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Tony Pitts

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Tony Pitts
Born (1962-10-10) 10 October 1962 (age 62)
Sheffield, England
Occupation(s)Actor, screenwriter
Years active1981–present

Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap Emmerdale Farm between 1983 and 1993.[1]

Early life

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Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was working-class, his parents worked as a joiner and a midwife. Pitts originally intended to become a physician but ended up working as a car mechanic in his early career. He wrote a letter to the college to get out of college classes to become an actor. His family were livid at this. During his time at Stannington College, Sheffield Barry Hines paid a visit looking for extras for his upcoming drama Looks and Smiles. Pitts was cast and soon upgraded to a bigger role in the production. He decided to follow his ambition to become an actor in 1983.[citation needed]

Emmerdale

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In 1983, Pitts was landed in the role of loveable young rogue Archie Brooks in the British soap opera Emmerdale. Pitts was chosen for the role by Kevin Laffan, who watched Pitts portray the title character in a theatrical adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, and believed that Pitts' versatile acting ability and his strong Yorkshire accent, meant he was well suited for the role. The role was Pitts' very first role in a television series, and he first appeared on the show on 18 November 1983, and remained in the show for a total of ten years, involved in storylines that included his prison sentence in 1989 for setting fire to Seth Armstrong's property, becoming a suspect of whether or not he was the father of Elsa Feldmann's child in 1990, and his relationship with lesbian Zoe Tate in 1993.

In 1993, Pitts' character Archie was killed in the infamous Emmerdale plane crash. Pitts' last appearance on the show was on 30 December 1993.

Other work

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During his time away from Emmerdale, Pitts had notable guest appearances in shows including Casualty as Aidan Phillips in 1996, EastEnders as Cliff in 1996, The Bill as Chris Riley in 1999, The Royal as Alec Glazer in 2004 and Unforgiven in 2009 as Adam Boothroyd. Tony was the original choice for Terry Duckworth in Coronation Street, but Nigel Pivaro ended up playing the role instead. Pitts starred in Lilyhammer as Danny Croc Hammer, the brother of Duncan Hammer.

Pitts has appeared in the police drama Heartbeat on two occasions, the first time in 1998 as Carl Southall and the second time in 2005 as Brian Gilbert. In 2002, he appeared as DI Healey in the miniseries In Deep alongside Nick Berry and Stephen Tompkinson.

He is a screenwriter, as well as an actor.[2]

Pitts appeared in Scott & Bailey on ITV1/ITV1HD as Adrian Scott (the husband of Lesley Sharp's character, DC Janet Scott). He also had a small role in the 2012 film War Horse. In 2012 Pitts starred in the third episode of Dirk Gently as Robbie Glover. In 2012 he also appeared as the Chief Superintendent in the Sherlock episode "The Reichenbach Falls". In 2013 he appeared as Sergeant Moss in the BBC drama series Peaky Blinders. Pitts played Captain Patero in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016.[3] He also appeared as Detective Chief Superintendent Les Hargreaves in the 2014 second series of BBC's Line of Duty, made an appearance in the series finale of series four in 2017, and then appeared in series five in 2019. From 2017 he appeared in two seasons of the series Jamestown as Edgar Massinger. Pitts also appeared in Wild Bill on ITV in 2019.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1981 Looks and Smiles Alan Wright
2003 Johnny Vegas: Who's Ready For Ice Cream Paramount
2011 Powder Roger
2011 War Horse Sgt. Martin
2012 When the Lights Went Out Hilary Barnes
2014 Hyena Keith
2016 Triple 9 Major Crimes Detective
2016 Away Col
2016 Rogue One Captain Pterro
2017 Funny Cow Bob
2017 Journeyman Richie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1983–1993 Emmerdale Archie Brooks Series regular
1996 Casualty Aidan Phillips
1996 EastEnders Cliff
1998 Heartbeat Carl Southall
1999 The Bill Chris Riley
2002 In Deep DI Healey
2004 The Royal Alec Glazer
2005 Heartbeat Brian Gilbert
2009 Unforgiven Adam Boothroyd
2011–2013 Scott & Bailey Adrian Scott Series 1-3
2012 Dirk Gently Robbie Glover Episode 3
2012 Sherlock Chief Superintendent Episode: "The Reichenbach Falls"
2013-2017 Peaky Blinders Sergeant Moss
2014–2015 My Mad Fat Diary Chloe's Dad Series 2, 3
2014–2019 Line of Duty DCS Lester Hargreaves Series 2, 4, 5
2017–2018 Jamestown Edgar Massinger
2020 Roadkill Mick 'the Mouth' Murray
2020- All Creatures Great and Small (2020) Richard Alderson Recurring role

Writing/Directing Credits

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Year Title Company and Format Role Cast Nominations/Wins
2002 Night Class Radio 4

