Dean Andrews

Dean Andrews

Born

August 6, 1963 (61 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Rotherham, Yorkshire, UK

Dean Andrews is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series Life on Mars. He continued the role in the sequel series, Ashes to Ashes, until 2010. As of April 2019, he appeared as Will Taylor on ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Andrews left the show on 26 December 2024 when his character Will died of a heart attack.

Born in 1963 in Rotherham, Andrews went to Sitwell Junior School on Grange Road and Oakwood Comprehensive School on Moorgate Road. He went to school with Top Gear presenter James May.

Dean Andrews started off as a mainstay of cruise ships as a talented entertainer and singer. He was discovered by film director Ken Loach, who was looking for people from Yorkshire to appear in the 2001 film, The Navigators. He then went on to play Barry Shiel in the Channel 4 drama Buried, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series in 2004. That year, he also had a small role, as Neil, in the Channel 4 series No Angels.

In 2005, Andrews appeared in one episode of the ITV drama Wire in the Blood. The following year, he appeared in another BBC drama, Life On Mars, as DS Ray Carling. He then had roles in two BBC dramas, True Dare Kiss and The Street, in 2007. Andrews again played DC Carling in Ashes to Ashes, a 2008 spin-off series of Life on Mars. During the same year, he recorded voiceovers for Currys television advertisements. He had a guest role in 2010 on the BBC One series Waterloo Road.

In 2011, Andrews appeared in: the BBC drama The Body Farm as Peter Collins; the BBC Two television film United, about the Manchester United "Busby Babes" team and the 1958 Munich air disaster; ITV's supernatural drama series Marchlands, playing one of the lead roles; and the five-part BBC One series The Case, in which he played the lead role as a man accused of murdering his terminally ill girlfriend.

In November 2012, Andrews appeared in all four series of the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax as Robert "Robbie" Greenwood. The following year, he portrayed Pete Lewis in the BBC show Being Eileen. Andrews played local hotel and barman Tom Asher in a 2015 episode of the popular series Midsomer Murders on ITV. In 2019, the actor joined the cast of ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He left the soap on 26 December 2024 when his character Will died of a heart attack. He has stated that he was not told about the character's demise. He narrated the Channel 5 documentary series, Our Great Yorkshire Life, in 2022. He also narrates the UK TV show Casualty 24/7 which centres on Barnsley Hospital.

Torvill & Dean

Torvill & Dean

Colin Dean

6.7

2018

Agatha and the Truth of Murder

Agatha and the Truth of Murder

Wade

6.3

2018

Dark River

Dark River

Matty

5.6

2017

The Moorside

The Moorside

PC Steve 'Kinchie' Kinchin · (2 episodes)

6.8

2017

Delicious

Delicious

Steven Green · (1 episode)

6.3

2016

Jericho

Jericho

(1 episode)

6.2

2016

Banana

Banana

Alan · (1 episode)

7.1

2015

Original Drama Shorts

Nick · (1 episode)

0.0

2014

Frankie

Frankie

(3 episodes)

7.3

2013

The Security Men

The Security Men

Ray

0.0

2013

Being Eileen

Being Eileen

Pete Lewis · (6 episodes)

0.0

2013

Father Brown

Father Brown

Michael Negal · (1 episode)

7.5

2013

Last Tango in Halifax

Last Tango in Halifax

Robbie · (24 episodes)

7.2

2012

Girl Shaped Love Drug

Her Father

0.0

2012

Elfie Hopkins

Elfie Hopkins

Villager

5.0

2012

Just Henry

Just Henry

Bill

6.6

2011

Weekender

Weekender

Sergeant Thompson

5.7

2011

Vera

Vera

Jonah Regan · (1 episode)

7.5

2011

Marchlands

Marchlands

Eddie Maynard · (5 episodes)

7.1

2011

United

United

Bert Whalley

6.9

2011

Wish 143

Wish 143

Bus Driver

6.4

2009

Kandahar Break

Kandahar Break

Steve Delamore

6.4

2009

Salvage

Salvage

Clive

5.0

2009

The Making of... Ashes to Ashes

The Making of... Ashes to Ashes

Himself

0.0

2009

Chris Moyles' Quiz Night

Chris Moyles' Quiz Night

Self · (1 episode)

5.3

2009

Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes

Ray Carling · (24 episodes)

7.7

2008

True Dare Kiss

True Dare Kiss

Vinny · (2 episodes)

7.0

2007

The End of 'Life on Mars'

The End of 'Life on Mars'

Self

0.0

2007

New Street Law

New Street Law

(1 episode)

6.6

2006

Missing

Missing

Mark Lanser

6.0

2006

Life on Mars

Life on Mars

Ray Carling · (16 episodes)

7.8

2006

Missing: All Secrets Have a Price

Missing: All Secrets Have a Price

(2 episodes)

0.0

2006

Love + Hate

Love + Hate

Derek

5.9

2005

My Summer of Love

My Summer of Love

Ricky

6.2

2005

Faith

Faith

Davey

0.0

2005

No Angels

No Angels

(3 episodes)

6.0

2004

Shameless

Shameless

Geoff Mulligan · (1 episode)

7.5

2004

Between The Sheets

Between The Sheets

Steve Ashby · (6 episodes)

5.3

2003

Blue Murder

Blue Murder

Will Harmon · (1 episode)

6.7

2003

Buried

Buried

Barry Shiel · (2 episodes)

8.0

2003

Wire in the Blood

Wire in the Blood

(1 episode)

7.8

2002

The Navigators

The Navigators

John

6.9

2001

Clocking Off

Clocking Off

(1 episode)

7.4

2000

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

Tom Asher · (1 episode)

7.5

1997

My Wonderful Life

(24 episodes)

8.0

1996

Silent Witness

Silent Witness

(2 episodes)

7.6

1996

Soccer AM

Soccer AM

Self · (1 episode)

6.0

1995

GMTV

GMTV

Self · (2 episodes)

5.6

1993

Heartbeat

Heartbeat

(1 episode)

7.1

1992

This Morning

This Morning

Self · (2 episodes)

5.2

1988

Casualty

Casualty

Reg Summerston · (1 episode)

6.1

1986

Emmerdale

Emmerdale

Will Taylor · (249 episodes)

4.2

1972