Philip Martin Brown

Philip Martin Brown (born 9 July 1956) is an English actor, born in Manchester, Lancashire. He is best known for his role as the grumpy Head of English, Grantly Budgen, in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road for 160 episodes, from 2006 to 2013, and as Steve McDonald's (Simon Gregson) Therapist in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, in 2015.

Philip Martin Brown
Born	9 July 1956 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Notable credit(s)	Wing and a Prayer (1997–1998) City Central (1998–2000) Casualty (2002–2003) Coronation Street (2005, 2015) Waterloo Road (2006–2013) Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) The Worst Witch (2017–2019)
Spouse(s)	Pip Brown
Children	2

Early career

Philip Martin Brown first appeared on UK television screens playing the role of Sam Potter in A Horseman Riding By (1978).[1]

Recent career

Brown appeared in 160 episodes of the BBC One school-based drama series, Waterloo Road, over nine series from 2006 to 2013 and was the longest serving cast member, portraying the role of Head of the English department, Grantly Budgen.[2] He has also worked on The Professionals, Cutting It and The Bill, where he appeared in ten episodes as Seth Mercer, and has made appearances in many other British dramas, including Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, New Tricks and Doctors. His most prominent role in a drama before Waterloo Road was Eddie Vincent in Casualty, where he appeared in 17 episodes between 2002 and 2003. He also played John Adams in the film The Bounty and appeared in Sharpes Justice in 1995. He played a detective in series 1 episode 2 of the ITV drama Rosemary & Thyme. He also appeared in a Skins Online episode in 2012 as a drug dealer. Brown left Waterloo Road during the autumn term of Series 9.[3] He appeared briefly in the 1999 film Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp. In January 2015, he appeared in Coronation Street as Steve McDonald's (Simon Gregson) therapist.

