# Richard Hope (actor)

Richard Hope (11 October 1953 in Kettering, England) is a British actor who gained recognition from Brideshead Revisited as the doltish junior officer, Hooper, under Jeremy Irons' charge. He is best known for playing Harris Pascoe in the UK TV drama Poldark. His theatre career includes portraying Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace at the Royal National Theatre and having starred as Levin in an adaptation of Anna Karenina by Helen Edmundson. In 2015, he played Hector in The History Boys. In 2018–2019, he starred in the West End production The Woman in Black as Arthur Kipps.

## Career

In 1978, Laurence Olivier gave Hope his first professional TV part in an episode of Laurence Olivier Presents named Saturday, Sunday, Monday by Eduardo De Filippo. Hope worked with Olivier again in 1981 when he appeared in the first and last episodes of Brideshead Revisited, in which he played Lieutenant Hooper.
Hope played Ford Prefect in the first stage production of Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Ken Campbell's The Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool. He also appeared in their 22-hour epic The Warp and The Third Policeman. Campbell introduced him to Jérôme Savary. Hope made his first West End appearance with his musical theater company Le Grand Magic Circus in 1001 Nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1980.
He was Bertozzo in the UK Tour of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1979) with Alfred Molina for The Belt and Braces Theatre Company directed by Gavin Richards ending at the Half Moon Theatre in London. Richards played Molina's part when it transferred six months later to the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.
In 1981, Peter Gill cast him in Don Juan and Much Ado About Nothing which started his long association with The National Theatre. In 1984, he joined the Richard Eyre / David Hare Company playing Bill Smiley in the premiere of Pravda with Anthony Hopkins before switching to the role of Eaton Sylvester in two extended revivals in the Olivier Theatre. This also included ensemble productions of The Government Inspector with Rik Mayall and Jim Broadbent and Tim McInnerny's Hamlet, in which he played Horatio. He met Simon McBurney at the National Theatre Studio, where Hope helped devise and develop The Visit and Street of Crocodiles for Théâtre de Complicité. 1988 saw The Visit production as part of the 'Théâtre de Complicité at the Almeida' season, before the theatre closed for refurbishment; the production was revised in collaboration with The National Theatre in the Lyttleton stage in 1991. The production was invited to Spoleto Festival USA .
Hope played Salto in Handmade Films' 1987 thriller Bellman and True, written and directed by Richard Loncraine, and Hull City A.F.C. fan Malcolm in Mark Herman's comedy See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh which won the Student Academy Award. In Piece of Cake directed by Ian Toynton he was ‘Skull' Skelton and he played Mortimer Tundish in both series of Debbie Horsfield's comedy-drama The Riff Raff Element, with Celia Imrie and Nicholas Farrell.
In 1996, he returned to the National Theatre as Pierre Bezukhov in the Shared Experience joint production of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, adapted by Helen Edmundson and directed by Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale. In 1998, he starred in another Tolstoy adaptation by Helen Edmundson, playing Levin in the Shared Experience production of Anna Karenina. Hope was associate director of this production which toured internationally, including runs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Lyric Theatre. Clive Barnes of the New York Post described it as ‘One of the true highlights of a lifetime of theatre-going'.
During 2000, under coach Geoff Thompson (author of Real Punching), Hope learned to wrestle for Jim Cartwright's Hard Fruit at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by James Macdonald. During a performance of Hard Fruit, Hope broke his wrist when he hit a punch post that was missing its padding; he continued the run of the show with an "authentic" bandaged hand. With Mark Rylance he was one of the six actors in Mike Alfreds' Cymbeline at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2001. In 2002, the Royal National Theatre staged Simon Bent's adaptation of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany with Aidan McArdle as the title character and Hope as John Wheelwright.
Hope has been in several police dramas: Superintendent Harold Spence in Agatha Christie's Poirot, Barry Purvis for two series of Murder Investigation Team and semi-regular Rod Jessop, the local headmaster, in The Bill.
