Whilst still attending RADA he was approached by the talent spotter Peter Froggat and signed on with the agency Plant and Froggat Ltd. One of his earliest professional stage appearances was playing Harry Hardcastle in a production of Love on the Dole staged at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Amongst his first television appearances was an episode of Thirty Minute Theatre, 'Is That Your Body, Boy?' (9th May 1970). Kitchen was one of the main characters, Waller, alongside Ron Moody performing from a script by Andrew Davies. This was followed by a guest role as Trevor in 'The Prime of Life' (11th January 1971), an episode of Man at the Top. Kitchen made his Play for Today debut with the episode 'Hell’s Angel' (21st January 1971) which also featured Quatermass actor Andre Morrell in the cast. Next was the obligatory role in Z Cars appearing as Ray Hall in the two part story 'Hold Up' (1st and 2nd March 1971).
His television roles for 1972 included 'The Web' (3rd December 1972), an episode of the drama anthology ITV Sunday Night Theatre, and a guest role in 'Hoax' (29th December 1972), an episode of the police drama series New Scotland Yard. He also made his second Play for Today appearance with 'The Reporters' (9th October 1972) which told of a meeting between a fresh faced news reporter and a jaded old hack. Kitchen played the younger reporter, Alan, with the veteran journalist, Vic, portrayed by Robert Urquhart. The play was written by Arthur Hopcraft who had worked as a reporter for the Daily Mirror and The Guardian newspapers. The trade paper The Stage’s review highlighted Kitchen’s contribution; “Michael Kitchen was capably cast as Alan, the young cub. He managed to find all the flair, drive, and repressed vulnerability that Hopcraft wrote into the character.[2]”
His next television work was for another drama anthology production, Country Matters, and it was here that he first worked alongside director Donald McWhinnie - this would lead to him being cast by the director in the Beasts episode 'What Big Eyes'. Kitchen played Henry Batley, a journalist who stays at a bed and breakfast and has a fling with the landlady in the episode 'The Four Beauties' (11th March 1973). The production was adapted from an H E Bates short story.
His next television work was for another drama anthology production, Country Matters, and it was here that he first worked alongside director Donald McWhinnie - this would lead to him being cast by the director in the Beasts episode 'What Big Eyes'. Kitchen played Henry Batley, a journalist who stays at a bed and breakfast and has a fling with the landlady in the episode 'The Four Beauties' (11th March 1973). The production was adapted from an H E Bates short story.
The year of 1973 was a breakthrough year for Kitchen and would prove to be his busiest year so far in the medium of television. Following his work with Donald McWhinnie Kitchen moved onto an episode of another drama anthology series, Late Night Theatre, with the episode 'Susan' (13th June 1973). He then guest starred as Philippe Villon in 'Chantelle' (15th October 1973), an episode of drama anthology Crime of Passion, written by Adele Rose. He was also cast as Branwell Bronte in The Brontes of Haworth (30th September – 28th October 1973), a five episode dramatization of the life and times of the Bronte sisters, co-produced by Yorkshire Television and Granada Television. The Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries episode 'The Monkeys Paw' (10th November 1973) would see Kitchen cast as the ill-fated Herbert White, who would return from death mangled, but living. Based on the WW Jacobs short story the production also featured Patrick Magee as the old soldier who passes on the titular paw with the power to grant wishes to Herbert’s parents. Playing Mr and Mrs White was Cyril Cusack and Megs Jenkins[3]. Kitchen also took the lead male role of Ray in 'Audrey Had A Little Lamb' (4th December 1973), an episode of the romantic drama anthology series Love Story. Earlier in the same day Kitchen could be seen as Simon in the first of a two part storyline for the drama series Marked Personal (4th and 5th December 1973).
