Christopher Ryan

For other people named Chris Ryan, see Chris Ryan (disambiguation).

Christopher Ryan
Born	25 January 1950 (1950-01-25) (age 61) Bayswater, London, England
Other names	Chris Ryan
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971 - present

Christopher Ryan (born 25 January 1950) is an English actor. Ryan is perhaps best known for his role as Mike "The Cool Person" in the BBC comedy series The Young Ones.

Early life

Ryan was born in Bayswater, London and trained at East 15 Acting School from 1968 to 1971. He began his professional acting career with Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in 1971.

Acting

Ryan was the only Young Ones cast member who was not already well-known in British comedy circles; he was a last-minute replacement for Peter Richardson, for whom the role of "straight man" Mike was originally intended along with The Comic Strip members Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Alexei Sayle.

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.^[1] Ryan 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 also a plumber in the episode "The Valley of Fear". He also appeared in Mr. Bean Goes Back To School, in two episodes of My Family, in Saxondale. Ryan also joined up again with Jennifer Saunders in 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: Mindwarp. 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,^[2] and in the 2010 episode "The Pandorica Opens", playing another Sontaran character, Commander Stark.

References

1. ^ From the programme to the production.
2. ^ "Doctor Who: Casting Update". BBC. 2 October 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/10/02/49473.shtml. Retrieved 2009-09-12. 

External links

• Christopher Ryan at the Internet Movie Database
• Christopher Ryan at BFI Film & TV Database

Persondata
Name	Ryan, Christopher
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 January 1950
Place of birth	Bayswater, London, England
Date of death
Place of death