Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in Guilt, Duncan Hunter in Shetland, Bruno Jenkins in Casualty, Detective Finney in Psychoville, DCC Mike Dryden in Line of Duty, Colin Osborne in Unforgotten, Blackbeard in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Townsend in Battlefield 1, Field in Summer of Rockets and Stephen Burns, the Lord Advocate, in Dept. Q.
Career On television, Bonnar has appeared as Peter Mayhew in BBC One's New Blood and Chris in the Channel 4 comedy Catastrophe, a role which he reprised in the following series. He also portrays the Rev. Adam Collingbourne in ITV's Home Fires, John Halliday in Undercover, as well as regular Duncan Hunter in Shetland for BBC One. Other television credits include Vera, Grantchester, Case Histories, The Paradise, Doctor Who, Psychoville, Taggart, Phoneshop and Paradox. In 2005, he portrayed regular Bruno Jenkins in the BBC One series Casualty. In 2018, he portrayed Dr Neil Sommer in the Channel 4 series Humans. In 2025, Bonnar starred in Netflix drama Dept. Q as Lord Advocate Stephen Burns. In September 2025, he joined the cast of BBC detective series Ludwig, playing newspaper editor Gareth Fisher in the upcoming second series.
His theatre performances include Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic, London in 2012, Philistines at the Lyttelton, National Theatre in May 2007, Phil in Mammals in a national tour in 2006, David in A Girl in a Car with a Man at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in December 2004, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the Salisbury Playhouse in September 2004, Cyrano de Bergerac at the National Theatre in 2004 and Parade at the Donmar Warehouse in September 2007.
Bonnar provided the voice and motion capture for Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch in the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. He also provides the voice and motion capture for Townsend in the 2016 game Battlefield 1. He also features in the Doctor Who series Doom Coalition from Big Finish Productions, where he portrays the Eleven, a villainous Time Lord who retains the personalities of his past incarnations in his mind.
Bonnar also voices Twigs and Box in the CBeebies series Tree Fu Tom.
In May 2025, Bonnar was announced as a contestant on the first series of The Celebrity Traitors. Bonnar competed as a Faithful before eventually being banished in the sixth episode.
Personal life Bonnar was born in Edinburgh to environmental artist StanBBC Scotland - Meet You at the Hippos, 2021 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00124rq and his wife Rosi. Stan's job as town artist for the Scottish New Towns meant the family moved around and Mark spent his childhood in Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, attending Townhead Primary School in Stonehouse. Bonnar has presented a BBC documentary on the new towns titled Meet You at the Hippos.
By 1981 the family had moved to Edinburgh and Mark attended Leith Academy. Mark attended school with future Guilt and Dept. Q co-star Jamie Sives. He married actress Lucy Gaskell on 28 December 2007. Their first child was born in July 2011, and their second in June 2015.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2001 Rebus DI Jim Margolies Episode: "Dead Souls" 2002 Wire in the Blood Stevie McTeer Episodes: "The Mermaids Singing: Parts 1 & 2"2003 Loving You DC Colin Morris TV film Taggart Phillip Gardner Episode: "An Eye for an Eye"2005 Afterlife Ben Varcoe Episode: "Misdirection" Casualty@Holby CityBruno Jenkins Episodes: "Teacher's Pet" & "Crash and Burn" 2005–2006 Casualty 32 episodes2007 Tommy TV film Nuclear Secrets Penkovsky Mini-series: Episode: "The Spy from Moscow" Ray Moore 8 episodes DC Ed Harvey Episode: "Know Thine Enemy" Britz Richard Two-part TV drama 2009 Paradox DS Ben Holt Mini-series2010 PhoneShop Don Episode: "Salesman of the Month" Taggart DCI Atkins Episode: "Ends of Justice"2011 Doctor Who Jimmy / Jimmy's duplicate Episodes: "The Rebel Flesh" & "The Almost People" Psychoville Detective Finney 6 episodes2012 Playhouse Presents Gerry McCluskey Series 1: Episode: "The Minor Character" Twenty Twelve Ben Farrell Episode: "Clarence House" Peter Adler 2 episodes2013 Silent Witness Piers Christie Episodes: "Trust: