{{Short description|Scottish actor}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=September 2025}} {{Notability|1=Biographies|date=September 2025}} {{No significant coverage|date=September 2025}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Duncan Duff | image = | birth_date = | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = RADA | years_active = 1987–present | spouse = Rosalie Robinson | children = 2 }}
'''Duncan Duff''' (born in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British stage, television and film actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London from 1985 to 1987.<ref name="RADA">{{cite web |title=Duncan Duff — RADA |url=https://www.rada.ac.uk/profiles/duncan-duff/ |website=Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |access-date=30 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127110035/https://www.rada.ac.uk/profiles/duncan-duff/ |archive-date=27 November 2024 |language=en-gb |url-status=live}}</ref> He is best known for A Quiet Passion (2016), Wild Target (2010), Big Kids (2000), and Hamish Macbeth (1997).
==Career== Duff made his professional stage debut in 1987 with the British theatre company Cheek by Jowl, founded by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, in a production of ''Macbeth'' at the Donmar Warehouse and on tour. He played the Thane of Angus and the cream faced loon, earning his Equity card and establishing himself as a member of the company for the next four years. The following year he played Caliban in Cheek by Jowl’s ''The Tempest'' which opened at the Taormina Festival, Sicily.
He also appeared in Cheek by Jowl’s productions of ''Philoctetes'' by Sophocles and ''Miss Sara Sampson'' by Gotthold Lessing. His fifth and final collaboration with the company was playing Horatio to Timothy Walker’s ''Hamlet'' in a production which played in London, UK, Europe, Hong Kong and Japan.
In 1992, Duff created the role of Willie Dobie in Scottish playwright Simon Donald’s new play, ''The Life of Stuff'', at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh with Shirley Henderson. Duff also appeared in the British premiere of ''Physical Jerks'' at Alan Ayckbourn’s Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough, ''Life Goes On'' written by Adrian Hodges at The Haymarket Basingstoke, ''Three Sisters'' at Liverpool Everyman, ''Time and the Room'' at the Gate Theatre London and the eponymous role in ''Anatol'' by Arthur Schnitzler at Nottingham Playhouse. At the National Theatre, Duff played Bartolomeo Pergami in Nick Stafford’s new play ''Battle Royal'' directed by Howard Davies, which starred Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale. In 2002, he was Jason opposite Maureen Beattie’s Medea in Theatre Babel’s production of Liz Lochhead’s adaptation of ''Medea'' at the Edinburgh Festival and then on tour.
On television, Duff played the dope-smoking Doc Brown in the cult BBC 1 series ''Hamish Macbeth'' devised by Daniel Boyle and set in the Highlands of Scotland, co-starring with Robert Carlyle for three series (1995 - 1997). He starred as Geoff Spiller in the short-lived BBC comedy ''Big Kids'' with Imogen Stubbs (2000). For two years Duff was nefarious property developer Lewis Cope in BBC Scotland’s BAFTA Award winning drama ''River City'' (2002 - 2004) set in Glasgow.
Duff has leading roles in TV dramas such as: ''Why We Went To War'' (2006) playing Jonathan Powell; ''Roman Mysteries'' (2007) portraying the Emperor Domitian; the first season of TV show ''Skins'' (2007) playing evangelistic Congratulations Leader Pete; ''Purves & Pekkala'' (2009) AKA New Town by Annie Griffin, playing highly strung architectural preservationist Ernst de Bont; the beleaguered Governor of Boulogne in ''The Tudors'' (2010); TV presenter Tom Sutherland in the BBC series ''Lip Service'' (2010).
Duff has also acted in sitcoms: ''May To December'' (1994), ''The Creatives'' (1998), ''Not Going Out'' (2008). He was the anchor Richard Pritchard co-starring with Sharon Horgan in ''Broken News'' (2005) by John Morton for BBC and Gus Plotpoint in Charlie Brooker’s ''Touch of Cloth'' (2013) for Sky. In the cinema he has appeared in comedy roles in ''Carry On Columbus'' (1992), ''Festival'' (2005) directed by Annie Griffin, ''Wild Target'' (2010) directed by Jonathan Lynn, and ''Burke & Hare'' (2010) directed by comedy legend John Landis. Duff has appeared in dozens of short films, two of which were nominated for awards: ''King’s Christmas'' (1986; BAFTA nominated) and ''The Girls'' (2007; BIFA nominated).
