Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a British retired actor and TV presenter. He is known for his character roles and has worked in theatre, television and film, especially in literary adaptations and roles related to the works ofCharles Dickens. He was born inMonmouthshire,Wales.

Jeavons' started his early career in rep theatre inBirmingham in a production of Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night in 1946, and also worked for such companies as theBristol Old Vic, Old Vic School of Theatre in London, Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company amongst others. His earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplaysNom-de-Plume.

Jeavons began appearing in BBC literary adaptation roles including a production ofPride and Prejudice, an association with Dickens productions onBBC Television began in 1959 withBleak House as Richard Carstone, andGreat Expectations (for the first time) as Herbert Pocket. The same year he played Prince Hal/Henry V in the BBC'sThe Life and Death of Sir John Falstaff. In 1963 he played the extremely reluctant hero Vadassy forced into espionage inEpitaph for a Spy for BBC Television.^[1]

Jeavons portrayedUriah Heep in the BBC'sDavid Copperfield (1966). Only one episode featuring him (episode 11, "Umble Aspirations") is known to exist. He appeared in a host of 1960s and 1970s TV programmes includingDoctor Who (in "The Underwater Menace"),Adam Adamant Lives! as a murderous fashion designer, as the undertaker Shadrack inBilly Liar (1973), as businessman Leonard Gold inThe Sweeney (in the 1978 episode "The Bigger They Are"), as shop owner Ellery inShoestring in the episode "Where Was I?" (1980) andThe Avengers (in "A Touch of Brimstone" and "The Winged Avenger"). Pete Stampede and Alan Hayes wrote of Jeavons in the latter series as "one of those under-rated, ever-present supporting actors whonever turn in a bad performance."^[2] On children's TV, he hostedPlay School for a time, and read "The Black Vicar" onJackanory. He also appeared in the 1981 Doctor Who spin-offK-9 and Company, and he narrated two BBC children's animated series, namelyBarnaby andJoe.

He appeared in thePlay For Today production ofDavid Edgar's play about British neo-Nazis,Destiny (1978). The same year he played the part of Mr. Johnson, a schoolteacher, inPeter McDougall's BBC supernatural dramaTarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man. He appeared as Samson Brass in another BBC Dickens production,The Old Curiosity Shop (1979), and in another version ofGreat Expectations (1981), this time as Wemmick. The same year he played a recurring UFO-obsessed character in the sci-fi comedyKinvig. His most critically acclaimed role during this period was as the neglected and abused child, Donald, inDennis Potter'sBlue Remembered Hills (1979).

In the 1980s, Jeavons was involved with two dramatisations of Sherlock Holmes stories. He played "with chilling authority" in the words of writerDavid Stuart Davies,Professor Moriarty inThe Baker Street Boys (1982), and "with great panache"Inspector Lestrade in theGranada Television seriesThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (featuringJeremy Brett as Holmes). ProducerMichael Cox of the Granada Television series stated frankly that they were given the best Lestrade of his generation.^[3] In the 1981 TV production ofThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, he portrayed Max Quordlepleen, an entertainer who hosts at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Jeavons was Briggs, the lawyer who halts the marriage between Jane and Rochester, in a BBC version ofJane Eyre (1983). In 1984, he played the existentialist philosopherSøren Kierkegaard in the "Prometheus Unbound" episode ofDon Cupitt'sSea of Faith for BBC. The following year he playedAdolf Hitler inHitler's SS: Portrait in Evil. He played the solicitor Vholes in another BBC adaptation ofBleak House in 1985. In 1986 he was seen inParadise Postponed.

Jeavons featured in the 1990 television dramaHouse of Cards byMichael Dobbs, asTim Stamper, Tory Whip and ally ofIan Richardson's Francis Urquhart. The character returned – promoted initially to Chief Whip, then to Party Chairman – in the 1993 sequel,To Play the King. Jeavons played Del Boy's lawyer, Solly Atwell, inOnly Fools And Horses. He also played the role ofGenrikh Yagoda in the 1992 television filmStalin.

Jeavons also appeared in many films over the years, often as priests or vicars. These included roles inThe Devil's Daffodil (1961),Frankenstein Created Woman (1967),Sleep Is Lovely (1968),The Oblong Box (1969),The Games (1970),Bartleby (1970),Diagnosis: Murder (1975),Schizo (1976),The Island (1980),The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981),Absolute Beginners (1986) andSecret Friends (1991). Jeavons retired from acting in 1993; his final role was areprise of Tim Stamper inTo Play the King.

Jeavons' elder son Barney managed the British rock bandReuben, and in 2007 Jeavons emerged from retirement, heavily bearded, to appear as the enigmatic General in Reuben's Rock video "Blood, Bunny, Larkhall". In a behind-the-scenes short, Jeavons explained briefly some of the highlights of his acting career.^[4] Barney Jeavons is the former Arts Centre Director of theWest End Centre inAldershot.^[5][6]

• Starring Sherlock Holmes, David Stuart Davies; Titan Books 2001

• Colin Jeavons atIMDb
• The Avengers TV Forever