# Blake Harrison
**Blake Harrison** is an English actor best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the E4 sitcom *The Inbetweeners* (2008–2010) and its two film spin-offs. Born in 1985 in Peckham, south London, he has since built a career across television comedy and drama, film, and West End theater, with credits ranging from the American sitcom *[The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-increasingly-poor-decisions-of-todd-margaret)* to the BBC drama *A Very English Scandal*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985, Peckham, London, England[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/) |
| Signature role | Neil Sutherland in *The Inbetweeners*, three series on E4 (2008–2010) plus the 2011 and 2014 films[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/) |
| Training | BRIT School from age 14; East 15 Acting School from 2007[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/) |
| Box office | *The Inbetweeners Movie* (2011) grossed over £45 million on a £3.5 million budget, at the time the highest-grossing UK comedy[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html) |
| Other notable roles | Dave in *The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret*; Private Pike in *Dad's Army* (2016); Andrew 'Gino' Newton in *A Very English Scandal* (2017)[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/) • [4](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/blake-harrison/) |
| Theatre | West End debut in *Step 9 (of 12)* at Trafalgar Studios (2012); Ogie in *Waitress* at the Adelphi Theatre (2019)[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html) • [5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Interview-Blake-Harrison-Chats-WAITRESS-at-Adelphi-Theatre-20190805) |
| Recent and upcoming | *Maigret* (2025, Joseph Torrence), *Bookish* (2025, Sergeant Morris), *The Inbetweeners 3* for Netflix (2027, Neil Sutherland)[6](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/51619/blake-harrison) • [7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/blake_harrison/) |
## Early life and training
Harrison grew up in Peckham, a working-class area of south London, and decided early that he wanted to act; in interviews he has said there was never a plan B[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). Before drama school he appeared as a workhouse boy in the West End musical *Oliver!*, then joined the [BRIT School](https://www.edgepedia.org/brit-school), the state-funded performing arts school in Croydon, at 14, where he studied drama and dance with musical theater in mind[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). He went on to the East 15 Acting School, part of the [University of Essex](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-essex), from 2007[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/). After leaving drama school he supported himself with night work, sticking labels inside buses between 8 pm and 4 am, while performing in short films and on stage[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html).
## The Inbetweeners
Harrison's first significant screen role was a two-episode run on the crime show *The Bill* in 2008[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/). Later that year he was cast in a [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) pilot that was then working under the title "Baggy Trousers", about four awkward teenage boys at a British secondary school. Producers were recasting the roles nationwide, and Harrison auditioned around ten times before convincing them that the dim, good-natured Neil was his part; he had initially prepared for the role of Simon instead, assuming Neil was not for him[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html).
The series, created and written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, became a surprise hit, running for three series and winning Baftas, and its vocabulary of invented slang entered teenage speech[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). The 2011 spin-off film, in which Harrison starred alongside [Simon Bird](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-bird), James Buckley, and Joe Thomas, grossed over £45 million on a £3.5 million budget and sold 1.3 million DVDs in its first week of release; it was the highest-grossing UK comedy at the time[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). A second film followed in 2014[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/). In 2026 Netflix confirmed a third film, with Harrison, Bird, Buckley, and Thomas reprising their roles for release in 2027[7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/blake_harrison/).
## Breaking the type
Neil's slack-jawed stupidity made Harrison a comic asset but raised an immediate professional problem: typecasting. In a 2012 interview he said he had already turned down several dumb roles, asking "Is there any way that it's going to be better than The Inbetweeners?"[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). He has said that avoiding being the "dumb Cockney in a comedy" shaped his choices in the following years[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/blake-harrison-interview-inbetweeners-waitress-b1934027.html).
His post-*Inbetweeners* work deliberately spans genres. In the American-British sitcom *The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret*, starring [David Cross](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-cross), he played Dave, the title character's lone employee[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/). Dramatic credits followed, including the [BBC One](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-one) thriller *Trust Me* (2017) and Andrew 'Gino' Newton, a hitman, in [Russell T Davies](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-t-davies)'s *A Very English Scandal* (2017) opposite Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw[4](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/blake-harrison/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/). He played Private Frank Pike in the 2016 film remake of *Dad's Army*, a part he nearly declined because Pike's simple-mindedness resembled Neil's[4](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/blake-harrison/). His recent television work includes the ITV drama *Maigret* (2025), as Joseph Torrence, and the Mark Gatiss mystery series *Bookish* (2025), as Sergeant Morris[6](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/51619/blake-harrison).
## Stage work
Theatre has been a consistent strand. Harrison made his West End debut in 2012 in [Rob Hayes](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-hayes)'s darkly comic play *Step 9 (of 12)* at Trafalgar Studios, playing Keith, a recovering alcoholic working through the ninth step of the [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://www.edgepedia.org/alcoholics-anonymous) program[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html). In 2019 he played Ogie in the musical *Waitress* at the [Adelphi Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/adelphi-theatre), a role for which he told an interviewer that audiences were "positively surprised" by his singing[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Interview-Blake-Harrison-Chats-WAITRESS-at-Adelphi-Theatre-20190805). He has also appeared in the black comedy play *End of the Pier* at London's Park Theatre[9](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/blake_harrison/press/).
## Voice work and directing
Children's audiences know Harrison as the voice of Scoop in *Bob the Builder*, a role he held from 2015 to 2018[10](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/the-inbetweeners-joe-thomas-simon-bird-james-buckley-blake-harrison-careers-4761023). He made his directorial debut with the 2017 short film *Hooves of Clay*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/).
## Personal life
Harrison is married to the publicist Kerry Ann Lynch and has two children, a son and a daughter[11](https://thetab.com/2026/09/08/where-the-cast-of-the-inbetweeners-are-now-12-years-on-as-netflix-announces-third-film).
## References
1. [Blake Harrison, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/blake-harrison/)
2. [Blake Harrison, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3002919/)
3. [Blake Harrison: 'I've never had a plan B', The Independent (2 May 2012)](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/blake-harrison-i-ve-never-had-a-plan-b-7706539.html)
4. [Blake Harrison, Independent Talent](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/blake-harrison/)
5. [Interview: Blake Harrison Chats WAITRESS at Adelphi Theatre, BroadwayWorld (5 August 2019)](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Interview-Blake-Harrison-Chats-WAITRESS-at-Adelphi-Theatre-20190805)
6. [Blake Harrison, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/51619/blake-harrison)
7. [Blake Harrison - British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/blake_harrison/)
8. [Blake Harrison: 'I'm surprised The Inbetweeners is still being watched now', The Independent (11 October 2021)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/blake-harrison-interview-inbetweeners-waitress-b1934027.html)
9. [Blake Harrison press clippings, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/blake_harrison/press/)
10. [The Inbetweeners: Where are the stars now?, NationalWorld](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/the-inbetweeners-joe-thomas-simon-bird-james-buckley-blake-harrison-careers-4761023)
11. [Where The Inbetweeners cast are now, The Tab (September 2026)](https://thetab.com/2026/09/08/where-the-cast-of-the-inbetweeners-are-now-12-years-on-as-netflix-announces-third-film)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Gw to H*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license