Duff portrayed: Austin Dickinson, the brother of American poet Emily Dickinson, played by Cynthia Nixon, in Terence Davies's ''A Quiet Passion'' (2016); also starring Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, Catherine Bailey, Joanna Bacon and Emma Bell. It was described by Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker'' as "an absolute drop-dead masterwork".{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television |- ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 1990 || ''The Wreck on the Highway'' || || |- | 1990 || ''Taggart'' || Porter || '''Episode:''' ''Hostile Witness'' |- | 1990 || ''This is David Harper'' || Lorry Driver || '''Episode:''' ''A List Of Abuses'' |- | 1991 || ''Casualty'' || Policeman || '''Episode:''' ''Something to Hide'' |- | 1992 || ''Between The Lines'' || Officer 1 || '''Episode:''' ''Out of the Game'' |- | 1992 || ''In Dreams'' || Vicar || |- | 1993 || ''Calling The Shots'' || Matt || |- | 1994 || ''May to December'' || Robbie || '''Episode:''' ''Son of my Father'' |- | 1995–1997 || ''Hamish Macbeth'' || Doc Brown || 19 episodes |- |1996 |''Taggart'' |Stephen Harding |'''Episode:''' ''Angel Eyes'' |- | 1998 || ''The Creatives'' || Greg Jackson || '''Episode:''' ''Come to Cummerton'' |- | 2001 || ''Casualty'' || Pete || '''Episode:''' ''For My Next Trick'' |- | 2000 || ''Big Kids'' || Dr. Geoffrey Spiller || |- | 2002 || ''River City'' || Lewis Cope|| |- | 2004 || ''If...'' || George Rowling Q.C. || |- | 2005 || ''The Bill'' || Brian York || '''Episodes:''' - No. 299 / No. 300 |- | 2005 || ''Broken News'' || Richard Pritchard || 6 episodes |- | 2006 || ''Why We Went To War''|| Jonathan Powell || |- | 2006 || ''Rosemary & Thyme'' || Frank Minelli || '''Episode:''' ''Seeds of Time'' |- | 2006 || ''Not Going Out'' || Pete || '''Episode:''' ''Caretaker'' |- | 2006 || ''Doctor Who'' || Newsreader || '''Episodes:''' ''Rise of the Cybermen'' / ''Age of Steel'' |- | 2007 || ''Skins'' || Congratulations Leader || '''Episode:''' ''Cassie'' |- | 2007 || ''Roman Mysteries''|| Emperor Domitian || |- | 2009 || ''New Town'' || Ernst de Bont || |- | 2010 || ''The Tudors''|| The Governor of Boulogne || '''Episode:''' ''As It Should Be'' |- | 2010 || ''Taggart''|| Sammy Kirkwood || |- | 2010 || ''Lip Service''|| Tom Sutherland || |- | 2011 || ''Casualty'' || Professor Michael Fitch || '''Episode:''' ''Starting Out'' |- | 2012 || ''Silent Witness''|| Counsel 2 || |- | 2013 || ''Lee Nelson's Well Funny People''|| Football Team Manager || |- | 2013 || ''A Touch of Cloth''|| Gus Plotpoint || |- | 2014 || ''Waterloo Road''|| Arran Mackenzie || |- |2020 |''The Crown'' |Cecil Parkinson |'''Episode:''' War (Season 4, Episode 10) |- style="background:#cec056;" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film |- style="background:#cec056;" align="center" ! Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes |- | 1986 || ''King's Christmas'' || Trevor King || BAFTA Nominated |- | 1992 || ''Carry On Columbus'' || Inquisitor #2 || |- | 1998 || ''Middleton's Changeling'' || Antonio || |- | 2005 || ''Festival'' || Gordon Menzies || |- | 2007 || ''If I'm Spared''|| Tom || |- | 2007 || ''The Girls'' || Richard || BIFA Nominated |- | 2010 || ''Wild Target''|| The Jeweller || |- | 2010 || ''Burke & Hare''|| The Attendant || |- | 2011 || ''Island''|| Social Worker || |- | 2013 || ''Killer Moves''|| The Velvet Glove || |- | 2014 || ''Ivory Stage''|| Peter Grey || |- | 2016 || ''A Quiet Passion'' || Austin Dickinson || |- | 2016 || ''Clean Sheets''|| Will || |- | 2017 || ''Seeing Him''|| Mark || |- |2017 |''Rehab Matters'' |Robert | |- |2018 |''Sleep'' |Armando | |- |2020 |''The Bay of Silence'' |Curator | |}
==References== <references />
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0240375}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Duncan}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool Category:Male actors from Edinburgh Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:Scottish male stage actors Category:Scottish male television actors Category:Scottish male film actors Category:20th-century Scottish male actors Category:21st-century Scottish male actors Category:Scottish male soap opera actors