Jason Watkins is undoubtably one of TV’s most bankable – and likeable – actors and he was painfully believable in the leading role of Simon in Channel 5’s thriller Coma earlier this year.
It’s the sort of solid drama we can expect from the BAFTA-winning actor. More recently, Jason is perhaps best known as DS Dodds in ITV1 drama McDonald & Dodds. But he’s had a very impressive career spanning more than three decades.
Tragically, the actor has also experienced real-life heartbreak off-screen. Here’s everything you need to know about Jason Watkins, his wife, his career, and how his young daughter died.
What is Jason Watkins famous for?
Actor Jason Watkins has been on our screens ever since 1987, when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Gerry! He played the character across 11 episodes until 1988. Gerry was a yuppie estate agent who frequented The Dagmar wine bar.
After that, Jason went on to star in dozens of popular shows, including Five Days, Life on Mars, Lewis and Hotel Babylon. In 2008, he played Plornish in the BBC One adaptation of Little Dorrit, and Constable Arthur ‘Cabbage’ Patterson in Lark Rise to Candleford.
He’s portrayed plenty of comedic roles, too, including Peter Bishop in Psychoville, Dick Twist in Miranda, and Gavin in Trollied.
Jason won a deserved BAFTA for his role in 2014 mini-series The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. It was arguably his most controversial role to date. Of course, Christopher was wrongly accused of murder in what is now considered a trial by media.
The actor went on to play British PM Harold Wilson in The Crown in 2019, Roger in Hold the Sunset, and Brian Masters in Des. He’s appeared on TV in both dramatic and comedy roles – think Line of Duty‘s Tim Ifield (where he got carved up by Thandie Newton), and Simon Harwood in W1A – as well as on stage.
Other notable roles include
Ed Collier in Channel 5 thriller The Catch. He obviously enjoyed the experience as he is now starring as Simon in the C5 thriller Coma. Jason also played Stanley Fox in the Cary Grant drama Archie.
Of course, Jason is perhaps most famous for playing DS Dodds in detective drama McDonald & Dodds on ITV. He’s also been in countless films, including Wicked Little Letters, The Children Act, and the 2016 movie Are You Being Served? He played Mr. Humphries.
Who played Ed Collier in The Catch?
The quietly brilliant Jason Watkins played Ed Collier in The Catch on Channel 5. The four-part thriller centred around the character of loving dad Ed, who became increasingly alarmed by his daughter’s new boyfriend.
Ed was convinced that Ryan wasn’t who he said he was. But had Ed got it all wrong? It was a slightly different role for Jason, who often plays mild-mannered, sometimes peculiar characters (no offence, Jase!).
As usual, Jason was fantastic in the role.
Who plays DS Dodds in McDonald & Dodds?
Jason Watkins portrays DS Dodds in McDonald & Dodds. He is described as the “humble and quietly brilliant DS Dodds” who appears opposite Tala Gouveia‘s “ambitious and feisty” DCI McDonald.
Jason has said of the role: “I love playing Dodds, and I really hope to continue to play him for more series. Robert Murphy, the creator, has really created a wonderful character. You could say he is a bit like Columbo, but there is also a bit of Poirot in there too.
“Dodds has a gentleness to him, a naivety, but in many ways that is his strength. He is able to use his perceived innocence to get information out of whoever he is with and use it to his advantage.”
Eagle-eyed readers will know that Claire Skinner portrayed DS Dodds’ boss in the cosy crime drama. And Claire plays Jason’s husband in Coma.
What is DS Dodds’ first name?
Creator Robert Murphy has revealed we may never learn the first name of DS Dodds. Ahead of the second series, he said: “I might reveal Dodds’ first name in the very last episode, if it ever comes up!
“The truth is, I don’t actually know what his first name is. I just decided not to give him a first name as I like a bit of mystery around him. I like keeping some things back so that the more you have to imagine about him, the more intriguing he becomes.”
Robert also revealed the real reason the viewer never sees McDonald and Dodds’ private lives. He said: “That’s just my preference to stay out in the field with them.
“For it to be interesting when they go home, it has to be dysfunctional, and then it goes into that whole tortured detective vein. The thing with McDonald and Dodds is that there is no big traumatic backstory for either of them, they’re actually quite happy.”
How old is Coma star Jason Watkins? Where is he from?
Jason Peter Watkins was born on October 28, 1962, in Albrighton, Shropshire.
