William Gaminara

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William Gaminara
Born1956 (age 67–68)
Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia
Occupation(s)Actor, writer
Years active1985–present

William Gaminara (born 1956) is a Rhodesian-born British actor, screenwriter and playwright, probably best known for playing pathologist Professor Leo Dalton on the television series Silent Witness, from 2002 to 2013. His plays include According to Hoyle, The Three Lions and The Nightingales.


Early life and education[edit]

Gaminara was born in 1956 in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia.[1] He was educated at Winchester College, Hampshire, England, and Lincoln College at the University of Oxford.[citation needed]

Career[edit]

Actor and narrator[edit]

Gaminara had a minor role in the 1986 film Comrades, directed by Bill Douglas.[1] His early television credits include Dr Andrew Bower in Casualty (1989–92) and Will Newman in Attachments (2000–02).[2][3]

His most notable television role was Professor Leo Dalton in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness. He played Dalton from 2002 until 2013, and reprised the role in 2017 in the final episode of series 20. The role was at first subsidiary to Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton, but when Burton left the series and Gaminara's character Dalton headed the laboratory, the drama evolved into a three-hander between Dalton, Harry Cunningham (Tom Ward) and Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox).[4]

After leaving Silent Witness, Gaminara appeared in several theatrical roles. In 2014, he played the photojournalist Paul Watson in Dan O'Brien's The Body of an American, a two-hander with Damien Molony. Gaminara describes the play as a "challenging and unconventional script which makes challenging and unconventional demands of an actor".[1] Lyn Gardner, writing in The Guardian, describes the acting as "knockout", with the "muscular quality of a contest" whilst being "scrupulously generous"; she highlights the way in which the two actors each embody a large number of characters and are required to swap between roles abruptly.[5] The production was also praised by Dominic Maxwell in The Times for "superb" acting on the part of both leads.[6]

The following year, he played the lead character, Pastor Paul, in Lucas Hnath's The Christians at the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival, giving a "superbly controlled performance", which "nails the slow, measured but warmly faux-colloquial rhetoric of the American church", according to a review in The Independent.[7] Gardner, in The Guardian, describes Gaminara as "suggesting both the charisma and the arrogance" of his character,[8] and Dominic Maxwell, in a review for The Times, considers that Gaminara "propels it all with conviction".[9] Also in 2015, Gaminara took the supporting role of General Groves in the premiere of Tom Morton-Smith's Oppenheimer by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon. Michael Billington, in a 5-star review for The Guardian, highlights "outstanding performances" from Gaminara among others,[10] as does Kate Kellaway, in a later Guardian review.[11]

In 2016, he appeared in Ibsen's An Enemy of the People at the Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by Howard Davies; Gaminara plays the principal antagonist Peter Stockmann "chillingly", according to Christopher Hart's review for The Sunday Times.[12] Susannah Clapp, in a review for The Observer, describes Gaminara's performance as "finely slippery",[13] and Ann Treneman in The Times praises his "small-town fury".[14]

Since his time on Silent Witness, Gaminara has taken occasional television roles, including in The Trial of Christine Keeler (BBC One; 2019–20), the crime drama Honour (ITV; 2020), as well as guest appearances in the sitcom Catastrophe (Channel 4) and the crime drama Death In Paradise (BBC One; 2022).[15] He plays Dr Richard Locke in the long-running radio soap opera, The Archers.[2] He also voices audiobooks,[16] including Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels[17][18] and John Christopher's The Tripods.[citation needed]

Playwright and screenwriter[edit]

Gaminara's first play, Back Up the Hearse and Smell the Flowers (1992), about water-purifier salesmen, is influenced by David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.[19][20] Michael Billington, in a review of a 1992 production at Hampstead Theatre for The Guardian, praises its encapsulation of the "guile, bluster and conviction" of a "perfect pitch" but criticises its "heavy-handed tendency to moralise".[19] The director Dominic Dromgoole describes it as "smoothly accomplished, but unambitious".[21]

His second play, According to Hoyle (1995), takes a comedic approach to male identity and the relationships between men using the setting of a poker game.[21][22][23] Dromgoole describes it as "quite wonderful", but overshadowed by the success of Dealer's Choice, a play on the same topic by Patrick Marber, which came out at almost the same time.[21] Lyn Gardner, in a review of a 1995 production at Hampstead Theatre for The Guardian, describes it as a "feisty, sharply entertaining comedy" with a "rather nifty construction" employing interleaved timelines, and praises the "whiplash severity" of its dialogue.[24] Benedict Nightingale, in a review for The Times, writes that Gaminara has a "gift for funny dialogue" and considers the play's conclusion to demonstrate the independence of his viewpoint.[20] During this period Gaminara also wrote episodes for the television series This Life (1997) and The Lakes (1999),[2] as well as the screenplay for the BBC adaptation of Rachel Morris's novel, Ella and the Mothers (2002).[2][25]

