Martin Bishop
Biography
Martin Bishop traded in his role as an industry bigwig to follow his dreams of making it as an actor. Any manual on writing movie scripts will tell you that somewhere in the first few minutes you need a Big Event, an upheaval that tips the balance and sends the characters marching off into the story. For Martin Bishop the Big Event came in April 2002. Then he was the chairman of QS firm Franklin + Andrews, negotiating an historic merger with engineering firm Mott MacDonald. The deal was due to be completed on the 19th, but last-minute complications arose. It was a tense time for Bishop. On the 21st, a major artery in his neck decided to down tools and he found himself flat on his back in a hospital bed. He was OK, although he had to play his part in finishing negotiations by telephone from his hospital bed. Back on his feet in a few days, he showed up at the new company for his new job – as global head of customer service – and realised he wasn't up for it. He resigned. Bishop had always been a keen amateur actor, taking many lead roles, latterly at the drama society at London's Hurlingham Club. Also, he'd always wondered how things might have been after schoolmate Kevin Whately (aka Lewis in Inspector Morse) switched to acting after a couple of years as an accountant. So, with Death's breath still chilly on his shoulder, it seemed natural to enrol at the GSA Conservatoire (formerly the Guildford School of Acting). His television credits include roles in The Fugitives, Urban Legends, Brief Encounters, The Crown, Doctors, Belgravia, Optimisty:Karibskly sezon, The Nevers, Ted Lasso, The Sandman, Dangerous Liaisons, The Flatshare, Renegade Nell and EastEnders. Film roles include Legend, Mum's List, Wonder Woman, The Mummy, Holmes & Watson, Mr. Jones, Once Upon a Time in London, The Hustle, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Breaking Infinity, Hitmen and Red, White & Royal Blue. On stage, he appeared in productions of Macbeth, As You Like It, She Stoops to Conquer, The Confidential Clerk, A Christmas Carol, The Browning Version, Swan Song, Sam, The Highest Jumper of Them All, The Scottsboro Boys, The Rivals and Curtains.
Known For & Full Filmography22 Titles
Drama Series - 2020, 16 episodes • as Richard
Ted Lasso, an American football coach, moves to England when he's hired to manage a soccer team—despite having no experience. With cynical players and a doubtful town, will he get them to see the Ted Lasso Way?
Drama Series - 2016, 16 episodes • as King's Valet
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
Drama Series - 2022, 16 episodes • as Neurologist
After years of imprisonment, Morpheus — the King of Dreams — embarks on a journey across worlds to find what was stolen from him and restore his power.
Movie - 2017, 2h 15m • as Senior Technician
Though safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension.
Movie - 2017, 2h 15m • as Kaiser Wilhelm II
An Amazon princess comes to the world of Man in the grips of the First World War to confront the forces of evil and bring an end to human conflict.
Movie - 2019, 2h 15m • as Doctor
Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m • as Bernard
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m • as King's Equerry
After an altercation between Alex, the president's son, and Britain's Prince Henry at a royal event becomes tabloid fodder, their long-running feud now threatens to drive a wedge in U.S./British relations. When the rivals are forced into a staged truce, their icy relationship begins to thaw and the friction between them sparks something deeper than they ever expected.
Movie - 2019, 2h 15m • as Three Piece Suit Man
Two female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, compete to swindle a naĂŻve tech prodigy out of his fortune. A remake of the 1988 comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Drama Series - 2021, 16 episodes • as Dr. Beldon
In the last years of Victoria's reign, London is beset by the "Touched": people — mostly women — who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities, some charming, some very disturbing. Among them are Amalia True, a mysterious, quick-fisted widow, and Penance Adair, a brilliant young inventor. They are the champions of this new underclass, making a home for the Touched, while fighting the forces of… well, pretty much all the forces — to make room for those whom history as we know it has no place.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m • as Lord
An ambitious American fulfilling her dream of studying at Oxford falls for a charming Brit hiding a secret that may upend her perfectly planned life.
Movie - 2019, 2h 15m • as Sir Ernest Bennet
In 1933, Welsh journalist Gareth Jones travels to Ukraine, where he experiences the horrors of a famine. Everywhere he goes he meets henchmen of the Soviet secret service who are determined to prevent news about the catastrophe from getting out. Stalin’s forced collectivisation of agriculture has resulted in misery and ruin—the policy is tantamount to mass murder.
Movie - 2018, 2h 15m • as Priest
Detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson join forces to investigate a mysterious murder at Buckingham Palace. It seems like an open-and-shut case as all signs point to Professor James Moriarty, the criminal mastermind and longtime nemesis of the crime-solving duo. When new twists and clues begin to emerge, the world's greatest sleuth and his trusted assistant must now use their legendary wits and ingenious methods to catch the killer as they only have four days before the queen becomes the next victim.
Drama Series - 2023, 16 episodes • as Agent Quantock
Dom and Kay join the Met Police in the hope of cleaning up their community, but are unwittingly thrust into the murky world of deep cover infiltration as they become part of a powerful criminal enterprise. But for Dom and Kay it quickly becomes more of a fiasco than Donnie Brasco…
Drama Series - 2022, 16 episodes • as Johnny White
Tiffany and Leon are two cash-strapped twenty somethings who share a bed, but have never met. The question is, can you fall in love with someone you've never set eyes on?
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m • as Father Fernando
Michael Hero, a powerful CEO, seeks vengeance for the murder of his grandson by offering a one-million-dollar bounty for the assassination of his grandson's accidental killers, attracting the world's leading assassins to the task at hand.
Movie - 2016, 2h 15m • as Brian
The story of Singe and Kate, a couple from North Somerset, whose lives were turned upside down when Kate was diagnosed with an incurable breast cancer. Over her last few days, she created her list: writing her thoughts and memories down, to help the man she loved create the best life possible for their two sons, after she was gone.
Movie - 2019, 2h 15m • as Judge
Billy Hill and Jack 'Spot' Comer were among the most notorious criminals in London up until the 1950s. Dramatising the violent reign of two of London's most notorious gangsters, Billy Hill (Leo Gregory) and Jack 'Spot' Comer (Terry Stone), ONCE UPON A TIME IN LONDON charts the legendary rise and fall of a nationwide criminal empire that lasted until the mid-fifties and which paved the way for the notorious Kray Twins and The Richardsons. This is the story of their rise and fall.
Movie - 2004, 2h 15m • as Mr Sappleton
The Open Doors is a short British film based on a short story 'The Open Window' by Saki (H. H. Munro) starring Michael Sheen, Charlotte Ritchie and Cherie Lunghi
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m • as Old Man
A brilliant researcher spirals through time, grappling with chaotic shifts that lead him to a dystopian future. Guided by a cryptic elder, he confronts the dire consequences of his actions, racing to alter his fate before it’s too late.
Movie - 2009, 2h 15m • as Ruysch
Throughout the 17th century, the Dutch and English fought desperate wars over which country would dominate world trade for the next two centuries. They waged massive sea battles in Europe and embarked on violent raids in Asia, Africa and North America.
Movie - 2024, 2h 15m • as Warren
Will “Partyforever” Harris' wild lifestyle comes to a sudden stop when his millionaire father dies, leaving him with nothing but a 100-year-old Mexican salsa recipe. Broke and desperate, Will has no choice but to change his ways and get a real job. With the help of his former sous chef Eugenio and Eugenio’s beautiful cousin Salma, Will embarks on a delirious adventure. He faces off against the Mexican Hot Sauce Mafia and discovers along the way that the recipe may be the key to truly finding himself.