Brian Blessed grew up in Goldthorpe, Yorkshire, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His television appearances include ZCars, Boy Dominic, I, Claudius, Cold Comfort Farm, The Little World of Don Camillo, Blackadder, My Family and Other Animals, The History of Tom Jones and Peppa Pig. His films include The Trojan Women, Flash Gordon, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, As You Like It, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Brian is also an explorer and mountaineer. He became the oldest man to reach the North Magnetic Pole on foot in 1999 and to reach 28,000 feet of Everest without oxygen. He is the author of Absolute Pandemonium and lives in Surrey with his wife, Hildegard Neil.