Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson (born 4 April 1948) is a Northern Irish actor, most notable for playing Charlie Fairhead in the long-running BBC television medical drama series Casualty for 37 years, from its first episode in 1986 to his final episode in 2024. In 2017, it was revealed that this role has made Thompson the highest paid actor within the BBC with a salary of £350,000-£399,000 per annum. Following his exit from the show, Thompson joined the cast of hit Northern Irish police drama Blue Lights for its second season. Prior to the lead role in Casualty he starred in several films including The Long Good Friday, TV series such as Harry's Game and The Gentle Touch and several celebrated stints at The National Theatre. As a musician, he was also part of a folk duo with his twin sister Elaine in the 1960s. He married the actress Dee Sadler in 1989, having met her filming an episode of Casualty in 1987. Together they have one son, Charlie. He has another son from his previous marriage to his first wife Christine.
The Long Good Friday
as JeffIn the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate...
Movie page
Yanks
as KenDuring WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort....
Movie page
Breaking Glass
as AndyBreaking Glass is the story of punk singer Kate and her meteoric rise to stardom. Starting out...
Movie page
Resurrection Man
as Herbie FergusonBelfast, in 1970s. Victor Kelly is a young protestant man who hates the Catholics so much that...
Movie page
Wild Geese II
as HouriganA group of mercenaries is hired to spring Rudolf Hess from Spandau Prison in Berlin.
Movie page
The Price
as Frank CrossanGeoffrey Carr is a wealthy, key player in Britain's emerging computer industry, and newly...
Movie page
A Photograph
as ChetA man's life is turned upside down when he receives a mysterious photograph in the post.
Movie page
Fighting Back
as Bruce CurranA single mother returns to her home town after fifteen years of unhappy marriage and fights to...
Movie page
Gonks Go Beat
as Singer (Derek and Elaine)A swiftly assembled musical fantasy movie made to capitalise on the mid-Sixties, British craze...
Movie page
Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf
as SkinnerA repressed night-school teacher, secretly homosexual, struggles to cope with his demanding,...
Movie page
Penny From Heaven
as Homeless ManPenny is dead. She can't really remember how it happened. All she knows is she has to save the...
Movie page
Minder
as HarryThis comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and...
TV Show page
Bergerac
as WyattBergerac is a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the...
TV Show page
The Gentle Touch
as Detective Sergeant Jimmy FentonThe Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television...
TV Show page
Brookside
as uncreditedThe ground-breaking soap set in a housing estate on the outskirts of Liverpool.
TV Show page
Casualty
as Charlie FairheadDrama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department,...
TV Show page
Holby City
as Charlie FairheadDrama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the...
TV Show page
Blue Lights
as Robin GrahamFollows rookie police officers working in Belfast, a city in which being a frontline response...
TV Show page
Harry's Game
as Billy DownesA British Cabinet Minister is gunned down outside his home in London by a member of the...
TV Show page
Holby Blue
as Charlie FairheadThe police force at Holby South is tasked with the toughest job yet. Not only are they fighting...
TV Show page
Rock Follies
as uncreditedRock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a musical drama shown on British...
TV Show page