His first role in a musical was as Max Kellerman in Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre in 2010, staying for eighteen months. He played Horst Ehmke in Paul Miller's revival in Sheffield of Michael Frayn's play Democracy, which transferred to London's Old Vic Theatre in 2012. This was the third Frayn play he had performed in, having toured the UK in Donkeys' Years and Noises Off.
Hope returned to the Almeida Theatre as Gabriel York in Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling in 2009 and in 2012 as Albany in King Lear with Jonathan Pryce. In 2014, he played Queen Elizabeth I in the UK premiere of Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando at the Royal Exchange with Suranne Jones, directed by Max Webster. In 2015, Hope played Hector in Kate Saxon's production of Alan Bennett's The History Boys in the Sell A Door Theatre Company UK Tour. From 2015 to 2016, Hope continued his long-standing collaboration with Helen Edmundson, playing Sidney Godolphin in the original Royal Shakespeare Company production of her original play Queen Anne, starring Natascha McElhone. In 2017 Queen Anne transferred to the Haymarket Theatre with Romola Garai.
He played recurring characters Malohkeh and Bleytal (Silurians) in Doctor Who, and has recorded several related audios with Big Finish, including Dr Who - Doom Coalition 3: "Absent Friends", which won the BBC Audio Drama Award 2017.
From May 2018 through March 2019, Richard played Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill adapted into a stage play by Stephen Mallatratt at the Fortune Theatre, London. Richard had already played Jerome in the 2004 BBC Radio 4 version directed by John Taylor as a Fiction Factory production.
In 2019, he returned as Harris Pascoe, Ross Poldark's banker and friend, for his fifth season of Poldark with screenplay by Debbie Horsfield. He previously worked with Horsfield on The Riff Raff Element. He also appeared in an episode of Casualty.
In 2024 Hope returned to Royal Court Theatre as Wally Saunders in Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, directed by Nick Hytner, with John Lithgow, Elliot Levey, Rachael Stirling, Romola Garai and Tessa Bonham Jones.

## Stage

| Year | Play | Role | Theatre |
| 1976 | Romeo and Juliet | Peter & Acting ASM | Shaw Theatre |
| 1977 | Henry IV, Part 1 | Gadshill / Sir Richard Vernon | Shaw Theatre |
| 1977 | Mother Courage | Young Soldier and Young Peasant | Birmingham Rep |
| 1977 | The Seed | Jerry | Birmingham Rep |
| 1978 | The Warp | Dr. Snarkle, Paul Crawford, Ed Gale and many others | ICA and Roundhouse / Ken Campbell's Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool |
| 1978 | The White Deer | Tocko | Unicorn Theatre |
| 1978 | The End Is Nigh | Jesus | New End Theatre / Ken Campbell |
| 1979 | Accidental Death of an Anarchist | Bertozzo | Belt and Braces Theatre Company / UK Tour |
| 1979 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Ford Prefect | ICA / Ken Campbell's Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool |
| 1980 | One Thousand and One Nights | Sultan, Emperor of the Desert, Baba Mustafa | Le Grand Magic Circus / Shaftesbury Theatre |
| 1980 | The Third Policeman | MacCruskeen | ICA / Ken Campbell's Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool |
| 1981 | Much Ado About Nothing | George Seattle | National Theatre |
