Acting
Geoffrey McGivern
Born 1952-01-01 · Battersea, London, England, UK
Geoffrey M. McGivern is a British actor in film, television, radio and stage, as well as a comedian. He is best known for originating the role of Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He played Ford Prefect in the radio series (1978–80) and subsequent LP releases of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams whom he knew from Cambridge University, and reprised the role for the four new series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2004 and 2018. A more recent radio broadcast was in The Ape That Got Lucky and he has appeared in TV shows such as Noel's House Party, Press Gang, Chef!, Big Train, Blackadder the Third ("Dish and Dishonesty") as Ivor Biggun, Chelmsford 123, Jonathan Creek, 15 Storeys High, Armstrong and Miller, Toast of London and series three of Peep Show. McGivern appeared in the first series of the comedy show Big Train in 1998, and later that year for the 1998 radio SciFi drama Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (Colin Swash, BBC) McGivern teamed up with old Hitchhiker's colleague Stephen Moore and Lorelei King (member of cast in the 2005 Hitchhiker's radio show sequel). He later played the Supreme Ruler in BBC2's sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive (2006–2007). In 2007, he appeared in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Peacefully in their Sleeps and in 2008 he appeared as Professor John Mycroft in the BBC2 science sitcom Lab Rats and in the 2008 BBC series Little Dorrit where he played Mr Rugg. He also appeared in episode 5 of series 3 of the TV series A Bit of Fry and Laurie. In 2015, he guest-starred in EastEnders as Dickie Ticker, the crude comic brought in by Mick Carter for Kush Kazemi's stag night. In 2016, he appeared in four episodes of the Disney Channel musical drama The Lodge, as Patrick. McGivern played the narrator Charlie Swinburne in the BBC Radio's 2013 six part dramatisation of G. K. Chesterton's The Club of Queer Trades. In 2017, he appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Back, written by Simon Blackwell, alongside David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Later that year, he began portraying the recurring role of Frank in the Netflix series Free Rein. Since 2019, he has appeared as recurring character Barclay Beg-Chetwynde in the BBC comedy Ghosts. In 2022, he appeared as the main character Russ, in Radio 4 comedy No-Platformed. The show's episode guide contains a humorous note about McGivern's extensive credit list, by starting a list of his credits and then adding "oh, hundreds of things". In 2024, he appeared as recurring character Lord Rookwood in the Apple TV+ series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.
Acting credits
6.1A virtuous and passionate girl falls in love with a cynical but a dashing aristocrat.
Onegin
1999
6.7Retired bachelor Mr Hoppy is hopelessly in love with his neighbour Mrs Silver, but she is only interested in her pet tortoise Alfie - until Mr Hoppy hatches an audacious plan.
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot
2015
5.7Experienced New York Police Detective John Harris is sent to London to help a local task force investigate a series of gangster killings organized by a new player in town, an American. With the help of a young teen wronged by gangsters, Harris navigates London's seedy, drug-fuelled underworld in order to take down its new criminal empire.
The Young Americans
1993
5.2Blackball follows the fortunes of Cliff Starkey, a working-class fine of lawn bowls with an exceptional talent. Wanting to take on the Aussies he manages to become regional champion, only to get banned. Sports agent Rich Schwartz picks him up and makes him so popular the Bowls Committee deem to lift the ban. Now the question is whether he can regain his form and his friends to beat the Aussies.
Blackball
2003
3.4An 11-year-old boy's amazing ability to break wind leads him first to fame and then to death row, before it helps him to fulfill his ambition of becoming an astronaut.
Thunderpants
2002
5.9A homicide detective goes undercover as a patient to investigate a psychotherapist he believes is linked to a strange double murder. As his therapy sessions continue the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur.
The Ghoul
2017
6.4Henry Wilt is a more or less failed teacher who fantasizes about murdering his dominant, non-attentive wife Eva. At a party who gets stuck in an inflatable doll and makes a complete fool of himself. Eventually, he dumps the doll in a hole at a building site. However, he has been witnessed getting rid of the doll and when his wife disappears on the night after the party, the police and Inspector Flint have strong suspicions on Mr Wilt.
Wilt
1989
3.9In 1971, rock star David Bowie travels to America for the first time to promote his third album, The Man Who Sold the World. There, he embarks on a coast-to-coast publicity tour. During this tour, Bowie creates his iconic Ziggy Stardust persona, inspired by artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
Stardust
2020
6.7A light hearted look at future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's rise from research chemist in 1949 to becoming MP for Finchley in 1959, encompassing her early relationship and marriage to oil millionaire Denis Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
2008
5.9A pair of rivaling stage magicians are forced to confront their falling out over a guillotine mishap when they compete in a magic competition.
Magicians
2007
6.3A fantastical re-imagining of the events of 1979, when Monty Python made Life of Brian and the debate about what is an acceptable subject for comedy was blown wide open.
Holy Flying Circus
2011
Lenny has some perplexing dreams.
In Dreams
1992
4.1Drama which tells the story of comedian Tony Hancock's love affair with his friend's wife, and her fight to save the man and his career.
Hancock & Joan
2008
Mr. Pye is a missionary whose mission to spread God's love on the tiny English Channel island of Sark faces supernatural setbacks in this comic fantasy from the author of Gormenghast.
Mr. Pye
1986
6.5A middle aged house-sitter meets two tearaways, and together they form a surrogate family
Half Broken Things
2007
8.0As Christmas celebrations get under way, Britain is rocked by a deadly new food scare - "mad turkey disease".
Gobble
1997
NRThe Smith and Jones 1988 Christmas Special
Alas Sage & Onion
1988
3.0In Claudia, Simon has met the perfect girl, but it becomes apparent that the relationship can only continue if he lets her treat him like a dog. Simon tries to solve the problem, but it backfires in a way he never could have imagined.
Here Boy
2016
from the Comedy Theatre, London featuring Sue Aldred Clive Anderson , Jon Canter Jane Ellison , Geoff McGivern Griffith Rhys Jones Martin Smith , Crispin Thomas Written by ADAMS- SMITH-ADAMS CLIVE ANDERSON , ROBERT BENTON JON CANTER , SIMON LEVENE GRIFFITH RHYS JONES and JIM SIEGELMAN
Cambridge University 1974 Footlights Revue
1974
NRAn intelligence agent spying on a nearby apartment building gets his observations terribly wrong.
Tower-D
2018