His play The Three Lions was performed at the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013, produced by Philip Wilson. A comedy about the unsuccessful English bid for the 2018 World Cup, it brings together David Beckham (Sean Browne), David Cameron (Dugald Bruce-Lockhart) and Prince William (Tom Davey).[26][27][28] Lucinda Everett, writing in The Daily Telegraph, describes it as a "gleefully irreverent glimpse 'behind the scenes'" with a "zingy script".[28] A reviewer for The Independent writes that the "neat script combines light satire with good, old-fashioned farce".[29]

In 2018, his comedy–drama The Nightingales was produced at the New Theatre in Cardiff, directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring Ruth Jones. Jones, an acquaintance of Gaminara's, describes the play as "gripping" and "really funny", saying that Gaminara has a "wonderful ear for naturalistic dialogue" and "has tuned in with such insight to human nature and the ways we behave in groups and also how we relate to each other and what we choose to reveal about ourselves."[30] Sam Marlowe, in a critical review for The Times of a production at the Theatre Royal, Bath, describes the play as "an inconsequential, darkish comedy" with "cardboard" characters and dialogue reminiscent of a "dated sitcom".[31]

Personal life[edit]

Gaminara is married to Kate Lock, also an actor; they have two sons.[32]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Comrades James Loveless
2002 The Law Alan Vine TV film

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Paradise Postponed Peter Episode: "Death of a Saint"
1987 The Mistress Customer Episode: "Series 2, Episode 2"
Bulman Willie Bruce Recurring role, 2 episodes
1988 Screen Two Tim Sage Episode: "Dead Lucky"
1989-1993 Casualty Andrew Bower Series regular, 13 episodes
1991 The Bill Inspector Bruce Recurring role, 2 episodes
Soldier Soldier Major Harry 'Dickie' Bird Episode: "Fun and Games"
The House of Eliott Robert Adams Recurring role, 2 episodes
1994 A Dark-Adapted Eye Andrew Mini-series, 2 episodes
1996 The Bill Dr. Anthony Perry Episode: "Helping Hands"
Dangerfield Matthew Davidson Episode: "Games"
1997 Rag Nymph Mr. Quinton Mini-series, 2 episodes
1998 The Broker's Man Superintendent Staples Episode: "Pensioned Off"
1999 Hope and Glory Colin Ward
2000 Attachments Will Newman
2001 People Like Us Captain Paul Connors Episode: "The Airline Pilot"
2002-2017 Silent Witness Leo Dalton Series regular, 107 episodes
2003 Spooks Victor Gleeson Episode: "Spiders"
2015 Father Brown Samuel Harrogate Episode: "The Paradise of Thieves"
2017 Electric Dreams Dr. El Ganol Episode: "Human Is"
The Tunnel Wesley Pollinger Recurring role, 2 episodes
2018 The Alienist Alexander MacLeod Episode: "Hildebrandt's Starling"
Becca's Bunch Uncle Ned Series regular, 21 episodes
2019 Catastrophe Stephen Episode: "Series 4, Episode 4"
Summer of Rockets Dick Armstrong Recurring role, 2 episodes
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Additional roles Recurring, 5 episodes
2020 The Trial of Christine Keeler John Hobson Recurring role, 2 episodes
Honour David Lederman Episode: "Part Two"
2022 Death in Paradise Chris Darlow Episode: "Series 11, Episode 3"

Radio[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Archers Dr. Richard Locke [33]

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2022 Elden Ring Kenneth Haight [34]

Theatre credits[edit]

