Blake Ritson
Encyclopedia
Early life
Blake attended the Dolphin School in Reading, Berkshire until 1993, before going to St Paul's School, an independent schoolIndependent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
for boys in Barnes in West London
West (London sub region)
The West is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow. The sub region was established in 2004 and was adjusted in 2008 to include Kensington and Chelsea. The west has a population of 1.6 million and...
on an academic scholarship. He then attended the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he studied English and Medieval Italian, Dante primarily. While a student he acted on both stage and screen, playing Paul Etheridge in White Chameleon, Fleance in Macbeth, and Augustus in Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
’s Arcadia (1996) at the National Theatre in productions directed by Richard Eyre and Trevor Nunn.
Career
Blake is best known in recent years for portraying Mr Elton in the BBC 2009 adaptation of EmmaEmma (2009 TV serial)
Emma is a four-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma, first published in 1815. The episodes were written by Sandy Welch, acclaimed writer of previous BBC costume-dramas Jane Eyre and North and South, and directed by Jim O'Hanlon...
and Edmund Bertram in the 2007 ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park (2007 TV drama)
Mansfield Park, an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name, premiered on 18 March 2007 on the UK network ITV at 9 p.m., as part of their Jane Austen Season. It was filmed at Newby Hall, North Yorkshire, England. It made its TV debut in Canada on 23 December 2007 and in the...
, Giles Vicary in the BBC series Red Cap and for playing sidekick Robert Presley in A Touch of Frost
A Touch of Frost (TV series)
A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield....
. He also played the part of Justin in The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen are a group of British comedians formed in 1995, best known for their radio and television series.The League of Gentlemen may also refer to:* The League of Gentlemen ,...
, Idek in God on Trial
God on Trial
God on Trial is a 2008 BBC/WGBH Boston television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Antony Sher, Rupert Graves and Jack Shepherd. The play takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people...
, and the Duke of Kent in Upstairs Downstairs.
Blake writes and directs with his older brother, Dylan Ritson. The Ritson brothers' latest short film, Love Hate, starring Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in...
and Hayley Atwell was completed in May 2009 and was selected for the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
, Palm Springs Film Festival, London BFI Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Foyle, Omaha, Encounters, Berkshire International Film Festival
Berkshire International Film Festival
The Berkshire International Film Festival was founded in 2005 by Kelley Vickery inGreat Barrington, Massachusetts. The four-day festival features independent films for filmmakers and film aficionados, with showings of features, documentaries, shorts, and animation—as well as panel discussions and...
, Sofia Film Fest (Bulgaria), Tofifest
Tofifest
The TOFIFEST International Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Toruń, Poland.It is one of the fastest growing film festivals in Poland and the mission of the Festival is to promote independent cinema...
International Film Festival (Poland), West Hollywood International, LA Shorts Fest, Short Shorts Film Festival (Japan). It was the winner of the Jury Award at Palm Springs International Shortsfest and won the Best International Short award at Cinema St. Louis Film Festival. "Crisply shot and superbly acted, it's also a sly comment on repression and everyday insanity. It will be great to see what the Ritsons do next." (Empire)
The brothers first directed the short film Out of Time. Starring Mark Heap
Mark Heap
Mark Heap is an English actor. He began his acting career in the 1980s as a member of the Medieval Players, a touring company performing medieval and early modern theatre, and featuring stilt-walking, juggling and puppetry...
and Raquel Cassidy
Raquel Cassidy
Raquel Josephine Dominic Cassidy is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her television roles as Susan Gately in Teachers , the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, and Mel in Lead Balloon, as well as her various stage works.-Filmography:-Selected...
, the film won the Global Audience Award at the first CON-CAN Movie Festival
CON-CAN Movie Festival
CON-CAN Movie Festival is an audience-interactive online international short movie festival which aims to discover hidden creative talent from all over the world, enabling image creators and a global audience to share the underlying messages and sheer creativity expressed in profound short movie...
and was runner up at Minimalen and the Berlin Film Festival. It also screened at the London, San Paulo and Dresden film festivals. Their second short film, More More More, starring The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
, was a runner-up in the Turner Classic Movies Competition. Their third film, shot in 2009 with Hayley Atwell as Hate, was entitled Love Hate. The Ritson brothers have also shot a fourth short film, Good Boy, starring Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson), Reece Shearsmith
Reece Shearsmith
Reeson "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor and writer. He is most famous for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
, Nicholas Burns, Joanna Page
Joanna Page
Joanna Louise Page is a Welsh actress, best known for playing Stacey in the television series, Gavin and Stacey.-Early and personal life:...
and Blake's fiancee Hattie Morahan
Hattie Morahan
Harriet Jane Morahan is an award-winning English television, film, and stage actress.-Background:Hattie Morahan is the youngest daughter of television and film director Christopher Morahan and actress Anna Carteret...