He is currently
Jason lived in Shropshire until the age of seven, when his parents moved to Wolverhampton.
Who is Jason Watkins’ wife?
Jason is married to jewellery and fashion designer Clara Francis. She’s dabbled in acting, too, and appeared in the TV movies Fooling Hitler, and In Your Dreams.
They met when Clara was 19 and Jason was 24. Jason was doing a play at the Young Vic, and Clara was his dresser.
Jason was with his first wife Caroline Harding at the time, who he later went on to marry and have children with.
He said: “I thought I should be with Caroline properly. We had our first son, Freddie, got married, then our second son, Pip, came along. Caroline and I were together happily for 12 years, and then we separated.
“Afterwards, I was rather pathetically lost and Clara rescued me.”
Does Coma star Jason Watkins have children?
Jason has two sons, Freddie and Pip, from his first marriage to actress Caroline Harding.
After getting together with second wife Clara Francis, Jason moved into her flat in Kentish Town. Their daughters, Bessie and Maude, came along in 2007 and 2008, by which time they were living in a house in Camden.
Jason and Clara have three children together – Bessie, Maude, and Gilbert. Gilbert was born after the death of their middle child Maude in 2011.
Did Jason Watkins lose a child?
Devastatingly, Jason and Clara’s youngest daughter Maude died of sepsis when she was just two. In Christmas 2010, Maude got a cold and flu, but her symptoms became extreme. The hospital discharged her after diagnosing croup.
Tragically, Maudie’s older sister Bessie found her dead in bed on New Year’s Day 2011. Jason – who has a tattoo of Maude’s name on his arm – previously relived the moment, describing how Bessie told her parents: “I can’t wake up Maude.”
Bessie and Maude shared a bedroom in the Watkins family home.
Jason dedicated his 2015 BAFTA award to Maude and tirelessly campaigns for greater awareness of sepsis. He is also a patron of Child Bereavement UK, a charity that supports children, young people and families when a child grieves or when a child dies.
Jason says that telling Maude’s sister Bessie the truth was the hardest thing. He said: “Telling a child ‘your sister is not coming back’ is difficult. That was the most difficult thing. Explaining to her what had happened.
“I think she knew because she was there, that was the shocking thing, the traumatic thing for her. You can use euphemisms of heaven and those sort of things. Whatever helps for you is the way to do it.”
Bessie was just a couple of years older than Maude when her sister died. Gilbert was born after Maude’s death.
Jason used real-life grief to play Ed Collier in The Catch
Appearing on The One Show in 2023, Jason revealed he harnased his own grief to play grieving dad Ed in The Catch. He said: “We, as a family, lost a child as well, so I understand very much the character Ed’s feelings.
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to take the role on because it’s so well mapped out in the series.
“It’s a painful journey, but you feel as though you have something to share and be able, through a drama, to illuminate what it’s like to be in this difficult place.”
He added: “As anyone who’s lost a child would say, you don’t want to be a victim, you want to make the loss of your child useful to somebody and that they count.”
Who was Nativity 2 dedicated to?
The film Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! is dedicated to Maude Watkins. The tribute read: “To the brightest star in the sky.”
Dad Jason portrayed Gordon Shakespeare in the 2012 movie opposite David Tennant. Jason also dedicated his BAFTA award to his beloved daughter.
He said while collecting the award in 2015: “There is one person that I am going to dedicate this to and along with my family… I’m going to share this with our daughter who we lost just a few days funnily enough after Joanna Yeates’ death.
“If there is a reason why I’m standing here it is because of our Maudie, so thank you.”
Of course, Joanna Yeates was the young woman who Christopher Jeffries was wrongly accused of murdering.
Coma star Jason Watkins victim of crime in real life
Jason Watkins revealed he had been a “victim of crime” in 2023. While it was not 100% clear what happened, the TV favourite admitted that he was “beyond furious” over the way he was subsequently treated after his iPhone was stolen.
Jason shared the tweet after having his phone stolen. His anger was aimed at network O2, after a visit to one of its London stores. He said: “What is it about @O2? Yet another waste of time at Tottenham Court Road Store.”
He continued: “I was a victim of crime and had my phone stolen. I bought ALL my details with me in the one hour I have today to sort it. Still they could not help.”
He finished the tweet by admitting: “I am beyond furious!”
Read more: Viewers ‘heartbroken’ by Jason Watkins’ devastating story about daughter Maudie’s death
