# John Michie
**John Michie** (born 1956 in Burma, now Myanmar) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor best known for playing Detective Inspector Robbie Ross in the STV crime series *Taggart* and, since the 2010s, Karl Munro in *Coronation Street* and consultant Guy Self in *Holby City* and *Casualty*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956, Burma (Myanmar); grew up in Kenya and Scotland[1](https://www.holby.tv/john-michie-interview/) |
| Signature TV role | DI Robbie Ross in *Taggart*, 1998–2010, about 12 years[2](https://podcasts.apple.com/mt/podcast/ep-516-john-michie/id1506937544?i=1000721428822) |
| Soap role | Karl Munro in *Coronation Street*, 2011–2013, 299 episodes[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits) |
| Medical drama | Guy Self, CEO and neurosurgeon, in *Holby City* 2013–2022 (138 episodes) and *Casualty* (9 episodes)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits) |
| Stage honors | Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland, Best Male Performance, for Rob Drummond's *The Mack*[4](https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/john-rebus-taggart-star-john-michie-on-swapping-glasgow-for-edinburgh-to-step-into-shoes-of-ian-rankins-detective-3994028) |
| Film lead | Tony Fitzjohn opposite Richard Harris in *To Walk with Lions* (2000)[5](https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Blue-Orange-Digital-Programme.pdf) |
| Recent work | Fergus Sinclair in *Karen Pirie* season 2 (ITV, 2025); guest cast member of BBC's *Rebus* series two, airing 2027[6](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/exclusive-john-michie-i-still-get-recognised-as-di-robbie-ross-from-taggart) • [7](https://www.aol.com/articles/taggart-star-john-michie-joins-113428000.html) |
## Early life and training
Michie was born in Burma in 1956 and spent part of his childhood in Kenya before settling in Scotland.[1](https://www.holby.tv/john-michie-interview/) In an interview, he described boarding at Perthshire's Glenalmond College from the age of 12.[8](https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/whats-on/4612750/interview-taggart-star-john-michie-stars-in-new-pitlochry-theatre-play/)
His route into acting began with a change of course. He started studying law, concluded it was not his path, and returned to Edinburgh, his home town, where he took work as a stagehand and worked his way up through theater, touring in repertory companies around the country and spending a year performing in repertory theater in Kenya.[1](https://www.holby.tv/john-michie-interview/) The Scotsman also records his first theater job as a stagehand at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.[4](https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/john-rebus-taggart-star-john-michie-on-swapping-glasgow-for-edinburgh-to-step-into-shoes-of-ian-rankins-detective-3994028)
## Taggart and the defining role
The part that made his name is DI Robbie Ross, the maverick Glasgow detective in STV's long-running crime drama *Taggart*. Michie played the role from 1998 until the series ended in 2010, a run he describes as 13 years in interviews.[2](https://podcasts.apple.com/mt/podcast/ep-516-john-michie/id1506937544?i=1000721428822) IMDb credits the show with 73 episodes for him across 1990 to 2010, a span that includes an earlier, separate appearance as Robby Meiklejohn.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits) He said in 2025 that he still gets recognized as Robbie and that people often ask him to deliver the show's catchphrase, "There's been a murder!"[6](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/exclusive-john-michie-i-still-get-recognised-as-di-robbie-ross-from-taggart)
## Television after Taggart
**Coronation Street.** Michie joined the ITV soap as Karl Munro, partner to Stella Price, appearing in 299 episodes from 2011 to 2013.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits)
**Holby City and Casualty.** He then moved to the BBC medical dramas as Guy Self, joining *Holby City* as its new CEO in a 2013 storyline and remaining until 2022 for 138 episodes; his *Casualty* credits also include earlier appearances as police characters in 1987.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits) • [1](https://www.holby.tv/john-michie-interview/)
**Crime and other drama.** His subsequent screen credits include Sir James Spencer in *Strike Back* (5 episodes, 2020), DCS Jack Mulgrew in *[London Kills](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-kills)* (2022), Harry Bentham across *[Ridley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-tv-series)* series 2 (2024), Peter Galbraith in a 2023 episode of *Death in Paradise*, Fergus Sinclair Snr in *Karen Pirie* (2025), and roles in *Our Girl*, *West Skerra Light*, *Nessie*, and *The Good Ship Murder*.