James Murray returns as Chief Superintendent John Houseman in McDonald & Dodds this weekend – but who is his famous wife?
How long have the pair been married? And do they have kids?
Here’s everything you need to know about the actor and his McDonald & Dodds character.
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Who plays Chief Superintendent John Houseman in McDonald & Dodds?
James Murray stars as Chief Superintendent John Houseman in McDonald & Dodds on ITV1.
The character gives McDonald a hard time, and is hellbent on getting Dodds to retire.
He says: “It was nice to get back in the saddle and revisit Houseman, and also put a bit more flesh on the bone with him this series.
“He is quite elusive and mysterious so I worked with the writer to get a bit more backstory on the screen this time.”
James adds: “When series one went out, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh look, there is that nasty guy from that show’.
“But a lot of people quite liked the nastiness, or so they tell me to my face!”
Talking about his character’s feelings towards Dodds, James says: “He see him as dead wood and wants rid of him.”
What else has James Murray starred in before?
James is an actor and director, and has been on our TV screens since 1979 when he was just four years old!
The actor played Sandy Hunter in Coronation Street in 1998, Johnny Boy in North Square in 2000 and Mark Talbot in 2002’s Clocking Off.
James met his wife Sarah Parish on the set of Cutting It between 2004 and 2005, when he played Liam Carney.
Between 2007 and 2008, he starred as Stephen Hart on Primeval.
He has also appeared in the 2015 series Cucumber, 2013 film Defiance, and portrayed DCI Daniel Drummond in Suspects in 2016.
James appeared as Caleb in the Ryan Reynolds film 6 Underground which was released in December 2019.
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James Murray wife: Who is James Murray married to?
James has been married to Sarah Parish since December 15 2007.
They wed in Hampshire on December 15 2007, following a two-year romance.
Taking about her appearance in McDonald & Dodds, he says: “I like the third episode the best because my good lady wife is in it. That was fun to do.
“We actually tried to get Sarah in series one but there wasn’t a role that was quite right for her, but this part was.
“Our characters didn’t have an awful lot of do with each other but I did have to dress her down a bit in one scene.
“That was great fun to do without fear of any comeback because she didn’t have any lines back to me. Fantastic!”
James Murray wife: Do James and Sarah have kids?
James and Sarah have had two children together.
In January 2008, it was announced that Sarah was pregnant with their first child.
Their daughter, Ella-Jayne Murray, was born five weeks prematurely in May 2008.
Tragically, she died the following January aged eight months due to a congenital heart defect.
In her honour, Sarah and James raised funds for the Children’s Intensive Care unit at Southampton General Hospital where she was cared for.
Their second daughter Nell was born November 21 2009.
The couple co-founded the Murray Parish Trust in 2014.
How old is James Murray?
James Murray was born on January 22 1975 in Manchester, England.
He is currently 46 years of age.
McDonald & Dodds series two, episode one
Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia reprise their roles as DS Dodds and DCI McDonald for series two of McDonald & Dodds – comprising of three new feature length episodes.
The first film guest stars Martin Kemp, Patsy Kensit, Cathy Tyson, Rupert Graves and Rob Brydon.
They star as five friends who take a hot air balloon trip, but disaster strikes and they plummet to the ground.
When one of the party doesn’t return safely, DCI McDonald and DS Dodds must investigate whether foul play was involved.
McDonald & Dodds returns with the first of three feature length films on Sunday February 28 2021 at 8pm on ITV1.
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