Parts 1 & 2" Case Histories Andy Marshall Series 2: Episode: "Nobody's Darling" Thirst John Valentine Short Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch Video game (Voice and motion capture) 2013–2022 Shetland Duncan Hunter 23 episodes2014 Line of Duty DCC Dryden Series 2: 6 episodes Law & Order: UK Mark Glendon Episode: "Hard Stop" X Moor Fox Film Grantchester Dr Robinson Episode: "Episode 3" Camera Trap Iain Film2015 Midsomer Murders William Carnavon Episode: "A Vintage Murder" All the Ordinary Angels Mr Taylor Film Vera Danny Pryor Episode: "Muddy Waters" Home Fires Reverend Adam Collingborne 3 episodes Sunset Song Reverend Gibbon Film Sword Coast Legends Izhkin Video game (Voice) Jekyll & Hyde Lord Protheroe Mini-Series: 5 episodes Paul Short 2015–2019 Catastrophe Chris 20 episodes2016 Billionaire Ransom (aka Take Down) Lawrence Close Film Undercover John Halliday Mini-series: 5 episodes New Blood Peter Mayhew Case 1: 3 episodes; Case 2: 2 episodes Battlefield 1 Townsend Video game (Voice) 2016–2017 Porridge Officer Meekie TV film and mini-series2017 Unforgotten Barrister Colin Osborne Series 2 - BAFTA Scotland winner for this roleApple Tree Yard Gary Carmichael Mini-series Mission Galapagos Narrator Full series (For International Version) Eric, Ernie and Me Eric Morecambe TV film Edmund the Magnificent Nate Short2018 Urban Myths Billy Series 2: Episode: "Agatha Christie" Humans Neil Sommer Series 3: 7 episodes Say My Name Dec Film2019 Mr Jeffreys Film Summer of Rockets Field Mini-series: 6 episodes Defending the Guilty Miles 3 episodes2019–2023GuiltMaxMini-series: 12 episodes2020 Quiz Paul Smith Mini-series Zog and the Flying Doctors The Unicorn (voice) Short filmAssassin's Creed ValhallaCeolwulf II of MerciaVideo game (Voice)2021Meet Me at the HipposPresenterDocumentaryOperation MincemeatJock HorsfallFilm2022 Litvinenko Clive TimmonsMain role2022–2024 The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince IvandoeAdditional voices2023Calamity JamesDadShort filmNapoleonJean-Andoche JunotFilm2023–2025The RigAlwyn Evans2 episodes2023World on FireSir James DanemereMain role2023Murder is EasyReverend Arthur HumblebyTwo-part drama2024Inside No. 9RaymondEpisode: "Boo To a Goose" 2025Lockerbie: A Search for TruthRoderick McGillTV seriesLast BreathCraigFilm The Celebrity Traitors Himself Contestant; series 1Dept. QStephen BurnsMain role2026 Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Edward "Blackbeard" ThatchVideo game (Voice and motion capture)LudwigGareth Fisher, a journalist at the East Anglia AdvertiserSeason 2 Marble Hall Murders Elmer Waysmith Six-part seriesTBARamblingGerryLead role
Audio work
Date Title Role Director Station – Westway Denny Hampton BBC World Service A Tiny Light in the Darkness Daniel Lu Kemp BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play Cut to the Heart Pete Kirsty Williams BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play Piper Alpha Toby Swift BBC Radio 3 Drama on 313 January 2015Doctor Who: The English Way of DeathPorteusNicholas BriggsNone, Big Finish Productions 12 October 2015 – present Doctor Who: Doom Coalition The Eleven Various None, Big Finish Productions Doctor Who: Ravenous A History of Paper Him Kirsty Williams BBC Radio 4 Afternoon PlayJanuary 2019 – March 2021For The Love of LeoLeo FabianiMarilyn Imrie, Michael Chaplin, Catherine BaileyBBC Radio 413 September 2019 – presentSpace 1999Commander John KoenigNicholas BriggsNone, Big Finish ProductionsNovember 2021 – November 2022UNIT: Nemesis The Eleven Ken BentleyNone, Big Finish Productions November 2025 The Archers Finlay Various BBC Radio 4
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work(s) Result 2014 British Academy Scotland Awards (BAFTA Scotland) Best Actor in Television Line of Duty 2015 British Academy Scotland Awards (BAFTA Scotland) Best Actor in Television Catastrophe 2017 British Academy Scotland Awards (BAFTA Scotland) Best Actor in Television Unforgotten 2018 Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) Awards Best Actor Unforgotten, Eric, Ernie and Me, Catastrophe 2022 British Academy Scotland Awards (BAFTA Scotland) Best Actor in Film Operation Mincemeat 2026 Prague Independent Film Festival Best Actor The Confession
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