John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in Life on Mars, the Master in Doctor Who, and Det Supt Roy Grace in Grace. His other television credits include State of Play, The Lakes, Crime and Punishment, Exile, Prey, and Cracker. His film roles include Wonderland, Everyday, Boston Kickout, Human Traffic and 24 Hour Party People. He has twice been nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and has won the 2014 Royal Television Society award in the Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Male) category for his work on the crime thriller series Prey..

Early life

John Ronald Simm was born on 10 July 1970 in Leeds, the eldest of three children. In 2024, he discovered that the man he had always thought of as his father, Manchester musician Ronald Simm, was not his biological parent, and that it was a man called Terry Smith. From the age of 12, Simm sang and played guitar with Ronald on stage in working men's clubs. In 1986, he enrolled in a three-year performing arts course at Blackpool and The Fylde College in Blackpool. He starred in Guys and Dolls and West Side Story at Blackpool's Grand Theatre. After appearing in the next college musical, The Boyfriend, he decided that musical theatre did not interest him, and joined an amateur dramatic group, Fylde Coast Players, to hone his skills in his spare time, playing the titular roles in Billy Liar and Amadeus.

Career

In 1992, Simm made his professional acting debut playing the role of Joby Johnson in an episode of the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey. He appeared as a psycho in The Bill,

In 1995, Simm played the troubled teenager Bill Preece in ITV police drama Cracker. He also made his feature film debut in Boston Kickout, which won the Palmarés (Best) Feature Film award at the 11th Cinema Jove - Valencia International Film Festival 1996. In 1996, he made his professional stage debut in the Simon Bent play Goldhawk Road at the Bush Theatre, directed by Paul Miller. In 1997 - 1999, he played lead role of Danny Kavanagh in The Lakes, Simm played Ace in The Knight's Tale, one of a series of modern reworkings of The Canterbury Tales, the production is based on Martin Gayford's book, also titled The Yellow House. In the same year, Simm returned to the theatre as the title character in Paul Miller's acclaimed Bush Theatre staging of Simon Bent's version of Elling, a comedy about two men just out of a psychiatric hospital adjusting to normal life and to each other. Following positive press reviews and an extended, sell-out run, the production was transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in July 2007 and Simm was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance. He reprised the role in the 2009 two-part special, "The End of Time". In 2008, he played Edward Sexby in The Devil's Whore, a four-part English Civil War epic for Channel 4. He performed at the Royal Variety Performance with Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller, and starred in the film Skellig, in 2009.

In 2011, Simm starred in Mad Dogs on Sky 1. in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Crucible Theatre. From 2013 to 2014 he played the farmer John Middleton in The Village, a six-part BBC drama which portrayed life in a Derbyshire village during World War I. From May to August 2013, he returned to Trafalgar Studios in London's West End to star opposite Simon Russell Beale in a new production of Harold Pinter's The Hothouse, directed by Jamie Lloyd. He then completed work on the three-part thriller, Prey, in which he plays detective Marcus Farrow. The mini-series began airing on 28 April 2014 on ITV. The second series starred Philip Glenister in the leading role. Simm won the 2014 Royal Television Society award in the Best Performance in a Single Drama or Drama Series (Male) category for his portrayal of Marcus Farrow. In 2018, he starred as Dan Bowker opposite Adrian Lester in Mike Bartlett's Trauma on ITV.In 2019, he played the title role of Macbeth at the Chichester Festival Theatre. later that year it was announced he would be reprising his role as the Master again in Masterful, an audio drama from Big Finish Productions.

In 2020, Simm starred in the political drama series Cold Courage as right-wing politician Arthur Fried. In 2021 and 2022 he played the more sinister role of Gareth Horsborough in Irvine Welch's Crime. In 2021, Simm took on the title role of Det Supt Roy Grace in Grace,, which is now running in its sixth series. In 2024, Simm played Ebenezer Scrooge in Jack Thorne's adaptation of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, directed by Matthew Warchus and filmed the UKTV series I, Jack Wright where he played washed up music producer Gray Wright. The series was broadcast on U&Alibi in the UK in 2025, a second series has been commissioned.

Music

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Simm was a founding member, songwriter, and guitarist with the rock band Magic Alex; the band was named after "Magic Alex" Mardas, a Greek electronics engineer best known for his work with the Beatles. The group played support on two British tours with Echo & the Bunnymen.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 1995 || Boston Kickout || Phil ||

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1999 || Diana & Me || Neil ||

|-

| Human Traffic || Jip ||

|-

| Wonderland || Eddie ||

|-

| 2001 || Understanding Jane || Oz / Party Stonehead 2 ||

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2002 || 24 Hour Party People || Bernard Sumner ||

|-

| Miranda || Frank ||

|-

| 2004 || Ten Minute Movie || Nick || Short film

|-

| 2005 || Brothers of the Head || Boatman ||

|-

| 2006 || Devilwood || Gabriel || Short film

|-

| 2008 || Tu£sday || Silver ||

|-

| 2012 || Everyday || Ian Ferguson || Filmed in real-time over five years

|-

| 2020 || Joey || Joey || Short film

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 1992 || Rumpole of the Bailey || Joby Jonson || Series 7; Episode 4: "Rumpole and the Reform of Joby Jonson"

