---
name: "Tony Gardner"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tony-gardner"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "10 January 1964"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 79
updated: "2026-09-17T01:59:10.599503+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Tony Gardner

Actor. Born 10 January 1964 in Ashton-under-Lyne,  Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 10 January 1964, Ashton-under-Lyne,  Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, UK
- **Active:** 1990–2011

## Biography

Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor, comedian and doctor. He qualified as a physician at Guy's Hospital in 1987 and as a general practitioner in 1993. He combined medicine and comedy in the 1990s as half of the double act Struck Off and Die with Phil Hammond, and later left medicine to pursue acting full time. He serves on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity.

Gardner gained prominence playing Brian Johnson in the CITV series *My Parents Are Aliens* (1999–2006), for which he also wrote episodes, and Michael in the BBC sitcom *Lead Balloon*. He played Professor Tony Shales in the Channel 4 series *Fresh Meat* (2011–2016) and John in five series of the BBC drama *Last Tango in Halifax* (2012–2020). Other television roles include Dan Miller in *The Thick of It* and Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Smith in *Bluestone 42* (2013–2015). He has also appeared in stage productions directed by Sir Peter Hall.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Fresh Meat* (2011), Fi1m 74, as Professor Tony Shales — [page](https://film.one/tv/fresh-meat.md)
- *The Thick of It* (2005), Fi1m 89, as Dan Miller — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-thick-of-it.md)
- *Drop the Dead Donkey* (1990), Fi1m 74, Actor — [page](https://film.one/tv/drop-the-dead-donkey.md)

## Also known for

- *Doctor Who* (2005), Douglas
- *Cockneys vs Zombies* (2012), Clive
- *Midsomer Murders* (1997), Russell Grundy
- *Death in Paradise* (2011), Ian Matlock
- *Lovesick* (2014), Julian
- *Restoration* (1995), Gallant
- *Father Brown* (2013), Monsignor Russo
- *The Escape Artist* (2013), Trevor Harris

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/tony-gardner