The following year, 1974, was also an industrious year which Kitchen began by playing King Thrushbeard in the BBC single drama King Thrushbeard and the Proud Princess (27th February 1974). In the theatre he was involved with a touring production of Spring Awakening for the National Theatre from May until July 1974. Also amongst the cast was Jenny Agutter, Beryl Reid and Peter Firth. 'St Martin’s Summer' (7th July 1974) was an instalment of the television anthology series Seven Faces of Woman written by Shelagh Delaney. Kitchen played the character Archie. Three days later he appeared as Tommy in the ITV Playhouse production 'A Kind of Bonus' (10th July 1974). Next was playing Trotsky in two episodes of the BBC historical drama The Fall of Eagles – 'The Last Tsar' (12th April 1974) and 'Absolute Beginners' (19th April 1974). During September 1974 Kitchen took over the role of Romeo from Peter Firth in a touring production of Romeo and Juliet before ending the year appearing in the BBC mini-series The Early Life of Stephen Hind (30th November – 14th December 1974). Kitchen took the titular role as a venal and manipulative man who will stop at nothing to rise to the top.
During February and March 1975 Kitchen played the title role in John Osborne’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Greenwich Theatre. Television roles for 1975 included 'King Thrushbeard and the Proud Princess' (13th February 1975) - an episode of children’s show Jackanory Playhouse, playing The Earl of Rochester in 'A Bill of Mortality' (28th April 1975), the 18th episode of the BBC’s ambitious failure Churchill’s People, portraying kidnapper and terrorist Carlos Esquerdo in the BBC feature length single drama Savages (12th November 1975) and his first television encounter with the supernatural in 'The Imp of the Perverse' (20th December 1975). Kitchen could be seen as the student in a cast which also featured Milton Johns and Lalla Ward working with a script by Andrew Davies. The production was transmitted as part of the drama anthology strand Centre Play. Stage work for the latter half of the year took in Iago in a production of Othello for the Young Vic Theatre during October and Macbeth[4] in a Young Vic Theatre production of the play during October
Prior to appearing in the Beasts episode 'What Big Eyes' Kitchen made his second ITV Sunday Night Drama appearance with the role of Ken, a wounded British soldier who stumbles across an abandoned tank in the desert, in the episode 'Enemy' (24th April 1976). His role as RSPCA inspector Bob Curry in 'What Big Eyes' was next. Kitchen also appeared in the Dennis Potter play Brimstone and Treacle made during 1976. However, the controversial production was to remain unscreened until 1987. Post-Beasts Kitchen was seen in the three-part BBC drama A Divorce (6th August – 20th August 1976) in the role of Laurence, the husband involved in the breakup of his marriage from the quiet beginnings through to the legal proceedings. Kitchen then entered a quiet period for television appearances during the next few years as he concentrated his energy on theatre and stage appointments. He was romantically linked to Joanna Lumley during this period of his life.
During February and March 1977 he was in the cast of the premiere run of Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn presented at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre. May 1977 saw the premiere of Robert Bolt’s State of Revolution at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre before moving to the National Theatre’s South Bank complex in London. The play featured leading Russian political figures like Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin played by Michael Bryant, Michael Kitchen and Terence Rigby. Other roles were filled by Brian Blessed and Sara Kestelman. He was then cast as Maurice Rossitter in an episode of the Thames Television single season drama anthology Romance. 'House of Men' (30th March 1977) was based on a story by Catherine Cookson and directed by Piers Haggard who would later oversee the final Quatermass series. In 1978 Kitchen featured in No Man’s Land (3rd October 1978), a TV adaptation of the Harold Pinter play which was headlined by John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.
He was also the bad guy of the week in The Professionals episode 'Runner' (8th December 1979) playing the political terrorist Duffy. More highbrow was the BBC 2 Playhouse instalment 'School Play' (7th November 1979) set in a public school with all the school boys played by adults which included Kitchen, Tim Piggot-Smith and Jeremy Kemp. The only female in the cast was Jenny Agutter who played the school cook. Kitchen played Rose, a new boy at the school.