Comedy Series

6x30 mins episodes

Creator & Co-writer Johnny Vegas, Rebecca Front, Nicola Stephenson, Tony Pitts, Tony Burgess, Lyndsey Marshal, Gwyneth Powell, Christian Knowles
2003 Johnny Vegas: Who’s Ready For Ice Cream? Paramount Video Writer Johnny Vegas, Tony Pitts, Tony Burgess, Adrian Manfred

Director  - Stewart Lee

2005 18 Stone of Idiot Channel 4

6hrs Entertainment  

Writer

& Performer

Guest Include: Elvis Costello, Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Rhys Ifans, David Soul, Huey Morgan NOMINATED- Golden Rose of Montreal
2009 The Gemma Factor BBC

6x30min episode sitcom

Writer/Actor Gwyneth Powell, Angus Barnett, Philip McGinley, Ross Adams, Claire King, Tony Pitts
2012 Shedtown - Series 1[4] Radio 4

Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/Director Tony Pitts, Kevin Eldon, Johnny Vegas, Suranne Jones, Shaun Dooley, Ronni Ancona, Emma Fryer, Adrian Manfredi, Caron May Carly, Jessica Knappett, James Quinn, Warren Brown
2012 On It[5] Radio 4 Afternoon play Writer/Director Tony Pitts, Adam Gillen, Maxine Peake, Joanne Mitchell, Gwyneth Powell WON - BBC Best Audio Drama (Single Play) 2013

WON - Sony Gold at the Sony Awards 2012 (Best Radio Drama)

2013 Shedtown - Series 2 Radio 4  Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/Director Tony Pitts, Stephen Mangan, Ronni Ancona, Johnny Vegas, Emma Fryer, Adrian Manfredi, Rosina Carbone, Shaun Dooley, James Quinn, Warren Brown, Eleanor Samson, Maxine Peake
2013 Shedtown - Series 3 Radio 4

Comedy Series

6x35 mins

Writer/Director Stephen Mangan, Tony Pitts, Warren Brown, James Quinn, Shaun Keaveny, Rosina Carbone, Debra Stephenson, Seymour Mace, Emma Fryer, Neil Maskell, Juliet Oldfield, Maxine Peake
2014 Pact[6] Radio 4

Afternoon Play

Writer/Director Richard Hawley, Tony Pitts, Maxine Peake, Gwyneth Powell, Dominic Brunt, Polly Maberly WON - Bronze

BBC Audio Drama Awards 2014

2015 Monster[7] Radio 4

Afternoon Play

Writer/Director Neil Maskell, Sean Dooley, Richard Hawley Nominated - BBC Audio Awards 2016, Best Audio Drama, Single Play  
2018 Funny Cow Feature Film Writer/Producer/Actor Maxine Peake, Stephen Graham, Paddy Considine, Tony Pitts Nominated - BIFA Best Actress and Best Music 2018
2019 A Badge[8] Radio 4

Afternoon  Play

Writer/Director Katherine Kelly (actress), Corinne Bailey Rae, Warren Brown, Kate Hardie, Isaac Whitmore, Tony Pitts, Caleb Potter Williams Nominated - BBC Audio Awards 2020, Best Actress (Katherine Kelly)
2022 Curl Up And D.I[9] Podcast

6 episodes Scripted Comedy

Writer/Director Vic Reeves, Morgana Robinson, Mark Benton, Katherine Kelly (actress), Burn Gorman, Nancy Sorrell, Jennifer Saayeng
2022 Let Her Go[10] Short Film Writer/Director Katherine Kelly (actress), Lisa Allen, Gracie Kelly
2021-Current Three Little Words[11] Podcast, Biographical Creator &

Co-Presenter

With John Bishop and many special guests including Ian McKellen, Robbie Williams  
2024 Classic

(In development)

Feature Film Creator Writer/Director/Producer Sally Philips, David Morrissey, Leigh Francis, Robbie Williams, Mark Benton, Morgana Robinson, Burn Gorman

References

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  1. ^ Stuart Golland obituaryThe Independent, 9 October 2003
  2. ^ – "Diary: Wicked bad girl"Manchester Evening News, 16 June 2009
  3. ^ Tony Pitts at IMDb
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Shedtown - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  5. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, On It". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  6. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Pact". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Monster". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  8. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, A Badge". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  9. ^ Curl Up & D.I. (Comedy), Folding Pocket, 30 June 2022, retrieved 12 January 2024
  10. ^ Pitts, Tony (18 November 2022), Let Her Go (Short, Comedy), Lisa Allen, Gracie Kelly, Make Me Films, retrieved 12 January 2024
  11. ^ Three Little Words (Talk-Show), Amazon Music, Folding Pocket, Wondery, 14 December 2020, retrieved 12 January 2024
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