.
The Ritson Brothers were selected for the front cover of Screen International
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
's "Stars Of Tomorrow 2009".
Blake played the banjolele on Doug Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
's 2006 album Cowley Road Songs, which was recorded in four days at the Blue Moon Studios in Banbury. He describes the banjolele as “a hybrid instrument between a ukulele and a banjo; teamed up with the gazoo it’s a winning combination.”
Personal life
Blake is the brother of Dylan Ritson, with whom he directs and writes. Dylan also attended Cambridge, where he wrote and directed plays for FootlightsFootlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University....
and the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
which received numerous awards and excellent reviews in the national press.
Blake's fiancee is the stage and screen actress Hattie Morahan
Hattie Morahan
Harriet Jane Morahan is an award-winning English television, film, and stage actress.-Background:Hattie Morahan is the youngest daughter of television and film director Christopher Morahan and actress Anna Carteret...
, who was also the costume designer and script supervisor on one of the movies he and his brother directed.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Breaking the Code | Christopher Morcom | TV |
| Different for Girls Different for Girls Different for Girls is a 1996 British/French comedy film in which one of the protagonists is a transsexual woman. The film is directed by Richard Spence and written by Tony Marchant, starring Rupert Graves and Steven Mackintosh.-Plot:... |
Young Prentice | ||
| 1997 | Knight School Knight School (CITV series) Knight School was a comedy drama series shown on Children's ITV and made by Granada Television. It was written and created by Mark Billingham and Peter Cocks, who also starred in the series... |
Sir Roger de Courcey | TV (2 episodes) |
| 1999 | Shooting the Past Shooting the Past Shooting The Past is a television drama by Stephen Poliakoff, produced by TalkBack Productions for BBC Two and first shown in 1999. It was TalkBack's first drama production, the company being mainly known for its television comedy work... |
Nick | TV |
| Titus Titus (film) Titus is a 1999 film adaptation of Shakespeare's revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, about the downfall of a Roman general. It was the first film of the play . The film was made by Overseas Filmgroup and Clear Blue Sky Productions and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures... |
Mutius | ||
| 2000 | The League of Gentlemen The League of Gentlemen The League of Gentlemen are a group of British comedians formed in 1995, best known for their radio and television series.The League of Gentlemen may also refer to:* The League of Gentlemen ,... |
Justin Smart | TV (2 episodes) |
| 2001 | London's Burning | Dermot | TV (2 episodes) |
| Me Without You Me Without You (film) Me Without You is a 2001 British film, starring Anna Friel, Michelle Williams and Oliver Milburn, and written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher.- Plot :... |
Tim | ||
| Urban Gothic | Dave Matthews | TV (1 episode: "The End") | |
| Red Cap Red Cap (TV series) Red Cap is a British television series produced by Stormy Pictures for the BBC and broadcast on BBC One. Two series of 6 episodes each were produced following a feature length pilot. It featured the investigations of an SIB unit of the British Army based in Germany... |
Lt. Giles Vicary | TV | |
| 2002 | A Box | Delivery Boy | Short |
| The Cicerones | Guide 1 'Foreign' | Short | |
| AKA AKA (film) AKA is a 2002 drama film, the first by director and writer Duncan Roy. The film is set in the late 1970s in Britain and deals with the story of Dean, an 18-year-old boy who assumes another identity in order to enter high society. Dean then meets David, an older gay man who desires him and Benjamin,... |
Alexander Gryffoyn | ||
| 2003 | Adventure Inc. Adventure Inc. Adventure Inc. is a dramatised adventure television series produced primarily in Canada which aired from September 30, 2002 to May 12, 2003. It was a co-production of Fireworks Entertainment , Tribune Entertainment Tribune Entertainment , M6 , Amy International , and Tele München... |
Byron Haycroft | TV (1 episode: "Angel of St. Edmunds") |
| Red Cap Red Cap (TV series) Red Cap is a British television series produced by Stormy Pictures for the BBC and broadcast on BBC One. Two series of 6 episodes each were produced following a feature length pilot. It featured the investigations of an SIB unit of the British Army based in Germany... |
Giles Vicary | TV (12 episodes) | |
