David Calder (actor)


David Ian Calder is an English actor. His film and television credits include the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, Crown Court, The Blackstuff, The Professionals, Enemy at the Door, Minder, Bergerac, The New Statesman, Between the Lines, Bramwell, Cracker, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat, Sleepers, Spooks, Midsomer Murders, Hustle, Waking the Dead, Wallis & Edward, A Touch of Frost, Cold Blood, Burn Up, Lewis, Houdini, United, and The Last Front.

Life and career

Calder was born 1 August 1946 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His most high-profile television roles include Det. Insp. George Resnick in the crime series Widows and Nathan Spring in the sci-fi drama Star Cops. In 1989, he appeared in the adaptation of the David Lodge novel Nice Work. In 2012 he portrayed Captain Edward Smith in the ITV mini-series Titanic. From 2005–06, he took on the role of PC George Dixon in the radio adaptation of the BBC's long running television series Dixon of Dock Green.
Calder's other television credits include Crown Court, Boys from the Blackstuff, The Professionals, Enemy at the Door, Minder, Bergerac, The New Statesman, Between the Lines, Bramwell, Cracker, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat, Sleepers, Spooks, Midsomer Murders, Hustle, Waking the Dead, Wallis & Edward, A Touch of Frost, Cold Blood, Burn Up, Lewis, and Houdini. He also appeared as Harold Hardman, the Manchester United chairman at the time of the Munich air disaster in 1958, in the TV drama United, aired by the BBC in April 2011. In 2013, he played Mr Reid in The Wrong Mans.
Calder appeared as Sir Robert King in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. His other film appearances include Moonlighting, Defence of the Realm, American Friends, Hollow Reed, FairyTale: A True Story, The King Is Alive, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Rush.
In 1979, Calder appeared in a public information film as a crime prevention officer, asking people to consider how they would get into their own home if they lost their keys. The PIF, which was used to encourage people to make their homes secure, and to contact their crime prevention officer for advice, ran until at least 1985. In February 2010, Calder played Stuart Bell in the television film On Expenses.
In October 2016, Calder played Gus, in The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures by Tony Kushner at the Hampstead Theatre.
In October 2016, Calder appeared as Mr Bruff in the BBC mini-series The Moonstone and from October 2017 in the title role of Julius Caesar at the new Bridge Theatre. This production was broadcast by National Theatre Live in March 2018.
Also in 2018, Calder played a closeted gay man suffering from dementia on BBC's Call the Midwife.
In 2024, Calder played Father Michael in the World War I television film The Last Front.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
ITV PlayhouseJohn MarriottCasting the Runes
Enemy at the DoorHoffmanEpisode: "No Quarter Given"
June-July 1981Get_Lost!Det Sgt TomlinFour episodes
Wynne and PenkovskyGreville Wynne
BergeracSir Clive HamerEpisode: "SPARTA"
1987Star CopsNathan SpringSeries regular
'DouglasEpisode: "Unreported Incident"
SleepersVictor Chekhov
Screen OneChubbEpisode: "A Question of Attribution"
Screen TwoAbbé de L'EpéeEpisode: "The Count of Solar"
Friday on My MindWing Commander Donahue
Covington CrossAbbottEpisode: "The Persecution"
The New StatesmanLe CulEpisode: "Heil and Farewell"
'Robert LeggeEpisode: "Death at the Bar"
Between the LinesLeavisEpisode: "The End User"
CrackerMichael HarveyEpisode: "Brotherly Love"
Dalziel and PascoeJames MarshamEpisode: "Cunning Old Fox"
HeartbeatSaul ArkwrightEpisode: "The Shoot"
SpooksSergei LermovEpisode: "The Rose Bed Memoirs"
Midsomer MurdersGeorge HamiltonEpisode: "Birds of Prey"
'Richard MartinEpisode: "A Traitor to Memory"
HustleVictor MaherEpisode: "Cops and Robbers"
Waking the DeadCommander Bill DrakeEpisode: "Cold Fusion"
Trial & RetributionWilliam ThorpeEpisode: "The Lovers"
'Kenneth ShawEpisode: "Endangered Species"
HeartbeatDI LudlowEpisode: "Night Mail"
CasualtyRoy ParksEpisode: "Into the Fog"
Agatha Christie's MarpleDermotEpisode: “The Blue Geranium”
LewisAndrew LiptonEpisode: "The Indelible Stain"
Mr SelfridgeKing Edward VIIEpisode: "Episode 10"
Father BrownSir Aaron ArmstrongEpisode: "The Three Tools of Death"
DCI BanksJack BarberEpisode: "Piece of My Heart"
CasualtyPhillip PerryEpisode: "A Life Less Lived"
VeraFrank McAffeeEpisode: "The Sea Glass"
Inside No. 9PercyEpisode: "Once Removed"
Call the MidwifeDonaldEpisode: "Episode 8"
2021TimeJohn Cobden3 episodes
2021The TrickSir David KingTV film
2017-2022MotherlandGeoff3 episodes
2024DoctorsLord Rodney Carleton2 episodes

DateTitleRoleNotes
2019-2020The Lovecraft InvestigationsHenry Akeley11 episodes
2023The Victory of Joan of ArcFontainePodcast series