McFarlane was born on 15 September 1961 in Upper Clapton, London, to Jamaican parents.^[1] His father, Sidney McFarlane, MBE, served in the RAF and his mother, Gwendolyn McFarlane, worked in the NHS. His father was appointed an MBE in 1999 for voluntary service to the community and for service with the Ministry of Defence.^[2] The family subsequently moved several times before settling in Lincoln in the East Midlands, where McFarlane grew up.^[3] He attended the Perse School, Cambridge, and later read drama at Loughborough University, graduating in 1983.^[4][5][6]

Television edit

McFarlane's first professional television role was in 1985 with a three episode guest stint, as Detective Sergeant Watson, in ITV's hit police procedural Dempsey and Makepeace.^[7] From there, he would go on to feature in London Weekend Television's made-for-TV film Dutch Girls, alongside Colin Firth and fellow Outlander alumni Bill Paterson.^[8] The next year he featured in an episode of London Weekend Television's maternity mini-series To Have and To Hold, which focused on a surrogate mother carrying a child for her sister.^[9] In 1988, McFarlane guest starred in a season two episode of ITV's drama Bust, which followed a man in the wake of bankruptcy.^[10]

1992 saw McFarlane appear in CITV's children's series Tales From the Poop Deck, where he portrayed Lieutenant Parkinson of HMS Intrepid, and a guest appearance on several episodes of Channel 4's sitcom Sean's Show.^[11][12] Later that year he would feature in an episode of mystery series Virtual Murder, an episode of BBC's anthology series Screen One entitled Black and Blue, and the made-for-TV film Lenny Henry: In Dreams.^[13][14][15] In 1993 he would guest star in children's series Runaway Bay and ITV's comedy Jeeves and Wooster, which focused on Hugh Laurie's Wooster and Stephen Fry's Jeeves.^[16][17] Two years later he would have guest appearances on ITV's Class Act and BBC's police procedural Backup.^[18][19]

McFarlane would go on, in 1996, to feature in an episode of BBC's Rowan Atkinson led police comedy The Thin Blue Line, Channel 4's made-for-TV film The Final Passage, and the finale of ITV's four part thriller series Circles of Deceit.^[20][21][22]

His numerous TV credits include Judge John Deed, Jonathan Creek, Casualty, Death in Paradise, Father Brown and Holby City.^[23] He has also appeared in two of the UK's most-watched soap operas. He appeared in five episodes of Coronation Street from August to September 2010 as a consultant neurosurgeon, Mr Jordan, and played DCI Irving in an episode of EastEnders in April 2014 as part of the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline.

He has also made regular appearances in British TV comedy, in the shows The Fast Show, Randall & Hopkirk, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Harry and Paul and The Thin Blue Line. He played Inspector Norris in the Black Books episode The Blackout, Inspector Terrence Brown in the first episode of Dirk Gently and voiced the Judge in the 2016 revival of the sitcom Porridge.

He also featured in the CBBC shows M.I. High and Hounded as the evil Dr Muhahahaha.

Film edit

McFarlane's first film was 1996's short film A Mulatto Song, which focused on the life of George Bridgetower, a virtuoso violinist from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.^[24][25] The next year would see him feature in the direct-to-film film I'd Like A Word With You, a corporate training video on how to deal with discipline interviews.^[26] He portrayed Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb in the critically acclaimed films Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). He has also made numerous appearances in Doctor Who, voicing the Heavenly Host in the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned" and playing Moran in the "Under the Lake" and "Before the Flood" episodes of the ninth series^[27] from 2015. In addition, he also appeared in the third series of Torchwood, Children of Earth, as the American military representative Colonel Pierce.

He appeared alongside Matt Smith and Natalie Dormer in the action horror film Patient Zero (2018). He then appeared as the governor in the 2019 thriller film Crawl, featuring Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper.

Voice acting edit

McFarlane's first voice role was in 1994 as Othello in S4C's Emmy Award winning animated series Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, which adapted and condensed classic Shakespearean plays for children.^[28] The next year would see him voice the main villain in BBC's animated series Oscar's Orchestra, which explored a future where music was banned.^[29][30] In 1996, McFarlane voiced two characters, God and Goliath, in the Emmy winning animated series Testament: The Bible in Animation.^[31][32] From there he would go on to voice the recurring role of Sergeant Slipper, from 1996 to 1998, in the animated Dennis the Menace cartoon Dennis and Gnasher.^[33]

His best-known voice roles include JJ and Skip in the original series of Bob the Builder, and as the narrator on the ITV gameshow The Cube. He has also voiced Jonah in the 1997 animated series Captain Pugwash, Bulgy the Double Decker Bus and Beresford the Crane in Thomas & Friends and its 2017 feature film Journey Beyond Sodor.^{[34][non-primary source needed]} In addition, he played the part of Elvis the horse in Iconicles, Sparky the dragon in Mike the Knight, voiced several characters in the episode "The Sweater" of The Amazing World of Gumball.^{[citation needed]}, and as well as Police Constable Malcolm Williams in the twelfth series of Fireman Sam and its 2020 1-hour special, Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky.

He played US General Trent Stone in the 2014 original audio drama Osiris by Everybodyelse Productions.

Video games edit

McFarlane has lent his voice to numerous video games, the earliest being 1996's Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. He would go on to voice characters in G-Police, Codename: Tenka, and The City of Lost Children in 1997.^[35] He also voiced Greg in the Buzz! quiz game series, the character Avalon Centrifuge in the 2011 game LittleBigPlanet 2, and provided additional dialogue for Batman: Arkham Knight. He played "The Forgotten One", the central villain of the two downloadable content packs for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.^[36] Also lending his voice to Thunder, in the first Fable video game.

Theatre edit

In 2013, McFarlane appeared with Lenny Henry in a critically acclaimed revival of August Wilson's Fences at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End.^[37][38]

On 30 June 1991, McFarlane married his wife, Kate, with whom he has three children. He divides his time between homes in Lincoln and North London.

McFarlane is an avid supporter of Lincoln City F.C.

In June 2023, McFarlane announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.^[39]

Film edit

Television edit

Theatre edit

Radio edit

Video games edit

• Colin McFarlane at IMDb