The year of 1981 was an industrious one for Kitchen. His credits began with The Bunker (27th January 1981), an American and French television co-production TV movie, which starred Anthony Hopkins as Hitler in his last days in his underground bunker in Berlin. Kitchen played Rochus Misch, one of the Hitler’s bodyguards. February 1981 saw production of a stage version of the radio play Family Voices by Harold Pinter. Kitchen, along with Mark Dignam and Peggy Ashcroft, reprised the roles they had played on the radio for the stage production presented at the Lyttelton theatre. Kitchen also headlined a season four episode of Tales of the Unexpected, 'The Best of Everything' (26th April 1981), playing Arthur Price.
Willis Hall’s play The Long and the Short and the Tall was first produced in 1958 and out of all of the different versions since Hall himself was apparently most pleased with a BBC schools and colleges production. This version was compiled and transmitted on BBC 2 during the evening of Saturday 27th June 1981. Kitchen was a cast member alongside Mark McManus. Patrick Stewart was Doctor Edward Roebuck, lead character in the BBC drama series Maybury, a psychiatrist who would deal with a different case each episode. Kitchen was a guest star in the first season episode 'Indoor Games' (21st July 1981). Kitchen was next be seen on the television as Stephen in the Play for Today episode 'A Room for the Winter' (3rd November 1981). This was his third, and final role for the drama anthology series. On the big screen Kitchen appeared alongside Hywel Bennett and Judy Geeson in the short film Towards The Morning (1981), based on a story by Melvyn Bragg.
The next couple of years were quiet with only a handful of television appearances whilst Kitchen again concentrated in stage work. He did find time to appear in two Shakespeare adaptations for the BBC undertaking the role of Edmund in a version of King Lear (18th October 1982) starring Michael Horden as Lear under the direction of Jonathan Miller. The following year he appeared as Antipholus in The Comedy of Errors (24th December 1983) which featured rock star Roger Daltrey in the role of Dromio.
He was teamed with Bernard Hill for the BBC 2 feature length single drama Still Life (2nd May 1984). Kitchen was cast as Bob, a teacher who becomes paralysed following being knocked off his bike by a lorry. For the London Weekend Television drama anthology series Weekend Playhouse he then appeared in the production 'As Man and Wife' (22nd July 1984). His biggest television role of the year was playing Ernst von Fleischi-Marxow in the BBC biographical period drama Freud (14th September – 19th October 1984) which starred David Suchet as Sigmund Freud. Fleischi-Marxow was an Austrian physician who became noted for his investigations into electrical activity in the brain and nerves. He also continued his association with the Lyttelton Theatre by appearing in a production of the Tom Stoppard play Rough Crossing during November 1984.
Kitchen’s most prominent role of 1985 was playing Berkeley in the film Out of Africa (1985) though he also appeared in a couple of television movies during the year as well – a BBC iteration of Terence Rattigan’s The Browning Version (31st December 1985), which also figured Judie Dench and Ian Holm in the cast, and Love Song (6th April 1985) playing the younger version of William Hatchard with Maurice Denham playing the same role as an old man. The screenplay was based on a story by Jeffrey Archer. For the next few years Kitchen concentrated on stage roles. From September 1986 through to May 1987 Kitchen was a member of touring RSC production of Richard II playing Bolingbroke. February onwards 1987 he was in a touring production of The Art of Success as the Victorian painter William Hogarth. Niamh Cusack played his wife. April 1987 he played Mercurio in a version of Romeo and Juliet staged at The Barbican.
Though produced in 1976 the BBC version of Dennis Potter’s Brimstone and Treacle (25th August 1987) was not transmitted until 1987, five years after the film version starring Sting as the demonic Martin Taylor. Kitchen played the Martin Taylor role in the television play and he imbues the roles with much more demonic shading than Sting was able to muster in the film version. Denholm Elliott and Patricia Lawrence played the parents of Pattie (Michelle Newell) who is in a permanent vegetative state following a road accident. Kitchen claims to be Pattie’s suitor and uses this to charm his way into the household. Kitchen made no film or television appearances during 1988. He returned to the small screen with the guest role of Maltese Tony in the Minder episode 'Fiddler on the Hoof' (30th January 1989) before moving onto the BBC drama series The Justice Game (7th – 28th April 1989) to play Tim Forsythe. Kitchen‘s next appearance on television was 'Benefactors' (28th May 1989), an episode of the BBC 2 anthology strand Theatre Night. He also popped up in the Norwegian feature film Dykket (1989) playing the role of Bricks in a largely Norwegian cast. 'Home Run' (1st October 1989) was an episode of Screen One and Kitchen’s appearance in this production was followed by the clumsily named Ball Trap on the Cote Sauvage (27th December 1989), a single feature length comedy drama written by Andrew Davies. Crossing To Freedom AKA The Pied Piper (8th April 1990) was a TV movie which starred Peter O’Toole as a man who helps a group of children escape Nazi Germany. Kitchen played Major Diessen in the production which was adapted from a Neville Shute novel.
