Richard Briers
Known for: Acting
Richard David Briers, CBE (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor. His fifty-year career encompassed television, stage, film and radio. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines (1961–66), but it was a decade later, when he narrated Roobarb and Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk (1974–76) and when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life (1975–78), that he became a household name. Later, he starred as Martin in Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–89), and he had a leading role as Hector in Monarch of the Glen (2000–05). From the late 1980s, with Kenneth Branagh as director, he performed Shakespearean roles in Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Hamlet (1996), and As You Like It (2006).
Filmography
Series
Midsomer Murders
Stephen Wentworth
1997
Series
Doctor Who
Chief Caretaker
1963
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
Series
Play for Today
Mr. Smythe
1970
Series
Play for Today
Commander Jack Broome
1970
Series
Wogan
Self
1982
Series
Screen Two
Old Arthur/George
1985
Series
Tales of the Unexpected
Albert Dobson
1979
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Sandy Tyrell
1965
Series
ITV Playhouse
A
1967
Series
Natural World
1983
Series
New Tricks
James Farlow
2004
Series
Agatha Christie's Marple
Wilson
2004
Series
Theatre 625
David Prentice
1964
Series
Parkinson
Self
1998
Series
Torchwood
Parker
2006
Series
Mr. Bean
Mr. Sprout
1990
Thursday Theatre
David Prentice
1964
Series
Monarch of the Glen
Hector MacDonald
2000
Series
Lovejoy
Raymond Doncaster
1986
Series
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Self
2001
Series
Dixon of Dock Green
Ken Tracey
1955
Series
Extras
Richard Briers
2005
Series
Kingdom
Jim Wright
2007
Film
Peter Pan
Sam "Smee" Smiegel
2003
The Sunday Drama
Dennis
1977
Series
The Good Life
Tom Good
1975
Series
NBC Experiment in Television
(voice)
1967
Series
Watership Down
Captain Broom (voice)
1999
Series
Brass Eye
Self
1997
Series
Comedy Connections
2003
Series
Ooh La La!
1968
Film
The Three Musketeers
Louis XIII (voice)
1973
Series
Ever Decreasing Circles
1984
Film
Much Ado About Nothing
Signor Leonato
1993
Film
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Grandfather
1994
Film
Watership Down
Fiver (voice)
1978
Series
From a Bird's Eye View
George Lemon
1970
Faces of Jim
John Frobisher
1961
Faces of Jim
Lighthouse Assistant
1961
Faces of Jim
Ricky Groin
1961
Series
Armchair Theatre
Stanley Frelaine
1956
Series
The Galton & Simpson Playhouse
Henry Fairlane
1977
One-Upmanship
Stephen Potter
1976
Film
Spice World
Bishop
1997
Series
If You See God, Tell Him
Godfrey Spry
1993
Film
Hamlet
Polonius
1996
Series
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
2000
Series
Marriage Lines
George Starling
1961
Film
Henry V
Lieutenant Bardolph
1989
Film
The Four Musketeers
Louis XIII (voice) (uncredited)
1974
Ben Travers Farces
Charlie Tutt
1970
Series
Bird Bath
Narrator
Series
A Respectable Trade
Sir Charles Fairley
1998
Series
All in Good Faith
Reverend Philip Lambe
1985
Series
Roobarb
1974
That's What I Call Television
Self
2007
Film
As You Like It
Adam
2006
Birds on the Wing
Charles Jackson
1971
Film
Love's Labour's Lost
Sir Nathaniel
2000
Series
Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk
1976
Between the Wars
Oswald Carstairs
1973
Series
A Bucket O' French and Saunders
2007
Film
Cockneys vs Zombies
Hamish
2012
Film
Unconditional Love
Barry Moore
2002
Film
Murder She Said
'Mrs Binster'
1961
Series
Roobarb and Custard Too
Narrator
2005
Film
Peter's Friends
Lord Morton
1992
Film
Dad
Larry James
2005
Film
British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves
Acting Role (archive footage) (uncredited)
2016
Series
The Norman Conquests
Reg
1977
Village Wooing
A
1979
Film
In the Bleak Midwinter
Henry
1995
Film
A Chorus of Disapproval
Ted Washbrook
1989
Film
The Bargee
Tomkins
1964
Film
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
Robert (voice)
2003
Series
The Other One
Ralph Tanner
1977
Tall Stories
1971
My Appalling School Report
2006
Film
Run For Your Wife
Newspaper Seller
2012
Down to Earth
Tony Fairfax
1995
Film
Doctor in Distress
Medical Student (uncredited)
1963
Film
Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band: The Official BBC Children in Need Medley
Roobarb/Custard (voice)
2009
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Self
2005
Film
A Home of Your Own
The Husband
1964
Series
Alias the Jester
Alias
1985
Film
The Girl on the Boat
Eustace Hignett
1962
Film
Victoria & Albert
Joseph Paxton
2001
Film
All the Way Up
Nigel Hadfield
1970
Film
Doctor Who: Paradise Towers
The Chief Caretaker
1987
Film
French and Saunders' Christmas Carol
Self
1994
Film
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Malvolio
1988
Film
The Adventures of Toad
Rat
1996
Arms and the Man
Bluntschli
1983
Film
Fathom
Flight Lt. Timothy Webb
1967
Film
Our Flesh and Blood
Mr. Smythe
1977
Film
The Adventures of Mole
Rat
1995
Film
The Good Life: Secret & Scandals
(archive footage)
2022
Film
A Matter of WHO
Jamieson
1961
Film
All in Good Time
The Young Husband
1964
Film
National Theatre Live: London Assurance
Mr. Adolphus Spanker
2010
Series
Goodbye Mr Kent
Travis Kent
1982
Children's Favourites - Volume 1
Alias (voice)
1988
Series
Noddy
Narrator
1975
Film
A Month in the Country
Arkady
1985
Film
Heavy Weather
The Hon. Galahad Threepwood
1995
Series
Little Red Tractor Stories
Narrator (voice)
Film
The Good Life: Inside Out
2025
Our Hidden Lives
Herbert Brush
2005
Film
It's Your Move
The Husband
1982
Film
All About The Good Life
2010
Series
Geoff Hamilton: a Man and His Garden
Narrator
1998
Brothers In Law
1962
Film
The Student Prince
Dr. Corbitt
1998
Film
Girls at Sea
'Popeye' Lewis
1958
Film
Bottoms Up!
Colbourne
1960
Film
Mole's Christmas
Rat
1994
Film
Horror on the High Rise
2011
Film
P.Q. 17
Jack Broome
1981
Film
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
Mouse (voice)
2013
Film
A Small Miracle
Himself - Commentator
1976
Swan Song
Nikita
1992
Film
Rentadick
Miles Gannet
1972
Film
Skallagrigg
Old Arthur/George
1994
The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show
Theatre Patron
1977
Film
The Aerodrome
The Rector
1983
Film
Great
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
1975
Film
Roobarb and Custard: The Complete Collection
Narrator, Roobarb, Custard / lot of characters. (uncredited)
2017
Film
Frances the Firefly
Narrator (voice)
1994