| 2004 | Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Red Cap (TV series) Red Cap is a British television series produced by Stormy Pictures for the BBC and broadcast on BBC One. Two series of 6 episodes each were produced following a feature length pilot. It featured the investigations of an SIB unit of the British Army based in Germany... |
Angelo | Voice |
| 2005 | If... If... (TV series) If... is a series of BBC drama-documentaries broadcast on BBC Two from March to April 2004 and December 2004 to January 2005, each of which considers the potentially catastrophic political or social consequences that might arise from current trends in the United Kingdom... |
Ben Swales | TV (1 episode: "If...We Stopped Giving Aid to Africa") |
| Strauss: The Waltz King | Older Johann Strauss II | TV | |
| The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work... |
Gavin Murray | TV (1 episode: "374") | |
| 2006 | The Romantics | Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron... |
TV |
| Casualty Casualty (TV series) Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The... |
Daniel Tasker | TV (1 episode: "Worlds Apart") | |
| The Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers... |
Graham Marshall | TV (1 episode: "Chinese Walls") | |
| Killzone: Liberation Killzone: Liberation Received IGN's award for Best PSP Offline Multiplayer Game of 2006 .-External links:**... |
Colonel Cobar | Voice | |
| A Touch of Frost A Touch of Frost (TV series) A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield.... |
D.C. Robert Presley | TV (1 episode: "Endangered Species") | |
| 2007 | Mansfield Park Mansfield Park (2007 TV drama) Mansfield Park, an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name, premiered on 18 March 2007 on the UK network ITV at 9 p.m., as part of their Jane Austen Season. It was filmed at Newby Hall, North Yorkshire, England. It made its TV debut in Canada on 23 December 2007 and in the... |
Edmund Bertram Edmund Bertram Edmund Bertram is a major protagonist in Jane Austen's 1814 novel Mansfield Park. He is Sir Thomas's second son and plans to be ordained as a clergyman.-Character:... |
TV |
| The Commander: The Devil You Know | John Littlewood | TV | |
| 2008 | God on Trial God on Trial God on Trial is a 2008 BBC/WGBH Boston television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Antony Sher, Rupert Graves and Jack Shepherd. The play takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people... |
Idek | TV |
| RocknRolla RocknRolla RocknRolla is a 2008 British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Karel Roden, and Thandie Newton... |
Johnny Sloane | ||
| 2009 | Love Hate | Rob | Short |
| Emma Emma (2009 TV serial) Emma is a four-part BBC television drama serial adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma, first published in 1815. The episodes were written by Sandy Welch, acclaimed writer of previous BBC costume-dramas Jane Eyre and North and South, and directed by Jim O'Hanlon... |
Mr. Elton | TV (4 episodes) | |
| Dead Man Running Dead Man Running Dead Man Running is a 2009 British crime film directed by Alex De Rakoff and written by Alex De Rakoff and John Luton. The film was budgeted on $1 million... |
Jarvis | ||
| 2010 | Upstairs Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a... |
The Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI... |
TV (2 episodes) |
| 2011 | The Crimson Petal and the White The Crimson Petal and the White (TV miniseries) The Crimson Petal and the White is a 2011 four part television miniseries, adapted from Michel Faber's 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White. Starring Romola Garai as Sugar and Chris O'Dowd as William Rackham, the miniseries aired in the UK during April 2011 on BBC Two. The supporting cast... |
Bodley | TV (3 episodes) |
| 2011 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is an action video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It is developed and published by Ignition Entertainment. The development is led by Takeyasu Sawaki, who was a character designer in Devil May Cry and Ōkami. The game was released on April 28, 2011 in Japan, on August... |
Enoch | Voice |
Stage
- RopeRope (play)Rope is a 1929 British play by Patrick Hamilton. In formal terms, it is a well-made play with a three-act dramatic structure that adheres to the classical unities. Its action is continuous, punctuated only by the curtain fall at the end of each act. It may also be considered a thriller whose...
- Brandon (Almeida, dir. Roger Michell) - Tender - (Donmar Warehouse, dir. Seth Sklar-Heyn)
- Violet - Mio (Royal Court, dir. Indu Rubasingham)
- Love Is Blind - Manolito Trevelez (Royal Court, dir. Nathalie Abrahami)
- The Importance of Being Earnest - Jack Worthing (ADC Theatre, 1999, dir. Phillip Breen)
- ArcadiaArcadia (play)Arcadia is a 1993 play by Tom Stoppard concerning the relationship between past and present and between order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge...
