Theatre James is an experienced theatre actor and singer, having appeared in the 2002
West End musical production of
The Full Monty (adapted from the 1997 film of the same name) as Malcolm and as
Houdini in the original London production of the
Broadway musical
Ragtime. He also played the cowardly lion in
The Wizard of Oz at
Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He has twice performed at
The National Theatre: in
Women Beware Women, directed by
Marianne Elliott and as Fabian in
Twelfth Night (starring
Rebecca Hall and directed by her father,
Sir Peter Hall). In 2007, James starred as Todd in the World premiere of
Stockholm, a new play by
Bryony Lavery. The production opened at The Drum Theatre,
Plymouth before embarking on a critically acclaimed UK tour, eventually garnering a Best Touring Production nomination at the 2008
TMA Awards. James returned to The Drum Theatre in 2009 to play the part of Ratineau in Carl Grose's new play,
Grand Guignol, directed by Simon Stokes. In 2011 he appeared in
Headlong Theatre's
Decade, a
site specific production marking the 10th anniversary of the
11 September 2001 attacks. Directed by
Rupert Goold and featuring a 20 strong writing team including
Abi Morgan,
John Logan and
Mike Bartlett; the "brilliant theatrical installation" ran from 1 September to 11 October at the former site of London's World Trade Centre,
St Katherine Dock. In 2013 James played Tony in
Mike Leigh's ''
Abigail's Party'', with former Eastenders star
Hannah Waterman as Beverly and
Martin Marquez as Lawrence. Later in 2013 he played Nick in
Fault Lines, a new comedy written by Ali Taylor. Set in the offices of a fictional disaster relief charity, the play opened on 5 December at
Hampstead Theatre and was directed by Lisa Spirling.
Nichola McAuliffe and
Alex Lawther also starred.
Television James' television credits include
Battle of Britain,
The Bill,
Rose and Maloney,
Poirot and
New Worlds. In 2007 he played Russ Golden in two episodes of
Casualty before returning to the show in 2012 to play Pat Paddon for a further two episodes. He played Marshall in
Hugo Blick's
The Shadow Line, a
BBC Two mini-series aired in 2011. From May 2011 to December 2012, he played
Phil Mitchell's (
Steve McFadden's) lawyer
Jimmie Broome in the
BBC soap opera
EastEnders. Since December 2014, James has played the role of Garth Stubbs in the revived ITV sitcom
Birds of a Feather, replacing
Matt Willis. He currently stars alongside
Linda Robson,
Pauline Quirke,
Lesley Joseph and
Charlie Quirke. He also starred in the 2014
Text Santa special which guest starred
Paul O'Grady. A third revived series was announced in March 2015, and began airing in January 2016 for eight episodes. In 2025 James played Steven Poyser the head of prosecution in the Lauren Bolton case on ITV Coronation Street. ==Filmography==