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits) • [9](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/51219/john-michie) In *Karen Pirie* season 2, adapted from [Val McDermid](https://www.edgepedia.org/val-mcdermid)'s novel *A Darker Domain*, he played a shady businessman connected to the 1984 kidnapping of oil heiress Catriona Grant and her son.[6](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/exclusive-john-michie-i-still-get-recognised-as-di-robbie-ross-from-taggart) In 2026 it was announced that he had joined the guest cast of the BBC's *Rebus* adaptation, based on Sir Ian Rankin's novels, for its six-part second series written by Gregory Burke, filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow and set to air in 2027.[7](https://www.aol.com/articles/taggart-star-john-michie-joins-113428000.html)
## Film and stage
His film work includes the role of conservationist Tony Fitzjohn opposite [Richard Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-harris) as George Adamson in *To Walk with Lions*, plus *Puckoon*, *Monk Dawson*, *Truth or Dare*, *The Conquest of the South Pole*, and *A Passage to India*.[5](https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Blue-Orange-Digital-Programme.pdf)
On stage he has worked widely in Scottish theater: *The Winter's Tale* and *Group Portrait* at the Lyceum, Edinburgh, and *Grain in the Blood* and *The Mack* at the Traverse Theatre, where *The Mack* won him the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland Best Male Performance award.[5](https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Blue-Orange-Digital-Programme.pdf) In 2023 he led the world première of *Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape* at Pitlochry Festival Theatre as [George Rennie](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-rennie).[8](https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/whats-on/4612750/interview-taggart-star-john-michie-stars-in-new-pitlochry-theatre-play/) He also played John Rebus himself in the first production of [Ian Rankin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-rankin)'s play *A Game called Malice* at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, a part previously played on screen by John Hannah, Ken Stott, and Brian Cox.[5](https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Blue-Orange-Digital-Programme.pdf) • [4](https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/john-rebus-taggart-star-john-michie-on-swapping-glasgow-for-edinburgh-to-step-into-shoes-of-ian-rankins-detective-3994028)
## Personal life
Michie lives in north London with his wife Carol, whom he met in 1987, and they have three children.[6](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/exclusive-john-michie-i-still-get-recognised-as-di-robbie-ross-from-taggart) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/bio/) His youngest daughter Louella died of a drug overdose on 11 September 2017, her 25th birthday, at the Bestival music festival in Dorset; her boyfriend was later convicted of her manslaughter and of supplying her with Class A drugs.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/bio/) His nephew is the actor Jamie Michie.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/bio/)
## References
1. [John Michie Interview, holby.tv](https://www.holby.tv/john-michie-interview/)
2. [Ep. 516 – John Michie, My Time Capsule (Apple Podcasts)](https://podcasts.apple.com/mt/podcast/ep-516-john-michie/id1506937544?i=1000721428822)
3. [John Michie full credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/fullcredits)
4. [John Rebus: Taggart star John Michie on swapping Glasgow for Edinburgh, The Scotsman](https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/john-rebus-taggart-star-john-michie-on-swapping-glasgow-for-edinburgh-to-step-into-shoes-of-ian-rankins-detective-3994028)
5. [Blue/Orange cast biographies, Greenwich Theatre programme](https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Blue-Orange-Digital-Programme.pdf)
6. [Exclusive: John Michie — I still get recognised as DI Robbie Ross from Taggart, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/exclusive-john-michie-i-still-get-recognised-as-di-robbie-ross-from-taggart)
7. [Taggart star John Michie joins Rebus cast as season two filming begins, AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/taggart-star-john-michie-joins-113428000.html)
8. [Interview: Taggart star John Michie leads in new Pitlochry theatre play, The Courier](https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/entertainment/whats-on/4612750/interview-taggart-star-john-michie-stars-in-new-pitlochry-theatre-play/)
9. [John Michie, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/51219/john-michie)
10. [John Michie Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0585181/bio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Soap operas and continuing serials › British and Australasian soaps and characters › Coronation Street*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; 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