Brendan Coyle

Acting

Brendan Coyle

Born

1963-12-02 (62)

Place of birth

Corby, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

Brendan Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is a British-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Brendan Coyle was born David Coyle in Corby, Northamptonshire, on 2 December 1962, the son of a Patrick B Coyle and Bedelia M B Anderson. He has an older brother named Shaun Due to his British birt…

Known for

Silent Witness poster
7.6

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

Silent Witness

1996

Downton Abbey poster
8.1

A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

Downton Abbey

2010

Shameless poster
7.6

The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.

Shameless

2004

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

Waking the Dead poster
7.2

A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.

Waking the Dead

2001

12 Monkeys poster
7.4

The provocative story of Cole, a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.

12 Monkeys

2015

Film credits

2020s · 3 titles

2010s · 8 titles

Me Before You poster
7.9

Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.

Me Before You

2016

Mary Queen of Scots poster
6.5

In 1561, Mary Stuart, widow of the King of France, returns to Scotland, reclaims her rightful throne and menaces the future of Queen Elizabeth I as ruler of England, because she has a legitimate claim to the English throne. Betrayals, rebellions, conspiracies and their own life choices imperil both Queens. They experience the bitter cost of power, until their tragic fate is finally fulfilled.

Mary Queen of Scots

2018

The Raven poster
6.3

A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

The Raven

2012

Downton Abbey poster
7.2

The beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that will leave the future of Downton hanging in the balance.

Downton Abbey

2019

Perrier's Bounty poster
5.8

A gangster named Perrier looks to exact his revenge on a trio of fugitives responsible for the accidental death of one of his cronies.

Perrier's Bounty

2010

Noble poster
6.4

Christina Noble overcomes the harsh difficulties of her childhood in Ireland to discover her destiny on the streets of Saigon. A true story.

Noble

2014

Unless poster
4.8

A writer struggles with her daughter's decision to drop out of college and live on the streets.

Unless

2016

A Merry Murdoch Christmas poster
7.6

While investigating the murder of a rich benefactor and the theft of children's presents at a Christmas charity pageant, Murdoch discovers suggestions that a Christmas monster, a Krampus, may be involved. A Merry Murdoch Christmas is the first stand-alone two hour Christmas special that aired on December 21, 2015 in Canada, and on December 20, 2015 in France.

A Merry Murdoch Christmas

2015

2000s · 11 titles

The Jacket poster
6.9

A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

The Jacket

2005

Conspiracy poster
7.3

At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.

Conspiracy

2001

Omagh poster
6.6

The movie starts at the 1998 bomb attack by the Real IRA at Omagh, Northern Ireland. The attack killed 31 people. Michael Gallagher one of the relatives of the victims starts an examination to bring the people responsible to court.

Omagh

2005

No artwork available
9.0

Expert IRA bomb-maker turned police informant Andrea Hayes retires and starts a new life after four school-children are killed by one of her bombs. Ten years later, her blissful home life shattered when her daughter, Katie, is abducted from her bedroom in the dead of night. Andrea later discovers a ransom note, instructing her to leave her husband Martin and fly to London by herself. It also states that if the police are contacted, she and Martin will never see Katie again. In the hope of being reunited with Katie, Andrea obeys orders and follows instructions to meet with the kidnappers. Back in Dublin, Martin is powerless to help and becomes frantic with worry when he learns from Andrea that no ransom demand has been made, and that the kidnappers' request is something much more dangerous.

The Bombmaker

2001

The Mark of Cain poster
5.2

After a bomb kills their company commander in Iraq, British soldiers Treacle and Shane are ordered to round up suspects and use torture on the detainees. Back home, the press gets the story and the pair achieves instant infamy.

The Mark of Cain

2007

Mapmaker poster
9.0

Hired to draw a map of tourist sites in a small Northern Ireland town, cartographer Richie Markey (Brian F. O'Byrne) uncovers a dark secret and realizes that his map may hold the key to the mysterious disappearance of another surveyor. The missing man had been accused of informing on two IRA soldiers, and when Markey discovers his body, it doesn't take long for him to draw the conclusion that he may be next on the group's list.

Mapmaker

2001

Wedding Belles poster
6.2

A darkly humorous look at the lives and loves of four modern women, each with their own remarkable, intriguing and often tragic stories.

Wedding Belles

2007

Damage poster
1.0

Set in affluent, contemporary, south-side Dublin, the Cahills appear to have the world at their feet. Dad Aidan, is a successful property tycoon, his wife Michelle, a successful estate agent and their fashion model daughter, Emma's 21st birthday party at the family home should be a night to remember. That night however, a rape at the party shatters their seemingly perfect lives. With the key suspect released on bail, and dark family secrets coming to the fore, Emma's life begins to free-fall. Slowly, having made radical changes to her life, Emma builds towards recovery - until a chance meeting with her rapist bolsters her conviction that she'll need to confront him in court before she can get on with her life.

