On graduation, he joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company on an 18-month contract. In 1995 he played a paralysed man in a
Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives advert. Ten years after graduation, he played the part of Bottom in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream at RSC in 1999/2000. He has also starred in both Fallout
and Posh
at the Royal Court Theatre, and was in Mammals
at the BushTheatre and later on tour. In 2008 he appeared in Gethsemane'', a new play by
David Hare at the
National Theatre. In 1992 Ryan played Jamie Hunter who takes revenge on travellers when they befriend his fiancee in series 1 episode 8 of
Heartbeat called "
Outsiders". Ryan played Andy in the 2001
ITV drama
Bob & Rose. In December 2007, he appeared in the Series 17 episode of
Heartbeat called "
Touch and Go", in which he played Max Philpott who murdered long running character PC Phil Bellamy. He appeared on the Teen Drama
Skins as the father of the third generation character Rich Hardbeck in 2011 and 2012. He took over the role of Harry (Sandy's husband, previously played by
David Michaels) in the special reunion episodes of BBC sitcom
As Time Goes By alongside
Judi Dench and
Geoffrey Palmer. Ryan also appeared in the 2008
Doctor Who episode "
Midnight". He played Felix Sansome in "Wild Justice", S5:E2 of
Lewis, which aired April 2011. In 2012, he appeared as antagonist Barry Flint in The Girl Who Lived, the fourth episode of the ninth season of
New Tricks. In 2014, he appeared in
Salting the Battlefield as Bill Catcheside. He is also known for playing the role of Dan in the
Sky Living comedy-drama
Mount Pleasant since 2011. In 2015 he appeared as Steve Baker in S7:E1 of
Doc Martin, and as Colonel Anthony Forbes-Leith in the BBC TV series
Father Brown episode 3.9 "The Truth in the Wine". He has played Welsh butcher Bryn Brindsley in the
ITV war-time drama
Home Fires from 2015. In 2018 he starred in the ITV mini-series
Innocent, as the lead character's brother, Phil Collins. In February 2019 he played Gerald Baynes in
Death in Paradise S8.E8. Also in February he appeared as Alec Sidden in
The Seagull, S9:E4 of
Vera, and in April 2019 as
Detective Inspector Anthony 'Tony' Manning in
The Bay. In 2022 he played Gary in
Middle at the
National Theatre. In 2022 he portrayed
DAC Peter Clarke (Metropolitan Police) in the four part ITV series
Litvinenko. ==References==