| 1981 | Don Juan | Peter | National Theatre |
| 1981 | School for Clowns | Puff | Half Moon Theatre / Sylvester McCoy & Ken Campbell |
| 1982 | Candida | Lexy | National Theatre / British Council Tour of India |
| 1985 | Pravda | Bill Smiley (1985)/Eaton Sylvester (1986) | National Theatre |
| 1985 | The Government Inspector | The Postmaster | National Theatre |
| 1986 | Hamlet | Horatio | National Theatre |
| 1988 & 1991 | The Visit | The Mayor | Almeida Theatre/National Theatre / Complicité |
| 1990 | Don Gil of the Green Britches | Caramanchel | The Gate |
| 1991 | Street of Crocodiles | Father | National Theatre Studio/Complicité |
| 1991 | The Gentleman from Olmedo | Tello | The Gate |
| 1993–1998 | Anna Karenina | Levin / Associate Director | Shared Experience / UK & World Tours |
| 1994 | Betrayal | Jerry | West Yorkshire Playhouse |
| 1995 | The Park | Wolf | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1996 | War and Peace | Pierre | National Theatre/Shared Experience |
| 2000 | Hard Fruit | Sump | Royal Court Theatre |
| 2001 | Cymbeline | Cymbeline | Shakespeare's Globe Theatre |
| 2002 | A Prayer for Owen Meany | John Wheelwright | National Theatre |
| 2002 | Life After George | Duffy | Duchess Theatre |
| 2007 | Donkeys' Years | Norman Tate | Sonia Friedman Productions/UK Tour |
| 2008 | Noises Off | Freddie Fellowes | Ambassador Theatre Group / UK Tour |
| 2008 | The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other | The Wanderer + 25 other parts | National Theatre |
| 2009 | When the Rain Stops Falling | Gabriel York | Almeida Theatre |
| 2010–2011 | Dirty Dancing | Max Kellerman | Aldwych Theatre |
| 2011 | There Is a War | Field Commander Goodman | National Theatre |
| 2011 | The Swan | Russell | National Theatre |
| 2012 | Democracy | Horst Ehmke | Sheffield Theatres / transferred to The Old Vic |
| 2012 | King Lear | Duke of Albany | Almeida Theatre |
| 2014 | Orlando | Queen Elizabeth I | Royal Exchange, Manchester |
| 2015 | Shostakovich's Hamlet | Narrator and Performer | City of London Sinfonia |
| 2015 | The History Boys | Hector | Sell A Door Theatre Company/UK Tour |
| 2015–2017 | Queen Anne | Sidney Godolphin | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford and Haymarket Theatre London |
| 2018–2019 | The Woman in Black | Arthur Kipps | Fortune Theatre London |
| 2024 | Giant | Wally Saunders | Royal Court Theatre |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1980 | Breaking Glass | Audition musician | |
| 1980 | Bloody Kids | Policeman #2 | |
| 1981 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | Third Assistant Director | |
| 1984 | Scandalous | Young Detective | |
| 1984 | Singleton's Pluck (aka Laughterhouse) | Hubert | |
| 1985 | Plenty | Alistair | |
| 1987 | See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh | Malcolm (lead) | Director Mark Herman won Oscar for Best Short Film |
| 1987 | Bellman and True | Salto | |
| 1990 | Antonia and Jane | Norman Beer | |
| 1992 | Swords at Teatime | Dennis | Short film |
| 1995 | The Last Post | Man (lead) | BAFTA nominated for Best Short Film |
| 1995 | Feast of July | Squire Wyman | |
| 1998 | The Sea Change | Alistair | |
| 1998 | McLibel | Judge | |
| 2001 | My Brother Tom | Jessica's dad | |
| 2002 | The Honeytrap | Detective Fowler | |
| 2004 | Bloom | Richard Neap | Short film |
| 2004 | Sergeant Pepper | Christopher Fröhlich | |