Damage

2007

Perfect Parents poster
4.6

After a violent incident in Lucy's public school, her atheist parents Stuart and Alison decide to find her a safe 'traditional' school. The only one they can afford is St. Mary of the Veil, run by nuns whose 'preference' for Catholic families is de facto exclusivity, given the waiting list. So they pose as devout, and get his murky mate Eddie to find them a priest they can 'bribe' for a parish reference, while Lucy is genuinely converted. It works, but when Stuart overhears a dark secret things take a tragic turn.

Perfect Parents

2006

Offside poster
5.3

In the small Swedish town of Stensfors, the local football team faces dissolution unless it can win its remaining matches. Team member Kent recruits former 1980s Premier League star Duncan Miller to help, only to discover their hero is out of shape, alcoholic, and far from match-ready.

Offside

2006

Soundproof poster
3.2

About the relationship between Dean, a young deaf man who is accused of murdering his flatmate, and Penny, the sign language interpreter assigned to his case.

Soundproof

2006

1990s · 6 titles

Tomorrow Never Dies poster
6.4

A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium.

Tomorrow Never Dies

1997

The General poster
6.7

The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.

The General

1998

I Could Read the Sky poster
4.6

The film concerns an old Irish immigrant living in London who is looking back over his life. He recalls his early life in the west of Ireland, his first love, emigrating to England, searching for his brother Joe, who disappeared after he emigrated several years previously. His marriage and wife's later depth is also remembered.

I Could Read the Sky

1999

Fool's Gold: The Story Of The Brink's Mat Robbery poster
7.0

A dramatized speculation of what happened in November 1983 when Micky McAvoy and some of his mates planned a heist and were surprised when they discovered they'd stumbled across a large stash of gold. But getting the gold away without getting caught is only the beginning of their troubles. Realizing the riches the gold represents is difficult, and honor among thieves may only be a myth.

Fool's Gold: The Story Of The Brink's Mat Robbery

1992

The Last Bus Home poster
3.0

Though it is late in the punk rock movement, four Dublin youths get together in 1979 to form their own band. Accurately recounting the energy and rawness of the era, this drama follows their tumultuous and ill-fated journey on the rocky road to success. It takes three long years of unpaid performing for Reena, her lover Jessop, bassist Joe and drummer Petie to make a name for The Dead Patriots. Just as they are about to find real success, internal difficulties arise that leave each of them suspicious and mistrustful of the other.

The Last Bus Home

1997

Soft Sand, Blue Sea poster
6.0

13 year-old David and nine year-old Danni live in a children's home, where despite the best of adult intentions, there is conflict and sudden tragedy. When the pair escape the home, they embark upon a daring adventure in search of the beach.

Soft Sand, Blue Sea

1998

Series credits

Silent Witness poster
7.6

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

Silent Witness

1996

Silent Witness poster
7.6

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

Silent Witness

1996

Downton Abbey poster
8.1

A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

Downton Abbey

2010

Shameless poster
7.6

The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.

Shameless

2004

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

Waking the Dead poster
7.2

A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.

Waking the Dead

2001

12 Monkeys poster
7.4

The provocative story of Cole, a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.

12 Monkeys

2015

Toxic Town poster
7.0

When dozens of babies in Corby are born with disabilities, their mothers embark on a battle to hold those responsible to account.

Toxic Town

2025

Prime Suspect poster
7.8

Highly skilled Detective Inspector Jane Tennison battles to prove herself in a male dominated world.

Prime Suspect

1991

Lark Rise to Candleford poster
8.4

Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance.

Lark Rise to Candleford

2008

North & South poster
8.1

Margaret Hale is a southerner from a country vicarage newly settled in the industrial northern town of Milton. In the shock of her move, she misjudges charismatic cotton mill-owner John Thornton, whose strength of purpose and passion are a match for her own pride and willfulness. When the workers of Milton call a strike, Margaret takes their side, and the two are brought into deeper conflict. As events spiral out of control, Margaret - to her surprise - begins to fall in love with Thornton...

North & South

2004

Blue Murder poster
6.7

Blue Murder is a British crime drama television series based in Manchester. Shown on ITV from 2003 until 2009 when it was cancelled by the network, it starred Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis.

Blue Murder

2003

Dangerfield poster
7.0

Dangerfield is a British drama series about a small town doctor / police surgeon, which ran for 6 series, between 1995 and 1999. Originally Nigel Le Vaillant played the central role, but this character later left the series, the focus switching to his replacement, played by Nigel Havers. The BBC decided to end the series in November 1999 when Nigel Havers announced his decision to quit. The BBC felt viewers would not find the series credible if the main character was changed for a second time. The show like a number of other BBC dramas of the 1980s and 1990s also featured a number of borderline fantasy episodes. These included "Tricks", "Angel" and "Haunted". The TV trailers for Dangerfield were heavily parodied by The Fast Show in which the character was called Monkfish and would appear as a tough uncompromising Doctor, Policeman, vet and even as an interior designer with titles mixed in with other BBC shows of the time.