During 1990 he was also involved in two cinema releases – Fools of Fortune (1990) where he played the local landowner, Mr Quinton, in a tale set in Ireland during 1918. The second film was the Sean Connery vehicle The Russia House which was adapted from a John Le Carre novel. The movie plays host to many a familiar British character actor and Kitchen found himself in the company of such names as David Threlfall, James Fox and even director Ken Russell popping up in a cameo role. He then had a small role in the BBC production of The War That Never Ends (28th March 1991) based on the writings of Thucydides and Plato. Kitchen could be seen as an Athenian representative in the production which depicted the Peloponnesian Wars, which pitched Athens against Sparta and lasted 27 years, as a series of news broadcast talking heads. Central Television’s drama series Chancer, starring Clive Owen, also featured Kitchen in two episodes – 'The Fall' (28th May 1991) and 'Sacrifice' (4th June 1991) playing the role of Roman. His only other TV appearances during 1991 were in an episode of the series Stay Lucky. He guest starred as Ray Monk opposite series regulars Dennis Waterman and Jan Francis in the instalment 'Shingle Beach' (23rd November 1991). He also appeared in Faraday’s Dream (21st September 1991), a thirty minute BBC 2 drama celebrating the life of the inventor Michael Faraday, played by Kitchen.
The year of 1992 started with a guest role in an episode of Lovejoy, 'Kids' (15th March 1992), before Kitchen moved on to the Scottish Television mini-series Advocates II (9th – 23rd March 1992) playing barrister James McCandlish. Only two days later ITV viewers could enjoy another Kitchen guest role in the Inspector Morse episode 'The Death of the Self ' (25th March 1992) when he played the role of Russell Clark. He could also be seen in the BBC Films production Enchanted April (5th April 1992). He then appeared in the forgotten UK action thriller film Hostage (1992) which starred Sam Neill as a secret agent. Kitchen has a small role as the character Fredericks.
Kitchen was next seen on screen as the amoral attorney Steven Vey in the two-part Central drama series The Guilty (8th and 9th June 1992). Vey rapes his secretary who fears going public with the incident until Vey is made a judge. Kitchen completed the year with another guest role, portraying Donald Blake in the Boon episode 'Shot in the Dark' (1st December 1992). He could be heard, but not seen, for his final TV credit of the year playing the narrator of 'Hamlet' (7th December 1992), an episode of the BBC Shakespeare The Animated Tales series. Kitchen’s first televised appearance of 1993 was a guest slot in the Keith Barron / Nigel Havers comedy drama The Good Guys in the episode 'Old School Ties' (15th January 1993) playing Graham Croxley, a local councillor whose son is suspected of attacking an old age pensioner. He then appeared in the BBC Films version of Franz Kafka’s The Trial (1993) opposite Kyle MacLachlan as Josef K. Kitchen essayed the character Block.
Kitchen was next seen on screen as the amoral attorney Steven Vey in the two-part Central drama series The Guilty (8th and 9th June 1992). Vey rapes his secretary who fears going public with the incident until Vey is made a judge. Kitchen completed the year with another guest role, portraying Donald Blake in the Boon episode 'Shot in the Dark' (1st December 1992). He could be heard, but not seen, for his final TV credit of the year playing the narrator of 'Hamlet' (7th December 1992), an episode of the BBC Shakespeare The Animated Tales series. Kitchen’s first televised appearance of 1993 was a guest slot in the Keith Barron / Nigel Havers comedy drama The Good Guys in the episode 'Old School Ties' (15th January 1993) playing Graham Croxley, a local councillor whose son is suspected of attacking an old age pensioner. He then appeared in the BBC Films version of Franz Kafka’s The Trial (1993) opposite Kyle MacLachlan as Josef K. Kitchen essayed the character Block.
