Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Geoff McGiven , Geoff McGivern , Geoff McGuivern

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Battersea, London, England, UK

Homepage: https://anthearepresents.com/artist/geoff-mcgivern

Movie Involvements: 3

TV Involvements: 3


Most Famous Work

Biography

Geoffrey M. McGivern is a British actor in film, television, radio and stage, as well as a comedian. He is best known for originating the role of Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He played Ford Prefect in the radio series (1978–80) and subsequent LP releases of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams whom he knew from Cambridge University, and reprised the role for the four new series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2004 and 2018. A more recent radio broadcast was in The Ape That Got Lucky and he has appeared in TV shows such as Noel's House Party, Press Gang, Chef!, Big Train, Blackadder the Third ("Dish and Dishonesty") as Ivor Biggun, Chelmsford 123, Jonathan Creek, 15 Storeys High, Armstrong and Miller, Toast of London and series three of Peep Show. McGivern appeared in the first series of the comedy show Big Train in 1998, and later that year for the 1998 radio SciFi drama Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (Colin Swash, BBC) McGivern teamed up with old Hitchhiker's colleague Stephen Moore and Lorelei King (member of cast in the 2005 Hitchhiker's radio show sequel). He later played the Supreme Ruler in BBC2's sci-fi comedy Hyperdrive (2006–2007). In 2007, he appeared in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Peacefully in their Sleeps and in 2008 he appeared as Professor John Mycroft in the BBC2 science sitcom Lab Rats and in the 2008 BBC series Little Dorrit where he played Mr Rugg. He also appeared in episode 5 of series 3 of the TV series A Bit of Fry and Laurie. In 2015, he guest-starred in EastEnders as Dickie Ticker, the crude comic brought in by Mick Carter for Kush Kazemi's stag night. In 2016, he appeared in four episodes of the Disney Channel musical drama The Lodge, as Patrick. McGivern played the narrator Charlie Swinburne in the BBC Radio's 2013 six part dramatisation of G. K. Chesterton's The Club of Queer Trades. In 2017, he appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Back, written by Simon Blackwell, alongside David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Later that year, he began portraying the recurring role of Frank in the Netflix series Free Rein. Since 2019, he has appeared as recurring character Barclay Beg-Chetwynde in the BBC comedy Ghosts. In 2022, he appeared as the main character Russ, in Radio 4 comedy No-Platformed. The show's episode guide contains a humorous note about McGivern's extensive credit list, by starting a list of his credits and then adding "oh, hundreds of things". In 2024, he appeared as recurring character Lord Rookwood in the Apple TV+ series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.

Most Famous Work

Heartbeat
Average
7

Heartbeat

(1992) Harry
Onegin
Average
6

Onegin

(1999) Andrey Petrovitch
Quiz
Average
7

Quiz

(2020) Lieutenant Colonel Village
The Young Americans
Average
6

The Young Americans

(1993) Brian Carver
The Ghoul
Average
6

The Ghoul

(2017) Morland

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2021 Station Master Fox
2020 Barry
Lieutenant Colonel Village
2019 Barclay Beg-Chetwynde
Barclay
Old Lady
2018 Alexander
2017 Uncle Geoff
The Pub Landlord
Morland
2016 Des
2015 Shop Keeper
2012 Andy Preacherman
2011 Bob
2010 Trince
2008 Billy Marsh
2007 Magic Shop Manager
2006 Supreme Ruler
2003 Gerard
Brian Cronk
1999 Andrey Petrovitch
1998 Policeman
N/A
1997 Barry Opper
Geoffrey Lester
1993 Brian Carver
Bank Manager
1992 Denzil Arcourt
Harry
1991 Mason
1990 N/A
N/A
N/A
1989 Mr Blair
Mr. Yeo
1988 N/A
1986 N/A
1983 Ivor Biggun
Year Character Movie/Tv

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