Jason Kerrigan is best known for playing Sam Colloby on Casualty, but he also regularly appeared in Heartbeat with his wife, and has since since made an appearance on a number of other shows.
Some actors, like EastEnders’ Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), Coronation Street’s William Roache (Ken Barlow), and Neighbours’ Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), become permanent fixtures on our screens. Others, like Jonathan Kerrigan of Casualty fame, make a significant impact despite their shorter stints.
After making his screen debut in the 1995 single Life Is Sweet, the bleach-blond nurse Sam Colloby, fifty-two-year-old Jonathan made his comedic debut in Casualty in 1996. Sam, his portrayal of Sam, quickly gained popularity as one of the show’s most adored characters.
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As an openly gay character, Sam was involved in numerous personal and work-related dramas tied to his sexuality, including discovering that a female car crash victim was secretly dating his boyfriend, reports OK!.
Sam’s presence, however, ensured that life was never dull. He helped find the victim of a colleague’s rape, fell from a hospital balcony, and saved a young girl’s life by performing an emergency tracheotomy. Before Sam’s character made the decision to pursue a career outside of nursing in 1999, Jonathan served as his character for four seasons of Casualty.
Other stars of Casualty, such as the legendary Derek Thompson (Charlie Fairhead), have had much longer runs on the show, with Derek only recently retiring after a remarkable 37 years.
In reality, Jonathan took on the role of PC Steve Traynor in ITV’s Merseybeat, appearing in 30 episodes. He then transitioned to Heartbeat, a series set in 1960s Yorkshire, where he portrayed Sergeant Rob Walker and even composed the show’s theme tune.
His relationship with Helen Trent, whom he later wed, was always at the center of the drama. Helen tragically passed away in an explosion, which was understandably devastated Rob.
In 2007, Jonathan chose to leave the show (later replaced by Joe McFadden), and went on to appear in various TV programmes including the American crime drama NCIS and BBC drama series In The Club, as well as films such as Diana – alongside Naomi Watts, who portrayed the late Princess of Wales – and The Somnambulists.
In 2011, Jonathan and Shelley Conn, who played Lady Mary in Netflix’s Bridgerton, tied the knot. They have a son together.
Since then, life has been bustling for him, with other roles including starring in The Five, a ten-part drama for Sky 1, written by American crime writer Harlan Coben, and Death In Paradise, acting alongside his real-life wife. Sporting a ginger-brown goatee and brown hair, he looks completely different from his days as Sam Colloby, a transformation not unlike that of former Heartbeat co-star Nick Berry.
Irvine Welsh’s Crime, in which he starred as Mark McKendrick alongside Dougray Scott and Angela Griffin, is one of his most recent TV dramas. Additionally, he has a role in the historical TV drama series Outlander as Rev. Peleg Woodsworth.
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Source: Mirror
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