Next was a guest role in the American TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles with an appearance in the episode 'Paris, May 1919' (24th July 1993). Kitchen played Lloyd George. Back on UK TV he had a further guest role for the Between the Lines episode 'The Fifth Estate' (16th November 1993). Kitchen appeared as the character Roger Boshier. During the same year he also acted as the narrator on the documentary Hell in the Pacific (1993) which examined the issues of land rights and their exploitation by mining companies in Papua New Guinea. His final televised role for the year was as The King in the BBC mini-series To Play The King (21st November – 12th December 1993).
Kitchen undertook the role of Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong in the London Weekend Television crime drama Dandelion Dead (6th February 1994). The Major is a solicitor who stands trial for killing a business rival and his wife and was based on a real-life case. This was followed by playing Dudley Hooperman in the first episode of the comedy drama Pie in the Sky – 'The Best of Both Worlds' (13th March 1994). Next was the American TV movie Doomsday Gun (23rd July 1994) which saw Kitchen appear alongside such quality Hollywood stars as Frank Langella, Alan Arkin and Kevin Spacey in the dramatization of the events around Sadam Hussein’s super gun. This was followed by another American TV movie, Fatherland (26th November 1994), based on the novel by Robert Harris and set in an alternate world where Nazi Germany won the Second World War. Kitchen appeared as the character Jaeger. He also made a return to Shakespeare The Animated Tales to voice the character Polixenes in “The Winter’s Tale” (7th December 1994).
Kitchen started 1995 with an appearance in Rik Mayall Presents, an anthology series designed to show the dramatic capabilities of the eponymous actor. Kitchen appears in the episode 'Dirty Old Town' (5th February) which sees Mayall play a tramp with Kitchen in the role of Jeremy Swain. In between the guest slots Kitchen also committed to a couple of min-series during the year – BBC period drama The Buccaneers (5th February – 5th March 1995), which saw Kitchen play the role of Sir Helmsley Thwaite, and The Hanging Gale (14th May – 4th June 1995). This was another period drama with Kitchen playing Captain William Townsend who persecutes the Phelan brothers – played by the real-life McGann brothers; Paul, Joe, Mark and Stephen. Up next was another American TV movie, this time a version of Kidnapped (5th November 1995), with Armand Assante as an unlikely Alan Stewart. Kitchen adds character to the production playing William Reid. He also acted the narrator on the two-part Network First documentary 'Gettys – Tragedy of Riches' (7th and 14th November 1995). His most high profile role for the year was undoubtedly playing Bill Tanner in the James Bond film Golden Eye (1995). He then reprised the role of Dudley Hooperman in the Pie in the Sky episode 'Money Talks' (31st December 1995).
During 1996 he took part in the three-part miniseries Wilderness (30th September – 14th October 1996) based on the horror novel by Dennis Danvers and adapted by Andrew and Bernadette Davies. Kitchen appeared as Luther Adams, a psychiatrist working with Alice White (Amanda Ooms) who believes she turns into a wolf once a month. Kitchen may have had flashbacks to dealing with a similar lycanthrope obsessed individual in his Beasts episode “What Big Eyes”. There was also a solitary guest role, Jonathan Meyerbridge, in the A Touch of Frost episode “The Things We Do For Love” (21st January 1996). Kitchen was the narrator on “The Power and the Glory” (11th December 1996), an episode of the BBC documentary programme Modern Times. The subject was the annual power boat race at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.
