshall told viewers: "He was becoming a bit too Caribbean, he refused to wear shoes and would only drink coconut water and only eat pineapple. He was very good on the beach, but not so good with maths and English, so I decided it was time to get him back into school – so the show had to go, really.” Viewers took to social media to denounce him for racism. His remarks came at the height of Black Lives Matter protests across America and globally, following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. [21][22]

References

1. "BBC - Kris Marshall joins BBC One's Death In Paradise - Media Centre". bbc.co.uk.
2. "BBC One Sets Premiere Date For 'Death In Paradise' Season 3 - TVWise". TVWise.
3. "Kris Marshall - Biography". Talk Talk Group. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
4. Lockyer, Daphne (28 December 2014). "Whatever happened to Kris Marshall?". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
5. Hemelryk, Simon. "Kris Marshall "I Remember"". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
6. "Kris Marshall". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
7. Tim Guest (16 January 2012). "Meet the new Flat 6 flatmates". BT. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
8. "Death In Paradise : Series 3, Episode 1". BBC One. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
9. White, Adam (3 February 2017). "'My wife had sleepless nights': Kris Marshall elaborates on Death in Paradise exit". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
10. "IMDb Sparks & Embers". IMDb.
11. Roz Laws (11 February 2017). "Aston Villa fan is new favourite to become next Doctor Who". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
12. "Okaamerikee.com". Okaamerikee.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
13. Munn, Patrick (9 April 2013). "Ben Miller Exits BBC One's 'Death In Paradise', Kris Marshall Cast As New Detective". TVWise. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
14. Mills, Richard (3 December 2019). "Love Actually star Kris Marshall officially unveils Yurt at Twerton Infant School in Bath". Somerset Live.
15. "Actor Marshall hurt in accident". BBC. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
16. Singh, Anita (28 April 2008). "Kris Marshall 'in stable condition' after accident". Daily Telegraph. London.
17. Smith, Neil (17 May 2008). "Star returns to stage after crash". BBC News Online. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
18. Mercury (11 October 2008). "Aston Villa helped save my life says BT commercial actor - Birmingham Mail". Sundaymercury.net. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
19. "My Family star breath test charge". BBC. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
20. "My Family actor Kris Marshall banned from driving". BBC News. 10 November 2011.
21. "Kris Marshall says he quit Death In Paradise because his son was 'becoming too Caribbean". Daily Mirror. 3 June 2020.
22. "Negative Racial Stereotyping". Evening Standard. 3 May 2020.

External links

• Kris Marshall on IMDb
• BBC Comedy profile