Recently, Grant Burgin played PS Bob Woodford in an episode of crime drama series The Stolen Girl, and he will be seen as Nigel Bray in the upcoming third series of The Devil’s Hour. Further upcoming projects for Grant have seen him work on a podcast, commercial, video game series and a couple of episodes of Casualty, having previously had guest roles in the latter as well as Doctors. Grant worked alongside John Simm (DI Roy Grace) and Richie Campbell (DI Glenn Grayson) when he played Mark Drake in the Peter James screen adaptation of Grace, and he played Eddie across all episodes of Apple TV thriller series Hijack, which starred Idris Elba. In 2022/23, Grant appeared as Teddy Thompkins in numerous episodes of Coronation Street, where he worked closely with Todd Boyce and Helen Worth, and he appeared in the final episode of Series 1 of Gentleman Jack in 2019 as Joseph Mann, and reprised his role for Series 2, with Suranne Jones as Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack). For CBBC, Grant starred as Uncle Bob in Secret Life of Boys, and was in the two-part opening episode of Series 3 of The Dumping Ground in 2015 as Mr Gordon. During his acting career so far, Grant played Lackey in the 2007 film Stardust and appeared on stage in shows such as The Riot, Romeo and Juliet and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Answering our questions, Grant told us about filming as PS Bob Woodford in The Stolen Girl and Nigel Bray in The Devil’s Hour, appearing across all episodes of Hijack as Eddie, his time in Coronation Street and his previous roles in CBBC series Secret Life of Boys and The Dumping Ground.

You played PS Bob Woodford in an episode of the crime drama series The Stolen Girl, and will be seen as Nigel Bray in the upcoming third series of The Devil’s Hour, how was your time filming for both?

I’m not sure any actors ever fully get used to arriving mid-shoot to play characters in these dramas. You are fitting into a usually very well-oiled machine, and you want that to be – hopefully – seamless and productive… but the nerves and the doubt… maybe it’s just me! Then you meet superstars like Ambika Mod and Peter Capaldi, and everything seems possible.

How would you describe your guest character Mark Drake in Grace and what was it like being involved with your episode?

Mark Drake really didn’t know what was going on… he was less than helpful. So the character required me to look hapless, confused and bewildered… I think I looked pretty convincing!

What was it like filming for a series based on the bestselling novels by Peter James, and guest-starring opposite series leads John Simm as DSI Roy Grace and Richie Campbell as DI Glenn Branson?

I was lucky enough to film at a farm up on the stunning South Downs, and the weather was great… the regular cast were all funny and friendly, so it was an absolute pleasure.

How was it playing Eddie across every episode of the Apple TV thriller series Hijack (which stars Idris Elba)?

Hijack was a beast of a very different calibre. Six or seven months of filming over a baking-hot summer, inside a vast series of hangars on an actual plane fuselage that Apple had purchased for the shoot. The scale was mind-blowing, but couple that with the sheer physical/mental endurance of Jim Field Smith and the amazing crew… you run out of superlatives. Mind you… I didn’t get on a plane for a while afterwards.

For numerous episodes of Coronation Street in 2022 and 2023, you played recurring character Teddy Thompkins alongside a cast including Joe Frost, Sally Ann Matthews and Todd Boyce, what was it like joining the show and can you tell us about your storyline?

I’d been hoping to work on Corrie for years, so to be gifted a character like Teddy was great. I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of some of the regulars I met… these people are legends… and they were so happy to take time to talk about the way the show has changed and developed over the years. Helen Worth is a national treasure and was, at that time, in her 50th year on the show… but couldn’t have been more charming and funny. She was telling me how, when Corrie began, they drank real beer in the Rovers and they would try to do each section before and after the ad breaks in one take.

How was it filming Teddy’s death scene with Todd (who played Teddy’s murderer Stephen Reid), and how was it reading the scripts for your episodes?

How many actors can claim to have been beaten to death with stationery? Just me, I reckon. Todd Boyce and I got on so well we had to keep reminding ourselves that we hated each other. It’s all fun and games in the rehearsals, but the actual filming of being murdered was quite profound.

What was it like on set of Gentleman Jack as Joseph Mann in the final episode of Series 1, and how was it reprising your character for further episodes in Series 2?