Year Title Role Venue
1984 Bloody Poetry Dr. William Polidori Hampstead Theatre, London
1990 A Single Man Jim Greenwich Theatre, London
More Than One Antoinette Rochester Young Vic, London
1991 Broadway Bound Stanley Jerome Greenwich Theatre, London
1994 The Children's Hour Dr. Joseph Cardin Royal National Theatre, London
2013 Less Than Kind Sir John UK Tour
2014 The Body of an American Paul Watson The Gate Theatre, London & Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Twelve Angry Men Juror 10 Garrick Theatre, London
The Shoemaker's Holiday Sir Roger Otley Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
2015 Oppenheimer Leslie Groves Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Christians Pastor Paul Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh & The Gate Theatre, London
2016 An Enemy of the People Peter Stockmann Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Rosie Bannister (22 January 2014). 20 Questions with... William Gaminara. WhatsOnStage (accessed 9 October 2022)
  2. ^ a b c d "William Gaminara". BBC Drama.
  3. ^ Jason Deans (28 August 2000). Welcome to seethru. The Guardian (accessed 9 October 2022)
  4. ^ Robert Hampson (1 January 2017). Sites of death in some recent British fiction. New Formations (89/90): 212–29
  5. ^ Lyn Gardner (27 January 2014). Review: Theatre: The Body of an American: Gate, London 4/5. The Guardian, p. 27
  6. ^ Dominic Maxwell (22 January 2014). Flashes of the whole picture; The great acting keeps you going in an unfocused play about war photography. The Times, p. 48
  7. ^ The Independent, p. 38 (25 August 2015)
  8. ^ Lyn Gardner (10 August 2015). Edinburgh festival review: The Christians – a doctrinal drama with little real fervour; Traverse, Edinburgh: Lucas Hnath's play probes the divisions opened among a religious community by their leader's epiphany, but lacks the right emotional intensity. The Guardian
  9. ^ Dominic Maxwell (19 August 2015). Happy to be converted; The church takes centre stage in this exciting drama, says Dominic Maxwell. The Times, p. 11
  10. ^ Michael Billington (23 January 2015). Oppenheimer five-star review – father of atomic bomb becomes tragic hero at RSC; The Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon: Tom Morton-Smith's massively impressive play explores the moral chain reactions before and after the bombing of Hiroshima. The Guardian
  11. ^ Kate Kellaway (1 February 2015). Oppenheimer review – an ache for humanity; Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: The RSC succeed in making an epic, albeit a remote one, out of this tale of the boffin behind the atomic bomb. The Guardian
  12. ^ Christopher Hart (8 May 2016). Bathed in glory; this exhilarating Chichester Ibsen is a savagely articulate success, says Christopher Hart. The Sunday Times, p. 20
  13. ^ Susannah Clapp (8 May 2016) An Enemy of the People review – all society on a stage; Chichester Festival theatre: Hugh Bonneville as a whistleblower driven by sibling rivalry shows how Ibsen's play switches emphasis with every staging. The Observer
  14. ^ Ann Treneman (5 May 2016). A political morality tale for thinking modern voters. The Times, p. 25
  15. ^ Paul Hirons (21 January 2022). Death In Paradise cast: Why did William Gaminara leave Silent Witness? Entertainment Daily (accessed 9 October 2022)
  16. ^ "Drama Faces: William Gaminara". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 January 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  17. ^ Theresa Connors (15 May 1999). Sharpe's Triumph. Library Journal 124 (9): 147
  18. ^ Luana Ellis (15 May 1990). Sharpe's Eagle. Library Journal 115 (9): 118–20
  19. ^ a b Michael Billington (14 April 1992). Arts: Hampstead Theatre - Back Up The Hearse. The Guardian, p. 34
  20. ^ a b Benedict Nightingale (13 December 1995). Jokers and wild cards are aces: According to Hoyle: Hampstead. The Times (65449), p. 35
  21. ^ a b c Dominic Dromgoole. The Full Room, p. 96 (Bloomsbury Academic; 2000) ISBN 9780413772305
  22. ^ Graham Saunders. Patrick Marber's Closer, pp. 5–6 (A&C Black; 2013) ISBN 9781441171047
  23. ^ Glittering night as theatre group collects array of awards. Yorkshire Evening Post (21 July 2007)
  24. ^ Lyn Gardner (18 December 1995). Theatre: According To Hoyle - Hampstead Theatre. The Guardian, p. 10
  25. ^ William Gallagher (9 August 2002). Ella and the Mothers left wanting, BBC (accessed 10 October 2022)
  26. ^ Fiona Mountford (8 September 2013). Barmy goings-on with Beckham. Evening Standard, 14725223
  27. ^ Prince William lampooned in Edinburgh play; A farce, due to premiere at the Edinburgh Festival on Saturday, sees the Duke of Cambridge subjected to a four-letter tirade from David Cameron, swap trousers with Boris Johnson and talk tattoos with David Beckham. The Daily Telegraph (31 July 2013)
  28. ^ a b Lucinda Everett (2 August 2013). What happened in that room? Daily Telegraph, p. 24
  29. ^ The Three Lions. The Independent, p. 40 (6 Aug. 2013)
  30. ^ Ruth Jones (16 November 2018). 'I was expecting to decline but fell in love with this play' Ruth Jones is taking to the stage for the first time in more than a decade to play the title role in a brand new play. As it tours to Cardiff, we ask the Stella and Gavin & Stacey star some questions about The Nightingales and performing in her home city. Western Mail, p. 2
  31. ^ Sam Marlowe (8 November 2018). The Nightingales; Theatre. The Times, p. 11
  32. ^ Silent Witness: Characters & Actors: Leo Dalton/William Gaminara, BBC (2014) (accessed 9 October 2022)
  33. ^ "Who is Richard Locke?". BBC. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  34. ^ "Elden Ring (Video Game 2022)". IMDb. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

Further reading[edit]

  • Mark Ravenhill. "Plays about men: Mark Ravenhill, Kevin Elyot, William Gaminara". In State of Play: Playwrights on Playwriting (David Edgar, ed.), pp. 48–51 (Faber; 1999)

External links[edit]

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