Simon Shepherd

For those of a similar name, see Simon Sheppard (disambiguation).

Simon Shepherd
Born	Simon Stephen Shepherd (1956-08-20) 20 August 1956 Bristol, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–present
Known for	Dr Will Preston in Peak Practice
Spouse	Alexandra Byrne ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	4

Simon Stephen Shepherd (born 20 August 1956) is an English actor best known to TV audiences from many appearances, including as Dr Will Preston in eight series of ITV's Peak Practice and Doctor Jonathan Barling in Casualty.

Shepherd was born in Bristol. He went to school at Clifton College in Bristol and was a contemporary of the director Roger Michell in Brown's House. He subsequently attended Manchester Metropolitan University and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and was a member of the National Youth Theatre.

As well as his television appearances he has had many notable stage and film roles since 1980, including as Lord Ashbrook in the 2011 Bristol Old Vic production of Helen Edmundson's Coram Boy.

In popular culture

Simon Shepherd was regularly mentioned in the BBC comedy Gimme Gimme Gimme as Tom's crush and appeared as himself in an episode of each series.

He played Patrick Simmons in the 1984 Miss Marple TV-adaptation of A Murder is Announced. In 1989 he appeared in Henry V and in 1990 in Chancer. He played Edgar Linton in the 1992 Wuthering Heights. In 1993 he appeared in Poirot (“Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan”) as Andrew Hall and in Peak Practice. In 1999 he appeared in Catherine Cookson’s Tilly Trotter and Rogue Trader. In 2008 he appeared in Agatha Christie’s Poirot (“Mrs McGinty’s Dead”) as Dr. Rendell. He appeared in the 2022 Midsomer Murders “The Scarecrow Murders”. He played Chief Inspector Dermott Craddock in the 2019 “The Mirror Crack’d” (stage play).

On 16 February 2011 Simon Shepherd guest-starred in the 2000th episode of the BBC TV Drama Doctors.

He played the role of Sir Norman Cavendish in the play The Duck House by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash, starring alongside Ben Miller and Diana Vickers. The show is a political farce based on the UK parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009 and played a five-week tour in October 2013 before transferring to London's Vaudeville Theatre through spring 2014.

In 2017 he appeared in the BBC series Father Brown as Edward Reese in episode 5.11 "The Sins of Others".

On 25 March 2017 he starred in BBC1's Casualty as Dr. Jonathan Barling in the episode 'Five Days.' He reprised the role on 4 August 2018.

Personal life

He married the costume designer Alexandra Byrne in 1980 and they have four children. Shepherd supports several charities, especially those involving the well-being of children (Barnardo's, Tearfund BOPS and Save the Children).

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	The Lords of Discipline	Senior
1985	The Doctor and the Devils	Harding
1989	Murder on Line One	Marty Jones
	Henry V	Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
1990	Fire, Ice & Dynamite	Alexander
1992	Wuthering Heights	Edgar Linton
1997	Spice World	Doctor
1999	Rogue Trader	Peter Norris
2001	Two Days, Nine Lives	Rupert
2003	Carmen	Magistrado
2012	Frail	Newton
2019	Bait	Tim Leigh
2021	Mothering Sunday	Giles Hobday

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1973	Jackanory Playhouse	Prince Fortunatus	Episode: "The Magician's Heart"
1978	Lillie	Lord Alfred Douglas	2 episodes
1979	The House on Garibaldi Street	Nickalous	Television film
1979–1982	BBC2 Playhouse	John Gray / Rupert Brooke	2 episodes
1980	Company and Co	Otto Bokova	Episode: "In Concert"
1981	My Father's House	Jake Staveley	3 episodes
1982	Stalky and Co.	Cradall	Episode: "A Little Prep"
1983	The Blue Dress	Adam	Television film
	Jackanory	Prince Zorn	3 episodes
1984	The Jewel in the Crown	Second Lieutenant	Episode: "The Towers of Silence"
	Sorrell and Son	Duncan Scott	Episode: "Episode #1.2"
1984–1985	Robin of Sherwood	Alan-a-Dale / Robert of Huntington (voices)	2 episodes Uncredited
1985	Miss Marple: A Murder is Announced	Patrick Simmons	3 episodes
	Time and the Conways	Robin Conway	Television film
	Time for Murder	Lawrence Penwarden	Episode: "This Lightning Always Strikes Twice"
1986	May We Borrow Your Husband?	Peter Travis	Television film
	Lytton's Diary	TV Interviewer	Episode: "National Hero"
1989	The Dark Angel	Captain Oakley	2 episodes
1989–2000	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Stephen Devenish / Ivor Fairfax Swan	4 episodes
1990	Sunday Pursuit	Mr. Gerald	Television film
1990–1991	Chancer	Piers Garfield-Ward	20 episodes
1991–2018	Casualty	John Ferris / Dr. Jonathan Barling	4 episodes
1992	Cluedo	Clive Moxton	Episode: "Deadly Dowry"
1993	It's Your Choice: Selection Skills for Managers	Interviewee #3	Video
1993–2002	Peak Practice	Dr. Will Preston	81 episodes
1993–2008	Poirot	Dr. Rendell / Andrew Hall	2 episodes
1994	Pie in the Sky	Chris Bentley	Episode: "A Shot in the Dark"
1995	Bliss	Sam Bliss	Television film
	Beyond Reason	Duncan McAllister	Television film
1996	Tales of Erotica	Narrator	Segment: "The Insatiable Mrs Kirsch"
1998	A Life for a Life	Taylor	Television film
1999	Tilly Trotter	Mark Sopwith	4 episodes
	Warriors	Major 'Brick' Stone	TV series
1999−2001	Gimme Gimme Gimme	Himself	3 episodes
2006	Tripping Over	Simon	2 episodes
2008	The Invisibles	Peter Rackham	Episode: "Episode #1.3"
	Heartbeat	Edward Wilson	Episode: "Danse Macabre"
2010	A Touch of Frost	Tom Viner	2 episodes
2011	Doctors	George Liston	Episode: "Quarantine"
	Holby City	Tony Valentine	Episode: "In Between Days"
2014	Death in Paradise	Jacob Doran	Episode: "Political Suicide"
2017	Father Brown	Edward Reese	Episode: "The Sins of Others"
	Riviera	Alan Morgan	Episode: "Faussaires / Counterfeiters"
2019	Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators	Frederick Greenwood	Episode: "The Envious Court"
2020–2021	Alex Rider	Sir David Friend	3 episodes
2021	Midsomer Murders	Reverend Oscar Hayden	Episode: "Scarecrow Murders"

Short films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1995	Trip - A Mythology	Jack Kerouac Character
2002	Pas de Trois	Toby
2009	Luke & the Void	George
2011	David Rose	Doctor
2020	Returning	Ed
2021	On Island West	Hector

External links

• Simon Shepherd at IMDb