Daniel Ryan is probably best known for playing likeable, often comical, characters in his TV roles – from The Bay, to Mount Pleasant, and Passenger.
But one of his first ever TV appearances was far from endearing. In fact, it was so disturbing, it was difficult to watch.
As Daniel returns to our screens in a rerun of Cold Call, opposite Sally Lindsay, we take a look at his TV career, and personal life – including his son’s tragic cancer battle.
Here’s everything you need to know about actor Daniel Ryan.
Who plays Des in Cold Call on Channel 5?
Actor Daniel Ryan portrays Des in the Channel 5 thriller Cold Call, opposite Sally Lindsay. Mount Pleasant fans will be thrilled to see the TV couple back together, as they clearly have brilliant on-screen chemistry.
The four parter, first shown in 2019, is set in Manchester “between the worlds of the haves and the have-nots”. The dark thriller tells the story of single mother June Clarke, the victim of a cold call fraud that destroys her family’s future.
June loses the money from the sale of her house to fraudsters. She subsequently attends a support group for victims of such scams, where she meets old school mate Des Grigsby.
He persuades her to take a job caring for the mother of respected businessman Kirk Wiley, who he suspects is involved in the criminal enterprise that targeted both of them. Line of Duty actor Paul Higgins – aka Hilton – plays Kirk, who is excellent as the bad guy.
Dear reader, be prepared for things to escalate quickly!
What other TV roles has Daniel Ryan filmed?
Daniel has been on our TV screens for more than three decades. In 1992, he appeared on our screens for the very first time as an animal activist in Screen Two.
After roles in Lipstick on Your Collar, Peak Practice, Soldier Soldier and Dangerfield, he joined the cast of Trial & Retribution. He portrayed DS Brown from 1997 to 1998.
Daniel went on to play another copper – PC Busby – in Harbour Lights in 1999.
In 2004, he played Andy Coulson in Steel River Blues, and went on to play Kenny Reed in The Whistleblowers.
He’s also starred in Vera, Casualty, Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders, The Reckoning, Candy Cabs and Home Fires. Between 2011 and 2017, he played Dan in Mount Pleasant. Daniel admits he received a torrent of abuse when his character cheated on his wife (Sally Lindsay) in the show.
Finally, he joined the cast of The Bay in 2019. He’ll appear in the fifth series of The Bay, which is expected to land on ITV later in 2024. More recently, Daniel has portrayed Adam Whitworth in Four Lives. The series told the horrifying case of real-life serial killer Stephen Port from the perspective of the families of his four victims.
Adam Whitworth was the father of murdered Daniel Whitworth.
Daniel also played Ben in the Keeley Hawes thriller Crossfire, DAC Peter Clarke in David Tennant dramatisation Litvinenko, and Derek Jackson in the bizarre drama Passenger.
Daniel Ryan TV roles: Who does he play in The Bay?
Actor Daniel plays DI Tony Manning in The Bay, originally boss to Lisa Armstrong and DC ‘Med’ Kharim. Now he works alongside Marsha Thomason’s DS Jenn Townsend, who took over in 2022.
Tony is a dedicated, down-to-earth leader, who is trying to juggle his private life with his professional.
In season two, viewers see that his marriage had broken down and his wife had asked for a divorce. Tony struggled to cope with the breakdown of his marriage.
However, in the more recent series 4, Tony Manning was secretly meeting up with his ex-wife (Kerrie Taylor) behind her new bloke’s back.
Daniel Ryan TV roles: What advert was he in?
In 1995, in the very early days of his career, Daniel played a paralysed man in a Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives advert.
The public information film was one of several hard-hitting short films that ran in the UK between 1987 and 1997. They were part of the Government’s Safety on the Move road safety campaign, addressing the problem of drink-driving.
The campaign was aimed at showing the devastation that drink-driving can cause to the victims and their families. Entitled Dave, Daniel played a young man paralysed following a drink driving accident.
The short film featured the voices of his friends encouraging him to have another drink. Alongside the sickening flashbacks to his friend’s taunts, viewers saw Dave’s mum preparing his dinner in the blender. We then saw her spoon feed him liquidised Christmas dinner. The damning film won the British Television Advertising Award in 1996.
Who is the wife of Daniel Ryan?
Daniel is an actor who keeps his personal life out of the spotlight. He has never publicly talked about whether he is married. He rarely attends showbiz events or walks the red carpet.
Many TV fans gave the actor abuse when his Mount Pleasant character cheated on his wife.
Daniel admitted at the time: “I’ll never forget my Twitter timeline when Dan had his little blip with Tanya in series three.
“I had a timeline full of abuse! We suddenly realised how much people wanted Dan and Lisa to be a strong couple.”
It is not known if Daniel is married or not. But we do know he has at least two sons.
Does Daniel Ryan have children
While Daniel has kept very schtum about his marital status, he’s not shy of praising his sons on his official Instagram page.
Just recently, his son Jimmy O’Brien took part in a running race for charity, and Daniel was only too keen to applaud his son’s efforts.
He’s also been vocal about his son Jimmy’s acting career, which he’s publicly supported on social media.
Jimmy has shared pictures of his brother Mac, too – who is the spitting image of his dad Daniel!
View this post on Instagram
Daniel’s son Mac in cancer battle
On World Cancer Day in 2021, Daniel Ryan sent a message of thanks to Great Ormond Street Hospital for caring for his son Mac during his cancer battle.
In a film uploaded on YouTube, Daniel said: “Wow, what a year it’s been. Hello, I’m Daniel Ryan, and I just wanted to say a message of thanks to all the healthcare workers and the researchers working on cancer right now.
“My son’s been ill this year and has had the help of Great Ormond Street for his cancer and this is an opportunity for me to say thanks to all of you on this World Cancer Day. Thank you so much.”
In another film recorded for The Give A Duck Foundation, Daniel elaborated on Mac’s cancer. He said: “My son Mac was a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2019, and had his treatment there. He’s doing really well.”
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue. Soft tissues support and connect organs and other parts of the body. Rhabdomyosarcoma most often starts in muscle tissue.
Diagnosis of rare cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma
Mac’s cancer battle came at a particularly tough time for Daniel – during lockdown. Speaking to The Irish World, he said: “My son was unwell. He was undergoing chemotherapy, so we were completely and utterly isolated. And, if there had been work, I wouldn’t have been able to go to it anyway.
“I had 14 months out of work. I was skint; I was delivering for Amazon. It was possibly one of the worst times ever in my life in terms of financially, workwise, family, health. I lost a couple of relatives, it was a very, very difficult time.”
He added: “My son’s better. It was tough, but he’s doing great so we’re all out the other side.”
In June 12 2024, on X, Daniel wrote: “A week after losing someone very close to cancer I can also celebrate someone else very close making it through. Some get lucky.”
How old is Daniel Ryan? Where is he from?
Daniel was born in 1968, in Culcheth near Warrington, Cheshire. He is currently 56 years of age.
His parents owned a bingo hall, and he and his younger brother attended Culcheth High School. Daniel subsequently attended the Lancashire Schools Arts Workshop in North Wales.
He was then accepted into LAMDA – the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Read more: Daniel Ryan blows viewers away with raw performance as struggling DI Tony Manning in The Bay series 2
Daniel Ryan is currently starring in Cold Call, which starts on Monday, June 17, 2024 at 9pm on Channel 5.
Are you a fan of Daniel Ryan’s TV shows? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.