Tony Gardner
Known For
Acting
Born
1964-01-10 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, UK
Biography
Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor and doctor. He sits on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity. He attended St Augustine's Catholic College in Trowbridge. Gardner qualified as a physician at Guy's Hospital in 1987, then as a general practitioner in 1993. He combined medicine and comedy during the 1990s as half of the award-winning comedy duo Struck Off and Die with Phil Hammond. Gardner eventually left medicine to become an actor, starring in a number of TV commercials, including that for the Renault Mégane. He reached prominence playing Brian Johnson in CITV's My Parents Are Aliens (episodes of which he also wrote) and Michael, the café owner in Jack Dee's BBC sitcom Lead Balloon. In 2009–10 he starred in three plays directed by Sir Peter Hall. In 2011 he played Professor Tony Shales in the Channel 4 series Fresh Meat. Between 2012 and 2020, he played John in five series of the critically acclaimed romantic drama series Last Tango in Halifax. The programme attracted impressive ratings for BBC One, with the third series posting an average of 7.8 million viewers. Between 2013 and 2015, he appeared as Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Smith in three series of the wartime comedy Bluestone 42, about a British bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick. He appeared as Dan Miller MP in the BBC political comedy The Thick of It. He was a main character of the music video "Giant Peach" by Wolf Alice. He appeared in a variety of roles in Tracey Ullman's Show from 2016. He also appeared in an episode of the Netflix show, Lovesick, portraying Dylan’s father at surprise wedding anniversary party. In January 2021, Gardner appeared in S11E1 of Not Going Out as a neighbour to Lee and Lucy. He then appeared again in S12E4 in 2022.
Most Known For
Midsomer Murders
as Russell Grundy
Doctor Who
as Douglas
Death in Paradise
as Ian Matlock
Father Brown
as Monsignor Russo
Sister Boniface Mysteries
as Martin Hubbard
Not Going Out
as Stuart
The Thick of It
as Dan Miller
Lovejoy
as Jonathan
My Parents Are Aliens
as Brian Johnson
Cold Feet
Drop the Dead Donkey
Last Tango in Halifax
as John
The Escape Artist
as Trevor Harris
Lovesick
as Julian
Plebs
Lead Balloon
as Michael
M.I. High
The Larkins
as Alec Norman
Innocent
as Chief Supt. Hillman