| 2005 | Chromophobia | Simon Whitemore | |
| 2013 | Mr. Morgan's Last Love | American philatelist | |
| 2018 | Finding Your Feet | Care home manager | |
| 2019 | The Village in the Woods | Charles | |
| 2024 | The Secret Assistants | Henry | |
| 2025 | Cleaner | Alastair Lawson | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 1975 | By Common Consent | Security Official | |
| 1977 | Secret Army | Sgt. Hose | |
| 1978 | Laurence Olivier Presents | Attilio | Episode: "Saturday Sunday Monday" |
| 1978 | People Like Us | Teacher | |
| 1978 | Crown Court | PC Collins | |
| 1978 | Margie and Me | Policeman | |
| 1979 | Heartland | Steve | |
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited | Lieutenant Hooper | |
| 1983 | Scene | Exton | Episode: "Simulation Exercise" |
| 1983 | Wayne and Albert | Ambulanceman | |
| 1984 | Wuffer | Wuffer | |
| 1984 | December Flower | Doctor | |
| 1986 | Love and Marriage | Alan | Episode: "The Clinger" |
| 1988 | Burning Ambition | Dick Trout | |
| 1988 | Dogplant | Owen | |
| 1988 | Piece of Cake | 'Skull' Skelton | |
| 1989 | Victoria Wood | Alan Warburton | Episode: "We'd Quite Like to Apologise" |
| 1989–1990 | Frederick Forsyth Presents | Donald Spry | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Children Crossing | Tom | |
| 1990 | Happy Families | Mr Jump/Captain Salt/Mr Cash etc. | 2 series |
| 1991 | Itch | Geoff | |
| 1991 | The Bill | Dyas | |
| 1991 | Boon | Sgt Keogh | |
| 1993 | The Riff Raff Element | Mortimer Tundish | 2 series |
| 1995 | Tears Before Bedtime | Stuart | |
| 1995 | Band of Gold | Richard | |
| 1995 | Peak Practice | Roy Shearer | |
| 1995 | The Vet | Colin | |
| 1996 | Jackanory | Storyteller | |
| 1997 | Bramwell | Talbot | |
| 1997 | A Perfect State | Simon | |
| 1998 | Casualty | Edmund White | |
| 1998 | Children of the New Forest | Heatherstone | |
| 1998 | The Demon Headmaster | Professor Tim Dexter | 2 series |
| 1999 | Midsomer Murders | Gordon Brierley | |
| 1999 | Reach For The Moon | Mr Fenton | |
| 2000 | Rhona | Doug | |
| 2000 | Happy Birthday Shakespeare | Colin | |
| 2000 | Beef Encounter | Prosecutor | |
| 2000 | Midsomer Murders | Gordon Brierley | Episode "Judgement Day" |
| 2000 | In Deep | Dr Kingswood | |
| 2001 | High Stakes | Peter Harrison | |
| 2001 | Judge John Deed | Peter Taylor | |
| 2001 | A Is for Acid | Dr. Archie Henderson | |
| 2001 | McCready and Daughter | Tony Smith | |
| 2002 | William and Mary | Dr Currie | |
| 2002 | The Bill | Russell | |
| 2002 | The Forsyte Saga | Gradman | |
| 2002 | Holby City | Roger Stapleton | |
| 2002 | Tipping the Velvet | Mr. Astley | |
| 2003 | Foyle's War | Frank Vaudrey | Episode: "Funk Hole" |
| 2003 | Canterbury Tales | Arty's father | Episode: "The Pardoner's Tale" |
| 2003–2005 | Murder Investigation Team | DS Barry Purvis | 2 series |
| 2003 | Murder in Suburbia | Patrick | |
| 2003 | Murder City | George Collins | |
| 2003 | Heartbeat | James Vincent | |
| 2004 | The Government Inspector | Richard Sambrook | |
| 2004 | New Tricks | Brownlow | |
| 2004 | Trial of the King Killers | John Bradshaw | |
| 2005 | Doctors | Colin Wheelan | |
| 2005 | Silent Witness | Dr Morrie Sanders | Episode: "Mind and Body" |
| 2005 | Riot at the Rite | Grigoriev | |
| 2006 | The Wild West | Judge Spicer | |
| 2006 | The Thieving Headmistress | Andy Pert | |
| 2006 | The Shell Seekers | George Chamberlaine | |
