Yes, that’s Nathan Barley in Doctor Who: Thin Ice

Nicholas Burns brings another odious figure to life in this week’s episode of the sci-fi series

Published: Saturday, 29 April 2017 at 6:20 pm

The big mystery in this week’s Doctor Who concerns a giant underwater Earth-creature, but you might instead spend the episode pondering where on EARTH you recognise nasty villain Lord Sutcliffe from.

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And while we won’t spoil the bigger secrets discovered by the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Bill (Pearl Mackie) this week, we can solve the latter mystery – because actor Nicholas Burns (who plays Sutcliffe) has cropped up in all sorts of TV series over the years, most prominently a comedy from Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.

Yes, that’s right – the man playing Sutcliffe once starred as proto-hipster Nathan Barley in the eponymous 2005 Channel 4 sitcom from Brooker and Chris Morris which epitomised the depressing stupidity of “trendy” media types and gained a loyal following over the years.

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Burns in Nathan Barley

Since then, Burns has appeared in the likes of Man Stroke Woman, Roman’s Empire, No Heroics, Psychoville, New Tricks and Agatha Christie mysteries among other series, also gaining a new following for his role as Martin Weedon in ITV’s Benidorm.

Most recently, he starred as Ben (the father of main character Errol) in BBC3 sitcom Uncle, as well as Michael in Marley’s Ghosts.

So in other words, there are plenty of places you could’ve seen Burns in before his Doctor Who debut – even if to many, he’ll always be the proud proprietor of website Trashbat.co.ck.

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Doctor Who continues on Saturdays on BBC1 at 7:20pm

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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