Christopher Ryan
Ryan in "Back to School Mr. Bean" (1994)
Born	Christopher Papazoglou (1950-01-25)25 January 1950 (age 75) Bayswater,London, England
Alma mater	East 15 Acting School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present

Christopher Papazoglou (born 25 January 1950^{[citation needed]}), known professionally asChristopher Ryan, is a British actor. He is known for hissitcom roles including Mike The Cool Person inThe Young Ones, Dave Hedgehog inBottom,Edina Monsoon's ex-husband Marshall Turtle in the BBC sitcomAbsolutely Fabulous and Tony Driscoll inOnly Fools and Horses and its spin-offThe Green Green Grass. He has appeared inDoctor Who in the alien roles of Kiv inThe Trial of a Time Lord (1986) andSontaran General Staal (2008, 2010).

Ryan was born Christopher Papazoglou on 25 January 1950 inBayswater,London to an English mother and a Greek father. It is not clear if he spent some time in a children's home in Hutton Essex during his childhood.He trained atEast 15 Acting School from 1968 to 1971, then began his professional acting career withGlasgow Citizens' Theatre.^[1]

Ryan was the onlyYoung Ones cast member who was not already well known in British comedy circles, the other principal parts being taken byThe Comic Strip membersRik Mayall,Adrian Edmondson,Nigel Planer, andAlexei Sayle. He was a last-minute replacement forPeter Richardson, for whom the "straight man" role of "Mike The Cool Person" was originally intended.

In 1986, Ryan reunited with the rest of the cast for the comedic charity single and music video forCliff Richard's song "Living Doll", with Richard himself, forComic Relief.^[2]

In 1987, he starred in the short-lived BBC sitcomA Small Problem. He playedLucky inSamuel Beckett'sWaiting for Godot at theQueen's Theatre in theWest End in 1991, alongside Mayall and Edmondson.^[3] He later played Dave Hedgehog inBottom, and Marshall Turtle, one of Edina's unloved ex-husbands, onAbsolutely Fabulous. He has also appeared in two major sitcoms: he played one of the Driscoll brothers in an episode ofOnly Fools And Horses andspin-offThe Green Green Grass, a pair ofidentical twin builders in theOne Foot in the Grave episode "Hole in the Sky", and a plumber in the episode "The Valley of Fear". He appeared inBack to School Mr. Bean,My Family andSaxondale. He joined up again with Jennifer Saunders for two episodes ofThe Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle.

In 1986, he appeared in thescience fiction seriesDoctor Who as the alien creatureLord Kiv in the serialThe Trial of a Time Lord, and as one of the rose-painting playing cards in the 1999 TV version ofAlice in Wonderland. In 2008, he again guest-starred inDoctor Who in the episodes "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky", as theSontaran leader "General Staal",^[4] and in the 2010 episode "The Pandorica Opens", playing another Sontaran character, "Commander Stark". In 2012 he appeared in the role of Marshall in Episode 3 "Olympics" of theAbsolutely Fabulous 20th-anniversary specials.

Although so far his film appearances have been few, he has played small roles inSanta Claus: The Movie (1985) playing Vout the elf, and in the filmDirty Weekend (1993), directed byMichael Winner playing a character credited as Small One.

Ryan starred as Baron Hardup in the pantomime ofCinderella at theTheatre Royal, Norwich from 17 December 2013 to 19 January 2014.^[5]

• Christopher Ryan atIMDb 
• Christopher Ryan at theBritish Film Institute^{[better source needed]}

• 1950 births
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• Alumni of East 15 Acting School
• English male film actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• English people of Greek descent
• The Flying Pickets members
• Living people
• Male actors from London

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