Don Warrington
Biography
Don Warrington MBE, born Donald Williams on 23 May 1951 in Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, is a Trinidadian‑born British actor. Over his career he has accumulated seventy‑five credited performances. He is most recognisable for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom Rising Damp, which aired from 1974 to 1978, and for his long‑running portrayal of Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series Death in Paradise, a role he has held from 2011 to the present. Warrington is male and is also listed under the Arabic transliteration دان وارینگتون. His work spans several decades of television and film in the United Kingdom and beyond.
Career overview
Don Warrington MBE, born Donald Williams on 23 May 1951 in Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, is a Trinidadian‑born British actor. Over the course of his career he has amassed a substantial body of work, with seventy‑five credited performances listed in a major film and television database. His early prominence came through the role of Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom Rising Damp, a series that ran from 1974 to 1978 and remains a defining part of his public recognition.
In more recent years Warrington has become widely associated with the BBC detective series Death in Paradise, where he portrays Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, a role he has inhabited from the series’ debut in 2011 through to the present. The longevity of this part underscores his continued presence on British television. Throughout his career he has been identified primarily as an actor, and his contributions to the performing arts have been acknowledged with the honorific MBE. His professional profile reflects a sustained engagement with both comedic and dramatic television productions across several decades.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- What has the BBC ever done for me? (2026) as Selwyn Patterson
- Policing Paradise (2025) as Self - Narrator
- Beyond Paradise (2023) as Commissioner Selwyn Patterson
- Princess Anne: The Plot to Kidnap a Royal (2023) as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Remembers… (2022) as Self
- Still We Thrive (2022)
- Between the Covers (2020) as Self
- You, Me and Him (2018) as Charles
- Henry IX (2017) as Gilbert
- The Five (2016) as Ray Kenwood
- King Lear (2016) as King Lear
- On Christmas Night (2016) as Himself
- The Ark (2015) as Paul
- Chasing Shadows (2014) as CS Harley Drayton
- BBC Comedy Feeds (2012) as Dad
- Death in Paradise (2011) as Selwyn Patterson
- Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (2011) as Self - Participant
- The Glass Man (2011) as Anton
- The Toys That Made Christmas (2011) as Self - Child of the '60s
- Going Postal (2010) as Priest of Offler
- It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010) as Chief Superintendent
- Law & Order: UK (2009)
- The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words (2009) as Readings (voice)
- God, Smell and Her (2009)
- Futureshock: Comet (2008) as General Harris
- Lewis (2007) as Marcus Harding
- M.I. High (2007) as Bodleian / Crime
- Expresso (2007) as Mr Jones
- New Street Law (2006) as Judge Ken Winyard
- Manilla Envelopes (2006) as Battersea Gazette Paper Boss
- Land of the Blind (2006) as First Sergeant
- Doctor Who (2005) as Mr.Präsident
- London (2004) as Ignatius Sancho
- Fat Slags (2004) as General Secretary
- Grumpy Old Men (2003) as Self
- The Crouches (2003) as Bailey
- Believe Nothing (2002) as Chairman
- Manchild (2002) as Patrick
- Waking the Dead (2001) as Gideon Barclay
- Arabian Nights (2000) as Hari Ben Karim
- Lighthouse (2000) as Prison Officer Ian Goslet
- The Unforgettable Leonard Rossiter (2000) as Self
- 8 ½ Women (1999) as Simon
- CI5: The New Professionals (1999)
- Tube Tales (1999) as Preacher (Steal Away)
- Tube Tales (1999) as Preacher (segment "Steal Away")
- The Seventh Scroll (1999) as Colonel Nogo
- Babymother (1998) as Luther
- Trial & Retribution (1997) as Willard Pembroke
- The Trick (1997) as The Magic Man
- Hamlet (1996) as Voltimand
- 'Oh, Miss Jones!': The Very Best of Leonard Rossiter (1996) as Self
- Backup (1995)
- Chiller (1995) as John Meybourne
- Number Six (1995) as John Meybourne
- Red Dwarf: Smeg Ups (1994) as Commander Blinks
- To Play the King (1993) as Graham Gaunt
- Camping (1990)
- Red Dwarf (1988) as Commander Binks
- Borderland (1988) as Josh
- The Lion of Africa (1987) as Henry Piggot
- Casualty (1986) as Trevor
- Lovejoy (1986) as Felix
- C.A.T.S. Eyes (1985) as Nigel Beaumont
- The Mysteries (1985) as Angel Gabriel
- Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) as Stephen Wilson
- Triangle (1981) as Alan Lansing
- Rising Damp (1980) as Philip Smith
- The Last Giraffe (1979) as Peter Mwenga
- The XYY Man (1976) as Jomo Ibbon
- Against the Crowd (1975) as Albert Sharpe II
- Carbon Copy (1975) as Albert Sharpe II
- Club Havana (1975) as Dave
- Rising Damp (1974) as Philip
- Second City Firsts (1973) as Dave
- Six Days of Justice (1972) as Henry Vaughan
- Night Shift as Don
- Doctor Who: Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel as The President