# James Cartwright (actor)
**James Cartwright** (James Lewis Cartwright) is an English actor known for playing PC Harrison Burns in the [BBC Radio 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-4) drama *The Archers* and Theo Silverton in *Coronation Street*, and for winning a Royal Television Society Award for the BBC drama *Johnny Shakespeare*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) He is the son of the playwright Jim Cartwright, whose works include *Road* and *The Rise and Fall of Little Voice*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984, in Royal Bolton Hospital, Bolton, Lancashire; brought up in Chorley, Lancashire[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
| Family | Son of playwright Jim Cartwright (*Road*, *The Rise and Fall of Little Voice*)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
| Major award | Royal Television Society Award for Best Leading Actor, 2007, as Johnny in the BBC's *Johnny Shakespeare*, opposite Greta Scacchi[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
| Stage award | Scotsman Fringe First Award 2015 for the one-man play *Raz*, which transferred to Trafalgar Studios, London, in 2016[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
| Radio | Regular as PC Harrison Burns in *The Archers*, credited for 349 episodes from 2014 to 2026[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
| Soap role | Theo Silverton in *Coronation Street*, joined March 2025[2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/) |
| Screen debut | *Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise* (2001), directed by Danny Boyle, as De Kid[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) |
## Early life and family
Cartwright was born in 1984 at Royal Bolton Hospital in Bolton, Lancashire, and was brought up in Chorley, Lancashire.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) His father is the playwright Jim Cartwright, whose plays *Road* and *The Rise and Fall of Little Voice* made him one of the distinctive voices of British theater in the late 1980s and 1990s; an Encyclopedia.com career profile lists James Lewis among his children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/cartwright-jim-1958)
He has described an unplanned route into the profession. He left school at 16, worked briefly in a paracetamol factory, and then wrote to agents after being told that was how to get one; one agent responded, and work followed quickly.[2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/)
## Screen career
**Early roles.** Cartwright's professional debut came in *Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise*, a BBC feature film about a hard-nosed vacuum salesman played by Tim Spall and directed by [Danny Boyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-boyle); Cartwright played De Kid, a hitch-hiking DJ who drifts from nightclub to nightclub around the country.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) He then played the singer [Morrissey](https://www.edgepedia.org/morrissey) in [Michael Winterbottom](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-winterbottom)'s feature film *24 Hour Party People*, and played Daniel Preston in the BAFTA-nominated series *Clocking Off*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) From 2003 to 2004, aged 17, he played Nathan in the BAFTA award-winning children's series *Tracy Beaker*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
**Television work.** His credits across the 2000s and 2010s include *Minder* (as Neil Butler, 2009), *Dalgliesh* (as Stephen Lampart, 2021), *Father Brown*, *Love, Lies and Records*, *Doctors*, *Dracula*, *Vinyl*, and *Holby City*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) • [4](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/james-cartwright/) In 2019 he played Tony Sellick in the film *[Downton Abbey](https://www.edgepedia.org/downton-abbey-film)*, appearing alongside [Maggie Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-smith), Hugh Bonneville, and [Imelda Staunton](https://www.edgepedia.org/imelda-staunton); he later recalled the surreal experience of the period-dressed cast checking their phones in the kitchens of the Abbey set.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) • [2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/)
**Johnny Shakespeare.** In 2007 he won Best Actor at the Royal Television Society Awards for his portrayal of Johnny in the BBC drama *Johnny Shakespeare*, playing an illiterate young man taught to read by an ex-drama teacher, played by [Greta Scacchi](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-scacchi).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
## The Archers and Coronation Street
Cartwright is a regular in *The Archers*, the BBC Radio 4 drama described on his IMDb profile as the world's longest-running soap, playing PC Harrison Burns; his credits list 349 episodes from 2014 to 2026, and he was nominated for Best Actor for the role at the 2025 Tric Awards.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) In a 2025 interview he said the show had been a big part of his life for 12 years and described radio as "reading around a campfire", requiring listeners to create the pictures in their own minds.[2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/)
In March 2025 he joined *Coronation Street* as Theo Silverton, a married scaffolder whose relationship with Todd Grimshaw became one of the soap's most discussed storylines, touching on Theo's concealed sexuality, a strict religious upbringing, and past experiences of conversion therapy.[2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/) A Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre announcement in 2026 described him as "known to millions of viewers as the menacing Theo Silverton".[5](https://www.bournemouthpavilion.co.uk/news/coronation-star-announced-aladdin) He has said he feels fortunate to be appearing in *Coronation Street* and *The Archers* at the same time.[2](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/)
## Stage work
Cartwright made his stage debut in the Olivier award-winning *The History Boys*, a new play by [Alan Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-bennett), at the National Theatre in London in 2006.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) He was nominated in 2014 for Best Leading Actor in a West End production for his role in the play *Passing By*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
**Raz.** In 2015 he starred in *Raz*, a one-man play written by his father, in the role of Shane, a man in his late twenties stuck in a dead-end job and living for the weekend.[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/west-end-interview-raz-star-james-cartwright) The play won the Scotsman Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015 and transferred to Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in 2016, beginning performances on 22 March.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) • [6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/west-end-interview-raz-star-james-cartwright) In interviews Cartwright described the one-man format as a lonely procedure that lives or dies on a single performer, and said the subject of young people feeling disenfranchised was universal; he noted that many of his own friends, at 31, still lived at home.[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/west-end-interview-raz-star-james-cartwright) A London Evening Standard review of the Trafalgar Studios run found the hour-long monologue entertaining but felt it needed to dig deeper, while crediting Cartwright with attacking the part with gusto.[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/raz-theatre-review-this-brief-monologue-needs-to-dig-deeper-a3217336.html)
He has also appeared in his father's *Little Voice*, which he described as a homage to his father, who told him he had written the play while babysitting him as a toddler.[6](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/west-end-interview-raz-star-james-cartwright)
## Recent and upcoming work
Cartwright's recent screen credits include Humphrey Lash in *[Sister Boniface Mysteries](https://www.edgepedia.org/sister-boniface-mysteries)* (2024) and the role of John I Lackland in the 2021 TV movie *Glow & Darkness*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/) He was announced in 2026 to star as the villain Abanazar in the pantomime *Aladdin* at Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre, running from 5 December 2026 to 3 January 2027.[5](https://www.bournemouthpavilion.co.uk/news/coronation-star-announced-aladdin) He lives in London.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
## References
1. [James Cartwright (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142174/)
2. [James Cartwright on Coronation Street, The Archers and Downton Abbey, Absolutely Magazines (12 September 2025)](https://absolutelymagazines.com/james-cartwright-on-coronation-street-the-archers-and-downton-abbey/)
3. [Cartwright, Jim 1958–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/cartwright-jim-1958)
4. [James Cartwright, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/james-cartwright/)
5. [Coronation Street star James Cartwright announced for Aladdin, Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre (8 May 2026)](https://www.bournemouthpavilion.co.uk/news/coronation-star-announced-aladdin)
6. [West End interview: 'Raz' star James Cartwright, London Theatre (8 June 2016)](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/west-end-interview-raz-star-james-cartwright)
7. [Raz, theatre review: This brief monologue needs to dig deeper, London Evening Standard (15 April 2016)](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/raz-theatre-review-this-brief-monologue-needs-to-dig-deeper-a3217336.html)
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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 C*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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