He appeared in the CBBC series The Worst Witch in 2017, playing the role of Rowan Webb.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Eye of the Needle	Billy Parkin
1983	Party Party	Tony
1984	The Bounty	Adams
1997	Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis	Inspector Furse
1999	Sleepy Hollow	Constable One
2001	Dream	Martin
2006	Irish Jam	Danny
2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Tufty Thesinger
2012	Tezz	Police Chief Alan
	Strawberry Fields	Bob
2017	Darkest Hour	Sawyers
2018	Peterloo	Angry Citizen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	A Horseman Riding By	Sam Potter	Series regular, 7 episodes
1979	Crown Court	Bernard Caplan	Episode: "Boys Will Be Boys"
1980	Enemy at the Door	Private Hoskins	Episode: "The Raid"
	Bull Week	Eddie Kowal	TV mini-series; all 6 episodes
	Him and His Magic	Stanley	Television short
1981	BBC2 Playhouse	Miles	Episode: "A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter"
	Chronicle	Lt. Beattie	Episode: "The Crime of Captain Colhurst"
	Keep It in the Family	Mr. Wilkins	Episode: "The Inferior Decorator"
1982	Juliet Bravo	Billy Read	Episode: "Betrayals"
1983	The Professionals	Cook	Episode: "No Stone"
	Jemima Shore Investigates	Clive Gartrell	Episode: "A Model Murder"
1986	Bluebell	Sam Smith	Episode #1.1
	The Monocled Mutineer	Turner	Episode: "A Dead Man On Leave"
1987	Indelible Evidence	Andrew Boulden	Episode: "Process Of Elimination"
	Floodtide	Special Branch Man	Episode: "One: The Call"
	1914 All Out	Jack Fairbrother	Television film
	A Perfect Spy	Kaufmann	TV mini-series; episode #1.3
1988	Coming Through	David	Television film
	All Creatures Great and Small	Jack Scott	2 episodes
1989	The Paradise Club	Peter Noonan	5 episodes
1990	Chain	Jobelin	Episode: "Miss. Brinkwell"
	Die Kinder	Norris	Episode: "Direct Action"
1991	EastEnders	Sergeant Jimmy Buckwell	Episode #644
	The Sharp End	Andy Barras	TV mini-series; all 8 episodes
1992	El C.I.D.	Keith Smith	Episode: "The Lone Stranger"
	Medics	Charles Davies	Episode #2.3
	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Guard	Episode: "Germany, Mid-August 1916"
	Boon	Maurice	Episode: "Love Or Money"
	Birds of a Feather	M.C.	Episode: "Okey-Cokey-Karaoke"
1993	Minder	Pike	Episode: "No Way to Treat a Daley"
	The Bill	Senior Prison Officer	Episode: "Insider Dealing"
	Heartbeat	Jack Scarman	Episode: "Dead Ringer"
	Between the Lines	Mick Furness	Episode: "Manoeuvre 11"
1994	Peak Practice	Colin Meadows	Episode: "In Good Faith"
	Murder Most Horrid	Psycho	Episode: "Smashing Bird"
	The Lifeboat	Colin Hicks	Episode: "The Birdman"
1995	The Bill	Jack Spellman	Episode: "Life's a Bitch"
	Band of Gold	Mr. Moore	3 episodes
	Men of the World	John	Episode: "Happy Birthday Kendle"
	Coogan's Run	PC Ted Cromwell	2 episodes
1996	Pie in the Sky	Chief Inspector Kendon	Episode: "Devils on Horseback"
1997	The Bill	Ray Kingsley	Episode: "No Claims Bonus"
	Sharpe's Justice	Saunders	Television film
	Screen One	Cook	Episode: "Hostile Waters"
1997–1998	Wing and a Prayer	John Daley	Series regular, 14 episodes
1998	Hetty Wainthropp Investigates	Philip Hoskins	Episode: "Digging for Dirt"
1998–2000	City Central	Sgt. Paul Dobson	Series regular, 29 episodes
1999	Playing the Field	Bus Inspector	2 episodes
	The Bill	Jack Thompson	Episode: "Taxed"
2001	Where the Heart Is	Bob Young	Episode: "Sanctuary"
2002	Cutting It	Smedley	Series regular, 5 episodes
	The Bill	Colin Greenstead	Episode: "Playing Runaway"
2002–2003	Casualty	Eddie Vincent	Series regular, 17 episodes
2003	Rosemary & Thyme	D.I. Trelawney	Episode: "Arabica and the Early Spider"
	Blue Dove	Andy Brennan	TV mini-series
2004	Murder in Suburbia	Tim Gregson	Episode: "Sanctuary"
	New Tricks	Rick Brewer	Episode: "Home Truths"
	Murphy's Law	John Franklin	Episode: "Convent"
	Foyle's War	Andrew Neame	Episode: "They Fought in the Fields"
	Midsomer Murders	John Whittle	Episode: "Things That Go Bump in the Night"
2005	Doctors	Pat Bolton	Episode: "Little Lies"
	Down to Earth	Trevor	Episode: "Broken Dreams"
	The Royal	Thomas Copley	Episode: "Say a Little Prayer"
	Coronation Street	D.I. Pinnock	Recurring role, 8 episodes
2005–2006	The Bill	Seth Mercer	6 episodes
2006–2013	Waterloo Road	Grantly Budgen	Longest serving cast member; series regular, 160 episodes (series 1–9, archive footage, series 10)
2006	A Harlot's Progress	Gaoler	Television film
2007	Heartbeat	Frank Jackson	Episode: "Out of Africa"
2008	Midsomer Murders	George Barkham	Episode: "Days of Misrule"
	Doctors	Harry Denver	Episode: "Stranger on a Bridge"
2011		Eric Aspinall	Episode: "Men and Motors"
2013	Death Comes to Pemberley	Mr. Bidwell	TV mini-series; all 3 episodes
	Doctors	Keith Rooney	Episode: "Santa Ranter"
2014	Endeavour	Bernard Yelland	Episode: "Trove"
2015	Coronation Street	Therapist	2 episodes
	Vera	Stan Convile	Episode: "Old Wounds"
2016	Suspects	Ed Goddard	Episode: "The Enemy Within: Part 5"
	Doctors	'Grandie' Eddie Coulter	Episode: "Heartstrings"
2017–2019	The Worst Witch	Mr Algernon Rowan Webb	Series regular, 33 episodes
2018	Holby City	Richard Nash	Episode: "Belonging"
	Detroiters	Uncredited	Episode: "Lois"
2019	Doctors	Greg Milne	Episode: "The Getaway"
2020	Flack	Terry	Episode: "Brand Barron"

Personal life and awards

He attended Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School for Boys where his favourite subject was English. At the end of his fifth year, Brown was asked to leave the school, later stating that he was a "dreadful troublemaker".[5] He lives in Paddock Wood, Kent, with his wife. They have two children.

In 2010, Brown was nominated for the Best Actor prize in the 2010 TV Choice Awards, and won it three years in a row.[6]

He is an ex-epileptic and had to leave the stage until he underwent brain surgery which has left him seizure-free for 22 years.[7]

Brown was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 19 and is now an ambassador for the charity Young Epilepsy.[8]

References

1. "A Horseman Riding By (TV Series 1978)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
2. "Waterloo Road (TV Series 2006)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
4. Daly, Emma (3 August 2016). "Amanda Holden joins cast of The Worst Witch". Radio Times.
5. "Press Office – Waterloo Road: Philip Martin Brown plays Grantly Budgen". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
6. Frankham, Oliver (28 May 2010). "Actor nominated for top magazine award". Kent and Sussex Courier (Paddock Wood edition). p. 3.
7. Kilkelly, Daniel (26 March 2012). "'Waterloo Road' star Philip Martin Brown recalls epilepsy struggle". Digital Spy.
8. Young Epilepsy website

External links

• Philip Martin Brown at IMDb