Paul McGann was born on 14 November 1959 in Liverpool, England, UK. He began his television career in the series 'Give Me A Break' (opposite Robert Lindsay), but he came fully to the public's attention as the "I" in the classic cult film 'Withnail and I', opposite Richard E. Grant.

Although accruing many credits after this, the role that truly launched his career was as George Lazenby "The Doctor" (also known as the Eighth Doctor) in the 1996 TV movie revival of the cult BBC series, 'Doctor Who'.

However, this single performance as The Doctor, would also be a burden, as audiences so strongly associated him with the role that it looked like it might also end his career. While the public reaction was a testament to his acting ability and suitability for the part, he was concerned about possible typecasting. He is reported to have said of that time: "I don't want to be remembered as the George Lazenby of Doctor Who."

But he needn't have worried. Coming from such a strong acting family (with actor brothers Mark McGann, Stephen McGann and Joe McGann), and with a brilliant talent of his own, he was soon offered other roles and his career went from strength to strength.

He has since played roles in various films and television series, including 'Fairytale : A True Story', 'Our Mutual Friend', 'The Biographer', 'Sweet Revenge', 'Blood Strangers' and 'Queen of the Damned' (which also featured Pia Miranda).

His currently best known role is that of "Lieutenant Bush", opposite Ioan Gruffudd and Robert Lindsay in the hugely popular 'Hornblower' series of films.

FILM

• Queen of the Damned (2002) .... David Talbot
• My Kingdom (2001) .... Dean
• The Dance of Shiva (1998) .... Capt. Greville
• Downtime (1997) .... Rob
• FairyTale: A True Story (1997) .... Arthur Wright
• The Three Musketeers (1993) .... Girard/Jussac
• Alien³ (1992) .... Golic
• Afraid of the Dark (1991) .... Tony Dalton
• Fraile, El (1990) .... Father Lorenzo Rojas
• Paper Mask (1990) .... Matthew Harris
• Rehovot Ha'Etmol (1989)
• Dealers (1989) .... Daniel Pascoe
• The Rainbow (1989) .... Anton Skrebensky
• Tree of Hands (1989) .... Barry
• Withnail and I (1987) .... 'I' (Peter Marwood)
• Empire of the Sun (1987) .... Lt. Price

TELEVISION

• Hornblower: Duty (2003) .... Lieutenant Bush
• Hornblower: Loyalty (2003) .... Lieutenant Bush
• Blood Strangers (2002) (mini) .... DC David Ingram
• The Biographer (2002) .... Andrew Morton
• Sweet Revenge (2001) .... Professer Patrick Vine
• Hornblower: Retribution (2001) .... 2nd Lt. Bush
• Hornblower: Mutiny (2001) .... 2nd Lt. Bush
• Hotel! (2000) .... Ben Carter
• Fish (2000) .... Jonathan Vishnevski (Fish)
• Nature Boy (2000) (mini) .... Steve Witton
• Forgotten (1999) .... Ben Turner
• Our Mutual Friend (1998) (mini) .... Eugene Wrayburn
• The Merchant of Venice (1996) .... Bassanio
• The One That Got Away (1996) .... Cpl. Chris Ryan
• Testament: The Bible in Animation (1996) .... David
• Doctor Who (1996) .... The Doctor
• The Hanging Gale (1995) .... Liam Phelan
• Katharina die Große (1995) .... Potemkin
• Nice Town (1992) (mini) .... Joe Thompson
• Drowning in the Shallow End (1990) .... Colin
• Cariani and the Courtesans (1987) .... Cariani
• The Monocled Mutineer (1987) .... Percy Toplis
• The Importance of Being Earnest (1986) .... John Worthing
• Give us a Break (1983) .... Mo Morris

WEBSITES

• The Paul McGann Estrogen Brigade (Fan Site)
• Paul McGann @ IMDB
• Paul McGann @ Google Directory
• Google Search for Paul McGann