- Septimus (Bristol Old Vic, dir. Rachel Kavanaugh) - HappyTime Park - Xavier (Riverside Studios, devised and dir. Dylan Ritson)
- In Praise of LoveIn Praise of Love (play)In Praise of Love is a 1973 play by the English playwright Terence Rattigan - it was the penultimate play he wrote and was inspired by the true life relationship between Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall...
- Joey (Theatre Royal Bath, dir. Deborah Bruce) - ArcadiaArcadia (play)Arcadia is a 1993 play by Tom Stoppard concerning the relationship between past and present and between order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge...
- Augustus (Theatre Royal Haymarket, - National Theatre/Michael CodronMichael CodronMichael Victor Codron is a British film and theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard...
- dir. Trevor Nunn) - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
- Fleance (National Theatre, Olivier, dir. Richard Eyre) - White Chameleon - Paul Etheridge (National Theatre, Cottesloe, dir. Richard Eyre)
- The Luke Files - Bartholomew (RT Productions, dir. Paul McKusker)
- Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
- Benvolio (Immersive, dir. Mark Rosenblatt)
Radio and Voice Over Work
- Death in Genoa - Dr. Carlo Bazzani (Independent Drama, written Thomas Wright)
- The Absolutist - Reader (BBC Book at Bedtime, dir. Heather Larmour)
- Richard IIRichard II-People:*Richard II of England , King of England.*Richard II of Normandy , Duke of Normandy*Richard II of Aquila *Richard II of Capua *A nickname for Richard M...
- BolingbrokeBolingbrokeBolingbroke is the name of:* Henry IV of England, also known as Henry of Bolingbroke* Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke , a Tory party Jacobite grandee and British statesman...
(BBC Radio 4, dir. Jessica Dromgoole and Jeremy Mortimer) - MoneyMoneyMoney is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
- Evelyn (BBC Radio 3, dir. Sam West) - Saint JoanSaint JoanSaint Joan may refer to:People* Joan of Arc * Saint Joan of Portugal * Joan of Lestonnac Theatre* Saint Joan , by George Bernard Shaw* Saint Joan , adaptation directed by Otto Preminger...
- Charles (BBC Radio 3, dir. Jonquil Panting) - Sunk - Bert Selphin (BBC Radio 4, dir. Gemma McMullan)
- Leverage - David (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sasha Yevtushenko)
- A Month in the CountryA Month in the CountryA Month in the Country is the fifth novel by J. L. Carr, first published in 1980 and nominated for the Booker Prize. The book won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1980.-The story:...
- Moon (BBC Radio 4, dir. David Hunter) - The Far PavilionsThe Far PavilionsThe Far Pavilions is an epic novel of British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye, first published in 1978, which tells the story of an English officer during the Great Game. The novel, rooted deeply in the romantic epics of the 19th century, has been hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling...
- Ash (BBC Radio 4, dir. Jessica Dromgoole and Marc Beeby) - With Great Pleasure - Reader (BBC Radio 4, dir. Christine Hall)
- Two on a Tower - Swithin St.Cleeve (BBC Radio 4, dir. Stefan Escreet)
- Vincent Price and the Horror of the English Blood Beast - (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sam Hoyle)
- The Wings of the DoveThe Wings of the DoveThe Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James. This novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her impact on the people around her...
- (BBC Radio 4, dir. Nadia Molinari) - The Killing - (BBC Radio 4, dir. Sasha Yevtushenko)
- The Man Who Shot the 60s - (BBC4, dir. Linda Brusasco)
- Six Windows of the Muslim World - (Crescent Films, dir. Ned Williams)
- Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King - Video game
- Xenoblade Chronicles - Video game
- Killzone: Liberation - Video game
- Harry Potter and The Goblet of FireHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a computer and video game that was released right before the film release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Both the game and the movie are based on J. K...
- Video game - Babel - Video game
External links
- Jane Austen and Performance
- Blake Ritson Interview, ITV.com, 2007
- Breaking the Code: Alan Turing Scrapbook
- God on Trial: Blake Ritson Plays Idek
- More More More website
- Out of Time: Watch a scene of Ritson's film
- Review of Arcadia, Bristol and Birmingham, 2004
- Voice Overs Blake Ritson
- The Big Interview: Blake Ritson, 2009