
John Shrapnel
Acting
127
Acting Credits
Biography
Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs....
Known For
Filmography

Hamlet Within
2022

Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story
2017
as Narrator (Voice)

King Charles III
2017
as Archbishop of Canterbury

The Lions Rule
2017
as Narrator (voice)
The Return of the Flying Scotsman
2016
as Narrator - (Voice)

Hamlet
2015
as Claudius/Ghost

Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
2015
as Camilo
OXI, an Act of Resistance
2014
as Creon

Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain
2014
as Narrator

National Theatre Live: Macbeth
2013
as Duncan/Seyton/Old Man

Run.
2013
as St. Peter

The Awakening
2011
as Reverend Hugh Purslow

An Organization of Dreams
2009
as Father

National Theatre Live: Phèdre
2009
as Théramène

Chemical Wedding
2008
as Crowley

The Duchess
2008
as General Grey

Mirrors
2008
as Lorenzo Sapelli

Apparitions
2008
as Cardinal Bukovak

Merlin
2008
as The Sarrum

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
2007
as Lord Howard

Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies
2007
as Himself (Narrator)

Once Upon a Time on the Westway
2007
as Billy Palmer

Alien Autopsy
2006
as Michael Kuhn

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
2006
as Pompey

Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic
2005
as Narrator (English Version)

Shadow of the Sword
2005
as Archbishop

Troy
2004
as Nestor

Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt
2004
as Narrator

Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome
2004
as Narrator

Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece
2004
as Narrator

I Am Not an Animal
2004
as Narrator (voice)

New Tricks
2004
as DAC John Felsham
Wild Women of Viramba
2003
as Narrator

The Race for Everest
2003
as Narrator

K-19: The Widowmaker
2002
as Admiral Bratyeev

Alone
2002
as Hannah

Claim
2002
as Lex Vandenberg

Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty
2002
as Narrator (English Version)

Whistle
2002
as Paul

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
2002
as Sergent Mike McCaffrey

Foyle's War
2002
as Raymond Brooks

The Body
2001
as Moshe Cohen

Animals of the Ocean Desert
2001
as Narrator

Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2
2001
as Narrator

The Gentleman Thief
2001
as Monty Sinclair

Waking the Dead
2001
as John Christie

Gladiator
2000
as Gaius

Supermassive Black Holes
2000
as Narrator

The 10th Kingdom
2000
as Governor of Prison

Notting Hill
1999
as PR Chief

Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
1999
as General Charette

Mary, Mother of Jesus
1999
as Simon

The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
1999
as Iwaszkiewicz

Lion Queen
1998
as Narrator (voice)

Invasion: Earth
1998
as Air Marshal Bentley

St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral
1997
as Narrator (English voice)

Bodyguards
1997
as Commander Alan MacIntyre

Predators Killing for a Living
1997

Jonathan Creek
1997
as Prof. Lance Graumann

Midsomer Murders
1997
as Max Jennings

Midsomer Murders
1997
as Leo Clarke
True Tilda
1997
as Reverand Glasson

Two Deaths
1996
as Cinca

101 Dalmatians
1996
as Skinner

England, My England
1995
as Samuel Pepys

King Arthur: His Life and Legends
1995

Kavanagh Q.C.
1995
as Mr. Justice Griffin

Fatherland
1994
as General Globus

Wycliffe
1994
as Dr. Sam Malvern

Selling Hitler
1993
as Gerd Schulte-Hillen
SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
1992
as Narrator

Hamlet
1992
as Claudius

Between the Lines
1992
as Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dunning

Between the Lines
1992
as D.C.C. Dunning

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
1992
as Claudius / The Ghost (voice)

G.B.H.
1991
as Dr Jacobs

For the Greater Good
1991
as Norman May-Boys MP

The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story
1990
as BKA Police Chief
Centrepoint
1990
as Claud Wareing

The Chief
1990
as Dan Cheyney

How to Get Ahead in Advertising
1989
as Psychiatrist
About Face
1989

Blackeyes
1989
as Detective Blake

Testimony
1988
as Andre Zhdanov

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
as Thomas Mann

Partition
1987
as General Flood

Personal Services
1987
as Lionel

Vanity Fair
1987
as Lord Steyne

Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
1986
as Creon

Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
1986
as Creon

Theban Plays: Antigone
1986
as Creon
Poppyland
1985
as George Sims

The Burston Rebellion
1985
as Rev. Charles Tucker Eland

Screen Two
1985
as Rev. Charles Tucker Eland

Screen Two
1985
as Heiger

Mr. Palfrey of Westminster
1984
as Adrian Vyner

Natural World
1983
as Narrator

King Lear
1982
as Earl of Kent

The Woman in White
1982
as Sir Percival Glyde

Timon of Athens
1981
as Alcibiades

Troilus & Cressida
1981
as Hector

Private Schulz
1981
as German Newsreel Commentator (voice, uncredited)
The Tom Machine
1980
The Victim
1980
as Vincent Craig

Gossip from the Forest
1979
as Matthias Erzberger

Edward & Mrs. Simpson
1978
as Maj. Alexander Hardinge

Flayed
1978
as Robert

Edward and Mrs Simpson
1978
as Major Alexander Hardinge

Armchair Thriller
1978
as Vincent Craig

Professional Foul
1977
as McKendrick
The Three Hostages
1977
as Gaudian

BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
as McKendrick

BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
as Robert
Hitting Town
1976
as Leonard Brazil (voice)

Hennessy
1975
as Tipaldi

King Lear
1975
as Duke of Cornwall

Space: 1999
1975
as Jack Tanner
Good Girl
1974
as Christopher Wimple

Pope Joan
1972
as Father James

Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
as Petya

Elizabeth R
1971
as Earl of Sussex

Justice
1971
as Roger Anderson
The Ha-Ha
1969
as Jamie
It's Called the Sugar Plum
1969
as Wally Zuckerman

Omnibus
1967
as Zborowski

BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Duke of Cornwall

BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Viktor Myshlaevsky