Creator / James Fleet

Rich as Croesus, thick as shit.

"I joined the drama society when I went to university. I studied engineering in Aberdeen, and they let me join the university drama society – I used to make the scenery. I did it purely to meet people and get a girlfriend, have a social life, I think. I don't know, maybe that seed was already planted, and I just didn't know. Certainly, I'd never been to the theatre; I didn’t know anything about acting or plays when I was nineteen or twenty. But it was something I liked straight away."

James Edward Fleet, (11 March 1952), is a British actor best known for playing Hugo Horton in The Vicar of Dibley.

His acting career began in The '80s, appearing in plays in the RSC. Earlier on in his career, had small roles in series such as Grange Hill and The Bill. In 1994, he played Tom in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Hugo Horton in The Vicar of Dibley, the latter of which he appeared in every episode.

He voiced Dog in Dog and Duck from 1999 to 2001 and starred in Brotherly Love in 1999. From 2000 to 2006, he played Captain Brimshaw in the radio comedy Revolting People. Another prominent radio role from this time was as Duncan Stonebridge MP in The Party Line in 2005.

In 2010, he was cast in Coronation Street as recently released convict Robbie Sloan, who helped Tony Gordon plot revenge on his ex-wife Carla Connor, although he was eventually shot by Tony during a siege. In December 2013, he played Mr. Bennett in Death Comes to Pemberley, a drama based on characters from Pride and Prejudice.

In 2020, he reunited with the Dibley leading lady, Dawn French, for a series of online specials called The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

---

Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:

Films

• Defence of the Realm (1985) — Ministry Man
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) — Tom
• Sense and Sensibility (1995) — John Dashwood
• Eskimo Day (1996) — Simon
• Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000) — Ray Patterson
• The Phantom of the Opera (2004) — Lefevre
• The Decoy Bride (2011) — William
• Mr. Turner (2014) — John Constable
• The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) — Tom
• Blithe Spirit (2020) — Harry Price
• The Lost King (2022) — John Ashdown-Hill

Series

• Grange Hill, 1 episode (1983) — Mr. Perkins
• Dempsey and Makepeace, episode "In the Dark" (1985) — Man in Office
• Screen Two, 4 episodes:
  • "They Never Slept" (1991) — Bob
  • "Common Pursuit" (1992) — Peter Wentworth
  • "Femme Fatale" (1993) — Algie
  • "Crossing the Floor" (1996) — Prime Minister
• The Bill, episode "Runaway" (1992) — Paul Morgan
• Screen One, episode "Running Late" (1992) — James Grahame
• Murder Most Horrid, episode "We All Hate Granny" (1994) — Tom
• Cracker, 3 episodes^{show list} "The Big Crunch: Part 1", "The Big Crunch: Part 2", "The Big Crunch: Part 3" (1994) — Michael Trant
• The Vicar of Dibley, 20 episodes (1994-2007) — Hugo Horton
• The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, 1 episode (1996) — James Bland
• Harry Enfield and Chums, 1 episode (1997) — Mr. Banks
• Monarch of the Glen, 1 episode (2004) — Liam
• Midsomer Murders, 2 episodes:
  • "Sauce for the Goose" (2005) — Ralph Plummer
  • "The Curse of the Ninth" (2017) — Michael Falconer
• Legit, episode "Danny, Champion of the World" (2007) — Peter
• Little Dorrit, 9 episodes (2008) — Frederick Dorrit
• Skins, episode "Pandora" (2009) — Martin
• Hotel Babylon, 1 episode (2009) — Martin Armstrong
• Micro Men, 1 episode (2009) — Kenneth Baker
• Coronation Street, 7 episodes (2010) — Robbie Sloane
• Being Human, episode "Daddy Ghoul" (2011) — George Senior
• Death in Paradise, episode "Death in the Clinic" (2013) — Jeremy Tipping
• Citizen Khan, episode "Alia's College" (2013) — Professor Stevens
• Death Comes to Pemberley, 2 episodes (2013) — Mr. Bennett
• Father Brown, episode "The Grim Reaper" (2014) — Dr. Adam Crawford
• Outlander, 6 episodes^{show list} "Sassenach", "Castle Leoch", "Rent", "Both Sides Now", "By the Pricking of My Thumbs", "Through a Glass, Darkly" (2014-16) — Reverend Reginald Wakefield
• Bad Education, 2 episodes^{show list} "After School Clubs", "Sports Day" (2014) — Richard
• Plebs, episode "The Patron" (2014) — Gaius Maecenas
• Indian Summers, 4 episodes^{show list} "Black Kite", "White Gods", "The Empty Chair", "Hide and Seek" (2016) — Lord Hawthorne
• Houdini & Doyle, episode "Bedlam" (2016) — Dr. Pilsen
• The Hollow Crown, 2 episodes^{show list} "Henry VI Part 2", "Richard III" (2016) — Hastings
• Patrick Melrose, episode "Never Mind" (2018) — Sir Victor Eisen
• Unforgotten, 6 episodes (2018) — Chris Lowe
• Belgravia, 5 episodes (2020) — The Honorable Reverend Stephen Bellasis
• Bridgerton, 3 episodes^{show list} "The Duke and I", "After the Rain", "The Choice" (2020-22) — George III
• The Watch, 2 episodes^{show list} "Ook", "Not on My Watch" (2021) — Archchancellor of Unseen University
• All Creatures Great and Small, episode "Semper Prodrediens" (2021) — Colonel Merrick

---