Richard David-Caine (born 5 April 1987) is an English actor, writer and voiceover artist. Between 2013 and 2019 he played the character of Line in the CBeebies series Swashbuckle. He is also part of the key ensembles in the BBC comedies Horrible Histories and Class Dismissed; for the latter he was nominated in the 2017 and 2019 RTS Awards for Best Performance in a Comedy. In 2020, he co-created, wrote and starred in Big Fat Like, a sketch comedy show pastiching the Internet.
Personal life David-Caine is from Ruislip, North-west London. He graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2009.
In 2020, whilst promoting his one-man show 'Tall, Dark and Anxious', Richard opened up about his personal struggles with his mental health and urged anyone else struggling to reach out for help.
Career In 2009, David-Caine set up his own comedy group, Four Screws Loose, along with Joseph Elliott, Conan House and Thom Ford. The group performed five shows in successive years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as performing at Bestival, Latitude Festival, Underbelly Southbank Festival, Brighton Fringe and Adelaide Fringe Festival. They were selected as New Act of the Year (NATYS: New Acts of the Year Show) finalists 2013 and featured on BBC Radio 4's Sketchorama and BBC Radio 1's Fun and Filth Cabaret. The group's style revolved around high energy routines, physical comedy and audience interaction and garnered mostly positive reviews.
David-Caine's first lead TV role came when he and Elliott were cast as the comedy double act Cook and Line on CBeebies' new pirate gameshow, Swashbuckle. The show was a hit and lead to other appearances on the channel including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest (RSC co-productions) and the annual Christmas shows. David-Caine was also selected as part of the core cast in BAFTA-winning comedy sketch show, Horrible Histories. As well as this, he has starred in five series of BBC mockumentary, Class Dismissed.
In 2020 Richard developed, wrote and starred in his own sketch comedy series, Big Fat Like, alongside comedy partner, Joseph Elliott. The show satirises YouTube and also features Amy Gledhill and Ibinabo Jack. Other notable work includes BBC Three sitcoms Dead Air (as best friend, Hardip) and People Just Do Nothing (as Chabuddy G's boss, Sam). Richard voices a variety of characters in CBBC comedy, The Zoo, Entertainment One's animated series Ricky Zoom and CBeebies' Supertato, based on the popular book series.
In 2022, David-Caine returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with his debut, one-man show, 'Tall, Dark and Anxious'. The show proved popular and earned him the Amused Moose Comedy Award for Most Outstanding Show, and a subsequent Soho Theatre transfer the following year. In 2023, he was featured in the Royal National Theatre production of Dave Malloy's The Witches.
Filmography Television
Year Title Role Channel Notes 2012 Skins: Redux Rupert E4 1 episode 2013–2019 Swashbuckle Line CBeebies, BBC One 156 episodes 2015 Dead Air Hardip BBC Three 2015–2016 Justin's House Line, Oogie Boogie Plant CBeebies 4 episodes 2015–2019 Class Dismissed Various CBBC 52 episodes2016 CBeebies A Midsummer Night's Dream Line CBeebies Shakespeare Live! From the RSC Gabriel Spencer BBC Two 2016–present Horrible Histories Various CBBC Ongoing2017 Big Field Various BBC Three 8 episodes InterNOT Various BBC iPlayer 8 episodes 2017–2018 People Just Do Nothing Sam BBC Three 4 episodes2019 Doctors Tahir Wakim BBC One 1 episode2020 Avenue 5 Waiter HBO 2 episodes Big Fat Like Various CBBC 10 episodes2021 Finding Alice Ralph ITV 1 episode Midsomer Murders Simeon Dagley ITV 1 episode Murder They Hope Tariq Gold 1 episode 2022 Better Things Very Tall Man FX 1 episode 2022–present Supertato Tomato CBeebies, 67 episodes
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