Early life

Marshall was born in Bath, Somerset and then moved with his family to Hong Kong and later to Canada. Upon his return to the U.K., he was educated at the co-educational independent school, Wells Cathedral School, located in the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset and after failing his initial A-levels in his first year of sixth form, he enrolled at the Redroofs Theatre School in the town of Maidenhead in Berkshire for his final year of sixth form.

Career

Marshall made an early career appearance on the police series The Bill but it was in 2000 that his major breakthrough role came as Nick Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family. In 2003 he appeared in the film Love Actually as Colin Frissell, a disgruntled Englishman who goes to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States to find love. In 2004 Marshall appeared as DS Luke Stone in the police drama series Murder City. From 2005 to 2011, Marshall appeared on TV and in print for BT Retail adverts, where he played the character Adam; with Esther Hall portraying his character's eventual wife Jane. He also played Dave in the BBC comedy series Citizen Khan in 2012.

Since departing his full-time role in My Family in 2003, Marshall has returned twice. The first time was for one episode in season five in 2004 and the second was for a Comic Relief special in 2005. In an interview, he claimed that playing the part of Nick was awkward, as he was a lot older than the character. He finished working on the film Heist at the end of 2006, which aired in April 2008 on BBC Four. During the summer of 2008, Marshall appeared at Trafalgar Studios in the first UK run of Neil LaBute's play Fat Pig. He became a regular playing the character Ethan on the series Traffic Light in 2011.

In April 2013, it was announced that Marshall would be joining the cast of BBC drama Death In Paradise as the island's new lead detective, DI Humphrey Goodman. His character was introduced in the first episode of the third series which aired on 14 January 2014, with his first case being to solve the murder of his predecessor, DI Richard Poole (played by Ben Miller).

Marshall starred as Tom Sanger alongside Annelise Hesme in the 2015 independent British romantic comedy 'Sparks & Embers'.

Personal life

Marshall lives in Long Barton (near Wells, Somerset) with his wife and son.

Marshall suffered head injuries after being hit by a car in Bristol in 2008. The accident happened in the early hours of 28 April 2008 as he enjoyed a night out with friends in Bristol city centre. He was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary where a scan revealed head injuries. He made a full recovery and began his performances in the play Fat Pig three weeks later, as scheduled. Marshall supports Aston Villa and has said that a card from the club helped him through his accident.

Marshall was charged with failing to provide a breath test in October 2011, after police stopped his car in the Tesco car park in Wells, Somerset. Marshall had failed a breath test at the scene, and then refused to provide a second sample at the police station. He pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for 6 months.

Filmography

Film, television and radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Closing Numbers	Fredericks
1998	Trial & Retribution II	PC Henshaw
1999	The Most Fertile Man in Ireland	Éamonn
1999	Five Seconds to Spare	Martin
1999	The Bill	Hugh Kane	1 episode
2000	"Dead Babies"
2000-2005	My Family	Nick Harper	49 episodes
2001	Je t'aime John Wayne	Belmondo
2002	Iris	Doctor Gudgeon
2002	Mexicano	Jake Morton
2002	Doctor Zhivago	Pasha Antipov
2002	The Four Feathers	Castleton
2002	Deathwatch	Private Barry Starinski
2003	Love Actually	Colin Frissell
2004	The Merchant of Venice	Gratiano
2004	My Life In Film	Art
2004-2006	Murder City	DS Luke Stone	10 episodes
2005	Funland	Dudley Sutton	11 episodes
2007	Death at a Funeral	Troy
2007	Catwalk Dogs	Michael Purvis
2007	Sold	Matt
2008	Heist	Dick Puddlecote
2008	Easy Virtue	Furber
2008	Spending My Inheritance	Harry	Radio drama
2010	Human Target	Doug	1 episode
2010	D.O.A.	Tom Lassiter
2011	Traffic Light	Ethan
2011	Oka! Amerikee	Larry
2011	A Few Best Men	Tom
2011-2013	The Diary of Samuel Pepys	Samuel Pepys	Radio drama
2012	15 Kids and Counting	n/a	Narrator
2012	Citizen Khan	Dave	6 episodes
2013	16 Kids and Counting	n/a	Narrator
2013	Derek	Himself	Cameo
2013	Lightfields	Paul
2014-	Death in Paradise	DI Humphrey Goodman
2015	Sparks & Embers	Tom Sanger

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
2006	The Hypochondriac	Cleante
2006	The Revenger's Tragedy	Vindici
2007	Treats	Dave
2008	Fat Pig	Carter

Awards

• 2002 - British Comedy Awards - Best Newcomer

[ Source: Wikipedia ]