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1993 || Oasis || Posh Robert || 7 episodes

|-

| Heartbeat || Richard Francis || Series 2; Episode 9: "Wall of Silence"

|-

| The Bill || Paul Jeffries || Series 9; Episode 95: "Blind Spot"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1994 || A Pinch of Snuff || Clint Heppelwhite || Mini-series; Episodes 1–3

|-

| Screen One || Cecil || Series 6; Episode 5: "Meat"

|-

| 1994–1995 || Men of the World || Kendle Bains || Series 1–2; 12 episodes. Credited as Series 1 title song singer, together with David Threlfall

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1995 || Chiller || Gary Kingston || Episode 3: "Here Comes the Mirror Man"

|-

| Cracker || Bill Nash || Series 3; Episodes 4 & 5: "Best Boys: Parts 1 & 2"

|-

| 1997 || The Locksmith || Paul || Mini-series; Episodes 1, 3 & 4

|-

| 1997–1999 || The Lakes || Danny Kavanagh || Series 1 & 2; 14 episodes

|-

| rowspan="4" | 2000 || Forgive and Forget || Theo || Television film

|-

| Clocking Off || Stuart Leach || Series 1; Episode 1: "The Leaches' Story"

|-

| Meet Ricky Gervais || Himself || Episode 6

|-

| Never Never || John Parlour || Episodes 1 & 2

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2001 || Spaced || Stephen Edwards || Series 2; Episode 1: "Back"

|-

| Is Harry on the Boat? || Prize Winner || Television film. (Uncredited role)

|-

| rowspan="3" | 2002 || Magic Hour || Alex || Television film

|-

| Crime & Punishment || Raskolnikov || 2-part television film

|-

| White Teeth || Mr. Hero || Mini-series; Episode 1: "The Peculiar Second Marriage of Archie Jones"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2003 || State of Play || Cal McCaffrey || Mini-series; Episodes 1–6

|-

| The Canterbury Tales || Ace || Mini-series; Episode 3: "The Knight's Tale"

|-

| rowspan="3" | 2004 || The All Star Comedy Show || Mike || Television film. Pilot for Monkey Trousers

|-

| Imperium: Nero || Caligula || Television film

|-

| Sex Traffic || Daniel Appleton || Mini-series; Episodes 1 & 2

|-

| 2005 || Blue/Orange || Dr. Bruce Flaherty || Television film

|-

| 2006–2007 || Life on Mars || DI Sam Tyler || Series 1–2; 16 episodes<br />Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor

|}

Stage

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 1996 || Goldhawk Road || Colin || Bush Theatre

|-

| 2007 || Elling || Elling || Bush Theatre<br />Trafalgar Studios 1

|-

| 2009 || Speaking in Tongues || Leon || Duke of York's Theatre

|-

| 2010 || Hamlet || Hamlet || rowspan="2" | Crucible Theatre

|-

| 2012 || Betrayal || Jerry

|Audio book narration

|-

|2013

|Goodbye

|Nick

|BBC4 Radio Drama

|-

|2014

|Inspector Resnick – Cutting Edge

|Groves

|BBC4 Radio Drama, 3 episodes

|-

|2015

|Mrs Robinson, I Presume

|Mike Nichols

|BBC4 Radio Drama

|-

|2018

|Billy Liar

|Narrator

|Audio book narration

|-

|2021

|Masterful

|The Master

|Special release marking 50 years of the character of the Master

|}

Music videos

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Artist

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 2002 || Here to Stay || New Order || Bernard Sumner || Closing track from the film 24 Hour Party People

|-

| 2009 || So Low || Matt Berry || || Album: Witchazel

|-

| 2013 || Some Better Day || I Am Kloot || || Album: Let It All In

|-

| 2019 || God Has Taken a Vacation || The Leisure Society || || Album: Arrivals & Departures

|}

Discography

Album

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Artist

! Role

|-

| 2006 || Dated and Sexist || Magic Alex || Guitar and backing vocals

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Artist

! Role

|-

| 2003 || "Sliding" || Ian McCulloch || Guitar

|-

| 2015 || "Older" / "Outside" || Magic Alex || Guitar and backing vocals

|}

Awards and nominations

{| width="99%" class="wikitable"

|-

! width="10" | Year

! width="270" | Award

! width="350" | Category

! width="180" | Nominated work

! width="30" | Result

! width="10" |

|-

|2005

| 20th Gemini Awards

| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series

| Sex Traffic - Part 1

|

|

|-

| rowspan="3" | 2007

|Monte-Carlo Television Festival

| Golden Nymph - Outstanding Actor - Drama Series

| rowspan="3" |Life on Mars

|

|

|-

|2008

| Laurence Olivier Awards

| Best Actor in a Play

| Elling at Trafalgar Theatre

|

|

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2012

| 58th British Academy Television Awards

| BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actor

| rowspan="2" |Exile

|

|

|-

| Royal Television Society Awards

| Best Actor - Male

|

|