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Lean and balding Welsh character actor Clive Robert Merrison is best known for voicing Sherlock Holmes in BBC4 radio dramatizations from 1989 to 1998. He remains the only actor to have portrayed Holmes in all adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories and novels. Michael Williams originally voiced Dr. Watson, with Andrew Sachs later taking over the role alongside Merrison in the non-canon series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, inspired by references in the original stories. On screen, Merrison appeared as murder victim Bartholomew Sholto in the 1983 adaptation of The Sign of Four, starring Ian Richardson as Holmes.
Merrison trained at Rose Bruford College, began his career in repertory theatre, and made his London debut in 1970. He spent two seasons (1972-74) as part of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company, a period he describes as his "golden age." From 1979 to 1990, he performed in numerous plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1986, he starred in the title role of Artaud at Rodez during its London and Rome premieres, and in 1990, he portrayed Lenin in Moscow Gold at the Barbican Theatre.
Beginning his screen career in 1967, Merrison has demonstrated versatility across genres. He has played professional and authority figures in crime and mystery series such as Softly Softly (1966), Special Branch (1969), Pie in the Sky (1994), and Foyle's War (2002); science fiction roles in Doctor Who (1963), Space Precinct (1994), and The Tomorrow People (1992); and historical figures in period dramas including Richard Sheridan in Prince Regent (1979), Ascanio Sforza in The Borgias (1981), and Quintus Metellus in Caesar (2002). Notable roles include White Russian revolutionary Boris Savinkov in Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1977), Vyacheslav Molotov in Stalin (1992), Dr. Peter Thorn in Yes, Prime Minister (1986), a Russian major in Firefox (1982), a lecherous explorer in The English Patient (1996), Prime Minister Clement Attlee in Bert & Dickie (2012), and British physicist Dr. Henry Hulme in Heavenly Creatures (1994).
Merrison's most recent screen appearance was in 2019. Reports indicate he married stage actress Stephanie Tremethick around 1967. His second wife was the late actress Gillian Barge.