Reading back through my answers, I realise I’ve met some amazing people, and not least was Suranne Jones. She is on another level. Her workload, in terms of number of lines alone, was insane. She had reams to learn and told me she would sing them in an effort to remember them. I played a miner called Joesph Mann and, in between shots on a scene, she leaned in and said, “Mr Mann… do you know any of the other Mr Men?”… so relaxed. Amazing woman. I loved filming Gentleman Jack, and my only regret is that there wasn’t another series.

You have had guest roles in the long-running medical TV shows Doctors and Casualty, what were both like to be part of?

The great thing about being involved in series like Doctors and Casualty is the sheer variety of characters you are invited to play. I have been pregnant(!!!), run over, bedridden, a fire fighter, a drug dealer, and a journalist. Some years back, my five-year-old son’s head teacher asked to see me one day after school because Riley had told them I had badly beaten up a taxi driver over a debt.

How did you find the experience starring in a CBBC show when you played regular character Uncle Bob in Secret Life of Boys, and how different did you find it to your previous work?

I had never done children’s TV before and was so surprised to be cast as Uncle Bob. It was a long way from the cops and villains I had played before, but what a job. Filming for three months in Northern Ireland every summer for five years… heavenly. If you haven’t been to that part of the world, I urge you to go.

Can you tell us what it was like being in the cast of Secret Life of Boys and how it was getting into character as Uncle Bob?

Don’t tell anyone… but Uncle Bob and I share an alarming number of similarities.

In the two-part opening episode of The Dumping Ground – Series 3 in 2015, you played Mr Gordon; how was it filming an episode of one of CBBC’s biggest ever franchises?

I think I was cast in Dumping Ground off the back of Secret Life of Boys? We filmed in a disused school, so the temptation to ‘mess about’ was very real.

What did you enjoy most about playing Lackey in the 2007 feature film Stardust?

Matthew Vaughn told me I’d got the part at the audition! He asked, “Can you ride a horse?” and I said, “No”… to which he replied… “Well, you’ve got the job, so you’d better learn”… and Paramount paid for me to go to horse-riding lessons. Unbelievable.

As a theatre actor, your shows have included The Riots, Romeo and Juliet and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, what are some of your stand-out highlights from your time on stage?

Theatre is so different to every other medium of acting. You can’t start again, you can’t reshoot – once that ball starts rolling at 7:30, it isn’t going to stop for anything until it’s done. Shortly after graduating from drama school, I toured for a company set up by two friends in a series of plays in different venues all over the UK… just the cast, the set and a battered old van for months. Great plays… lovely theatres… blagging our way into cheap rooms at expensive hotels… never happier.

Over your career so far, you have also worked on video games and commercials, can you tell us about this side of your career?

Voiceovers are a really important part of life for me, and I love them. Games and commercials are a totally different discipline. Sometimes they are acutely precise in their nature, but generally good fun.

How did you get into acting and was it always something you wanted to do professionally?

I was so lucky when I was young – my mum used to take me to see ballet, opera and live orchestra performances – but it was a production of Peter Weiss’ Marat/Sade at Leeds Playhouse that totally sparked me. I’d never seen anything like it. Visceral and terrifying. Brilliant stuff. It sounds odd to say it now, but I didn’t know acting could ever be a job for someone like me. I obviously knew of the superstars like Paul Newman and Gene Hackman… but somehow it was so far removed, and I was so naïve, I didn’t realise you got paid to be on telly.

What are some of your favourite films and TV shows to watch?

Blimey… the list is long and varied… so I wont indulge too much… but I’m as happy watching Cracker, Fauda or Succession as I am watching Wheeler Dealers and Race Across the World.

How do you like to spend your time away from acting?

I renovate and restore old homes. It’s a bit of an addiction.

Do you have any projects coming up that you can talk about, and what are you hoping this year brings you?

I have just recorded a podcast for the BBC about the troubling rise of AI, been to Zurich to film a commercial about energy, l filmed a couple of episodes as a confused right-wing sympathiser for Casualty, and I am in the middle of voicing a violent Space Marine in a long-running video game series. Never dull.