| 2006–2007 | The Bill | Rod Jessop | |
| 2006–2008 | Poirot | Superintendent Harold Spence | Episodes: "Mrs McGinty's Dead", "Taken at the Flood" |
| 2007 | Midsomer Murders | Neville Hayward | Episode: "They Seek Him Here" |
| 2008 | EastEnders | Ted Hubbard | |
| 2009 | Holby City | Christopher Gamble in "Running on Empty" | |
| 2010–2011 | Doctor Who | Malohkeh | Episodes: "The Hungry Earth", "Cold Blood", "The Wedding of River Song" |
| 2012 | Doctor Who | Bleytal | Episode: "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" |
| 2013 | Doctors | Sebastion Norris | Episode: "House Arrest" |
| 2013 | Holby City | Father Mattew Sinclair | Episode: "Journey's End" |
| 2013 | The Smoke | Eric Springer | Episode: "Jamais KO" |
| 2013 | The Great Train Robbery | DCS Malcolm Fewtrell | Episode: "The Copper's Tale" |
| 2014 | Father Brown | Sir St. John Pryde | Episode: "Pride of the Prydes" |
| 2014 | The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies | Exam Board Official | |
| 2015 | And Then There Were None | Inspector Maine | |
| 2016 | Unforgotten | James Gregory | Series 2 |
| 2017 | Broadchurch | Arthur Tamworth | Series 3 |
| 2015–2019 | Poldark | Harris Pascoe | 5 series |
| 2019 | Casualty | Joe | |
| 2021 | Doctors | Edwin Thomas | Episode: "Legend" |
| 2022 | Mandy | Jeffery Betts | |
| 2022 | The Chelsea Detective | Andrew Knightley | |
| 2022 | The Ipcress File | Treasury Official | |
| 2022 | Top Boy | District Judge | |
| 2022 | Gentleman Jack | Rawdon Briggs | |
| 2022 | The Walk-In | Judge | |
| 2022 | 1899 | Dr Reginald Murray | |
| 2023 | Hijack | Philip Paxton | |
| 2023 | Endeavour | Ted/Sergeant Wilkins | |

## Audio work

| Year | Production | Character | Company | Notes |
| 1995 | People Like Us | The Vicar (Rev Andrew Treverton in The Vicar) | BBC | |
| 1996 | The Constant Prince | Don Juan de Silva | BBC | |
| 1997 | To the Wedding | | BBC / Théâtre de Complicité | |
| 2002 | Diary of a Provincial Lady | The Husband | Watchmaker Productions | |
| 2004 | What Hetty Did | Mr. Bertwistle | First Writes | |
| 2004 | Woman in Black | Jerome | Fiction Factory | |
| 2005 | Murder on the Leviathan | Dr. Truffo | Goldhawk Essential Productions | |
| 2007 | Man in the Water | Narrator | Pier Productions/BBC | |
| 2009 | Ruth | Guardian, Thomas, Mr. Jones | First Writes | |
| 2012 | Chronicles of AIT-The Saxon Stones | Thurgis | Fiction Factory / BBC | |
| 2013 | 41 Rue Monge | Narrator | Christine Hall / BBC 4 | |
| 2013 | Chronicles of AIT-The Lotos Effect | Len (Norfolk), Paul the Vicar | Fiction Factory / BBC | |
| 2014 | Avengers - Lost Episodes - Volume 2 | Kollakis | Big Finish | |
| 2014 | Counter Measures - Series 3 | William Heaton, Mason | Big Finish | |
| 2015 | Dr Who - Damaged Goods | Harry Harvey | Big Finish |
| 2015 | Dr Who - Counter Measures - Series 4 | William Heaton | Big Finish | |
| 2015 | Dr Who - Early Adventures - The Bounty of Ceres | Moreland | Big Finish | |
| 2016 | Dr Who - Doom Coalition 3 - Absent Friends | Phillip Cook | Big Finish | Won BBC Audio Drama Award 2017 |
| 2016 | Survivors - Series 5.2 - New Blood | Silus Broome | Big Finish | |
| 2017 | Letters to the Lady Upstairs by Marcel Proust | Narrator | HarperCollins | |
| 2018 | Dr Who - Shellshock | General Reinhardt | Big Finish | |
| 2024 | Dr Who - All of Space & Time | Mr Darling | Big Finish | |