Dooley's first acting role was as Shaun in
Groove on a Stanley Knife in 1997. He later played Ritchie Fitzgerald in
Coronation Street from 1997 until 1998. He appeared occasionally in
EastEnders as
Tom Stuart between 2001 and 2004. He appeared in Series 1 of
The Street. He had a role in
P.O.W.. Dooley played Peter Harper in BBC drama series
The Street. He also featured in the 2007 television docudrama
Diana: Last Days of a Princess. Dooley portrayed Kieran in the British horror film
Salvage. He portrayed police inspector Dick Alderman in all three parts of the
Red Riding trilogy and in 2017 appeared as Reverend Michaelmas Winter in the Sky 1 drama
Jamestown. Among his many voiceover roles, Dooley narrates the
Discovery Channel series
Gold Rush for its UK broadcast. In 2019, Shaun and his wife Polly produced an album,
Got It Covered, for
Children in Need. The album featured
Helena Bonham Carter,
Jim Broadbent,
Olivia Colman,
Luke Evans,
Suranne Jones,
Adrian Lester,
Himesh Patel,
David Tennant,
Jodie Whittaker and Shaun himself singing unique cover versions of songs personal to them. The album was released on 1 November 2019. The album and accompanying documentary was co-produced by their company 20four7films,
BBC Studios and SilvaScreen Records. ==Recognition and honours ==