Line #31 Creator/MarkGatiss


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nebulous_2006.jpg]]
2	->''"Some facts in life are immutable. One is, trust no-one who uses the word 'trope'."''
3	-->-- '''[[https://twitter.com/Markgatiss/status/511831745344573440 Mark Gatiss]]'''
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5	British writer and actor born on 7 October 1966 in Sedgefield, England, Mark Gatiss is a [[OopNorth Darlington]] man best known for three things:
6	* ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen''
7	* ''Series/DoctorWho''
8	* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''
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10	Gatiss is a long-time big ''Doctor Who'' fan, to put it mildly; he has written for eight of the Doctors, wrote and acted in three official approved spoofs and contributed to seven ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audios. Topping all of that though are his writing credits for the television show proper; "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]" for Nine, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern The Idiot's Lantern]]" for Ten, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks Victory of the Daleks]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E9NightTerrors Night Terrors]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E8ColdWar Cold War]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]" for Eleven "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E3RobotOfSherwood Robot of Sherwood]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E9SleepNoMore Sleep No More]]", and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E9EmpressOfMars Empress of Mars]]" for Twelve.
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12	He provided an uncredited voice for a space spitfire pilot in "Victory of the Daleks" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes to War]]", as well as other roles in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment The Lazarus Experiment]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong The Wedding of River Song]]" (the latter under a pseudonym and heavy prosthetics). His largest ''Doctor Who'' role to date was as The Captain in Twelve's regeneration story "[[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime Twice Upon a Time]]". That makes him the ''only'' person to write ''and'' appear in the ''Doctor Who'' TV series no less than five times.
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14	And as if that wasn't enough, he's also the first person to play ''both'' the Doctor (in "The Web of Caves", a comedy spoof) and the Master (in "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoUnboundE2SympathyForTheDevil Sympathy for the Devil]]", a Creator/BigFinish WhatIf audio and in the Master's Unbound incarnation across several audios, credited as Sam Kisgart). Also of note in this department, is the fact he can do a pretty much dead-on Creator/AnthonyAinley impression.
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16	He appeared in a [[LiveEpisode live version]] of ''Series/TheQuatermassExperiment'' in 2005 with Creator/DavidTennant. During a break in rehearsals, Tennant whispered to him that he was the new Doctor that Gatiss would write "The Idiot's Lantern" for.
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18	Also appears in the fourth and fifth series of ''Series/HorribleHistories'', along with fellow ''League of Gentlemen'' stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.
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20	He is also one of the two creators of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', and plays the character of Mycroft Holmes.
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22	He has a minor role in ''Series/GameOfThrones'', playing Braavosi banker Tycho Nestoris.
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24	Aside from fiction, he also wrote and presented the BBC documentary ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Horror A History of Horror]]'' detailing the genesis and evolution of horror films over the last century.
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26	Outside of television, he's the author of a series of TwoFistedTales-style detective novels, starring LoveableRogue spy Lucifer Box. It's been described as "''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''{{Literature/Flashman}}'' in [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom the Temple of Doom]]".
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28	His partner is actor Ian Hallard, who (of course) has appeared in ''Doctor Who'' and also in the ''AudioPlay/{{Gallifrey}}'' audio series.
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30	----
31	!!This actor's work provides examples of:
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33	* AwesomeDearBoy: He said that his role on ''Series/{{Being Human\|UK}}'' was his favorite. He said that since he grew up a huge fan of Creator/ChristopherLee and Film/HammerHorror films, getting to play the ''Being Human''-verse equivalent of Dracula was a dream come true. [[invoked]]
34	* DyeingForYourArt: Dyed his hair darker for the part of Mycroft Holmes in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. [[invoked]]
35	* OldShame: His and Creator/DavidWalliams' 1999 ''Series/DoctorWho'' sketch "The Pitch of Doom" had a line in which Walliams' character seemingly dismisses the post-Creator/TomBaker Doctors as talentless nobodies. He regretted the line as soon as the sketch was broadcast, and ensured that it was removed for all subsequent airings.
36	** Best not to mention ''The King's Men'' either. A novel written when he was young and published under a pseudonym, it's basically gay porn with much PurpleProse.
37	* PromotedFanboy: He was a big fan of ''Series/DoctorWho'' well before he started writing for first the spin-offs and then the TV revival, and was also a big fan of ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' before writing ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.
38	%%* TrollingCreator: Has been taking lessons in the art from Creator/StevenMoffat. And acing them. Damn him.
39	* WrittenByCastMember: Co-wrote ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' while playing characters on those shows.

Context Creator / MarkGatiss