Bio
Stephen Tompkinson is an English actor best known for his television roles as Father Peter Clifford in Ballykissangel (1996-1998), as Damien Day in Drop the Dead Donkey (1990-1998), as the title character in DCI Banks (2010-2011) and as Danny Trevanion in Wild at Heart, since 2006.
Tompkinson was born in Stockton-on-Tees in October 1965. His grandfather (who Stephen describes as "a comic genius") inspired him to take up acting and he attended the Central Drama School, which he left at the age of 23.
He has rarely been out of work since and has worked on the stage, on radio, television and on the big screen in the movie Brassed Off (1996), for which he has gained many excellent reviews.
His TV roles have included a psychopathic poisoner (A Very Open Prison), a psycho TV reporter (Drop the Dead Donkey), a yuppie (Downwardly Mobile) and a priest (Ballykissangel). Stephen also played Demetruis in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Radio 4.
He is also a keen charity cricket player and once scored two more runs than Brian Lara, when they played on the same team.
In 1994, he won a Best Comedy Actor award for his role as Damien Day in Drop the Dead Donkey.