Dangerfield

1995

Requiem poster
6.2

In 1994, a toddler disappeared from a small Welsh village, never to be seen again. 23 years later, in London, the mother of rising cello star Matilda Gray commits suicide, without apparent reason. Among her possessions, Matilda discovers tantalising evidence, linking her mother to the Welsh girl's disappearance all those years ago.

Requiem

2018

The Commander poster
6.4

Clare Blake, a high-ranking, ambitious officer in the Metropolitan Police's Serious Crimes Unit, leads complex murder investigations that often blur the line between her professional and personal lives.

The Commander

2003

Saving Lives at Sea poster
9.3

Documentary following the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Saving Lives at Sea

2016

Spotless poster
6.6

In London, the life of Jean, a troubled crime scene cleaner, is turned upside down when his outlaw brother Martin crash lands into his world, entangling them in the deadly dynamics of organized crime.

Spotless

2015

Rockface poster
NR

In the fictional Scottish Highlands town of Glenntannoch, Dr Gordon Urquhart leads a mountain rescue team, whose major missions and incidents are based on real life ones conducted by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue service.

Rockface

2002

Riches poster
5.8

Stephen Richards has built a cosmetics empire, but when he suffers a stroke, his family's secrets and lies rise to the surface and the future of his multi-million-pound company is at stake.

Riches

2022

Jericho poster
7.3

Jericho is an ITV British crime drama series which was transmitted in 2005. It was created and written by Stewart Harcourt and starred Robert Lindsay as Detective Inspector Michael Jericho, who is loved by the public but who is embarrassed by his status as a hero. The series was set in London in 1958.

Jericho

2005

Finders Keepers poster
5.8

Keen detectorist Martin and his wheeler dealer soon to be son-in-law Ashley who, while on a boys bonding trip in the idyllic fields of rural Somerset, discover a hoard of buried Saxon treasure worth millions.

Finders Keepers

2024

True Dare Kiss poster
7.0

True Dare Kiss is a British television drama produced for BBC One. It is written by Debbie Horsfield and produced by Marcus Wilson and features Dervla Kirwan, David Bradley and Lorraine Ashbourne. It concerns the reunion of four sisters and a brother following the death of their estranged father, uncovering the truth, hiding secrets, and a cataclysmic event in the past. The series, set in the city of Manchester in the North-West of England, was aired in six parts from 28 June 2007. Filming for the series began on 8 January 2007.

True Dare Kiss

2007

The Ghost Squad poster
5.8

The Ghost Squad was a 2005 British crime drama series produced by Company Pictures, for Channel 4. The show was created by Tom Grieves. Inspired by the real life "Ghost Squad" that existed between 1994 and 1998, secretly investigating police corruption, the premise of the series is that the squad continued to operate in secret after officially being shut down. It starred Elaine Cassidy as a police constable recruited into the squad and Jonas Armstrong as her handler. The show was cancelled after a single seven episode series.

The Ghost Squad

2005

Starlings poster
7.0

Starlings is a British comedy-drama written by Steve Edge and Matt King who also play the roles of Fergie and Uncle Loz. It is one of the few new television comedy series that has been commissioned and aired on Sky1.

Starlings

2012

Rebel Heart poster
7.3

The move towards independence in Ireland, from the 1916 Easter Rising until the 1922 civil war is seen through the eyes of a naive idealistic young man

Rebel Heart

2001

The Glass Virgin poster
7.5

In 19th century England, wealthy young Annabella Lagrange lives a comfortable and secluded life on her family's country estate, where her parents own a glass works. As a child, she develops a special friendship with the charming stable boy Manuel Mendoza. When she turns 18, she marries her cousin Stephen and sees what the world is really like.

The Glass Virgin

1995

No artwork available
NR

Short plays by male writers new to television drama.

He-Play

1990

No artwork available
NR

Police Sergeant Laura Collier, who – alongside new recruit Cal become ensnared in a meticulously crafted bank heist.

Code Zero

—

Paths to Freedom poster
7.5

Paths to Freedom was a popular comedy on the Irish television network RTÉ Two. The shows stars two characters, Jeremy and Rats, who have both recently been released from a Dublin prison. The show takes the format of a mockumentary, with a fly-on-the-wall camera crew following the two characters, who are from thoroughly different backgrounds, as they try to reintegrate back into society. There were six episodes of the show produced, the first airing on November 1, 2000, and the final episode airing one month later. The series was followed-up by a movie based on the character Rats, Spin the Bottle. The show was written by Michael McElhatton, and directed by Ian Fitzgibbon.

Paths to Freedom

2000

McCready and Daughter poster
NR

Michael and Clare McCready are an estranged father and daughter who are reunited through their work as private investigators within an Irish community in Kilburn, London, after Clare drops out of university and fails to find another job.

McCready and Daughter

2001

No artwork available
NR

A divorced mother of two starts dating again after twenty years of marriage.

Single

2003