As Kitchen approached his fifties he was even more in demand than ever and 1997 onwards would be a particularly busy time for film and television roles starting with a guest role in the sketch show Harry Enfield and Chums playing a director called David in an episode transmitted 11th February 1997. This revealed a flair for comic timing which would lead Kitchen to take more comedic roles in future. Next was the romantic drama series Reckless (6th February – 13th March 1997) with Kitchen appearing as David Crane, the ex-husband of Francesca Annis’ character. Crane also happens to be boss of Annis’ new lover. Produced by Granada this soapy eternal love triangle also starred David Bradley as Crane’s ailing father.
Kitchen followed this with another comedy role in the forgotten BBC comedy gem Sunnyside Farm (18th April – 23rd May 1997) which also starred Mark Addy and Phil Daniels. Kitchen played the unpleasant, flat cap wearing local landowner Mr Letchworth who bullies his way through all six episodes. The series sported a theme tune by Damon Albarn (assisted by Phil Daniels) and featured an early appearance of Matt Lucas in a series of cameos as kinky or half naked countryside characters. The programme received a set of harsh reviews. It ran for one season only and has never been repeated or released on DVD. Film wise Kitchen appeared in Mrs Dalloway (1997), a version of the Virginia Woolf novel adapted by ex-actress Eileen Atkins who, together with her husband Bill Shepherd, bankrolled the adaptation with their own money. The venture nearly bankrupted them when the film flopped at the box office. Kitchen appears as the character Peter Walsh whilst Vanessa Redgrave headlined as Mrs Clarissa Dalloway. A Royal Scandal (10th October 1997) was a BBC feature length costume drama based on the story of the disastrous marriage between George, Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick. Kitchen played Lord Malmesbury in a glittering cast which also included Richard E Grant as George, Susan Lynch as Caroline, Denis Lawson, Frances Barber and Ian Richardson.
One of his more unusual roles during 1998 was for the Swedish crime thriller movie Sista kontraktet (1998). Kitchen appeared as the master assassin Ray Lambert who is being hunted by the police as he pursues his plan to kill the Swedish prime minister. Reckless: The Sequel (18th April 1998) was a feature length follow up the romantic drama series screened the previous year. Robson Green and Francesca Annis returned as the romantic couple, now on the verge of marriage. Kitchen also recreated the role of bitter ex-husband David Crane who this time schemes to tear the happy couple apart. He then had a guest role as Philip Swain in the Dalziel and Pascoe episode 'Bones and Silence' (18th October 1998).
Kitchen started 1999 with his most distinguished role for the year which was another return to a previously played character. He appeared in his second James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough (1999), once more playing Bill Tanner. The next television role for Kitchen was the kindly Mr Brownlow in a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (28th November 1999 – 19th December 1999). The script, provided by Alan Bleasdale, also offered roles to Julie Walters, Annette Crosbie, Lindsay Duncan and Robert Lindsay (as Fagin). Kitchen was then seen as the father in Carlton Television’s version of The Railway Children (12th November 2000). Cast as mother was Jenny Agutter who had appeared as a juvenile actor in the film version. The Holocaust on Trial (29th April 2000) was a feature length documentary which investigated Hitler’s Final Solution. The programme also contained dramatic reconstructions of the trial of historian David Irving who was accused of being a Holocaust denier. Kitchen was cast in the reconstructions as Professor Richard Evans, a British historian and expert on 19th and 20th Century Germany who was called to give evidence for the prosecution in the trial.
The mini-series The Secret World of Michael Fry (25th April & 2nd May 2000) featured Ewen Bremmer as the eponymous character, a council planner who uncovers a sinister secret in a sleepy Welsh seaside town. Kitchen could be seen in the supporting role of Herbie. Film roles for the year started with the British drama New Year’s Day (2000) written by Ralph Brown, more commonly recognised for his acting roles including the drug dealer Danny in cult comedy Withnail and I (1987). Kitchen then took the part of Ian Harvery in the Hollywood film Proof of Life (2000) which starred Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan under the direction of Taylor Hackford.
Kitchen could also be heard as one of the voices reading aloud from historical documents in the first season of Simon Schama’s BBC documentary series A History of Britain (30th September – 11th November 2000). He was then cast as Judge Jeffries for the BBC adaptation of Lorna Doone before moving onto feature in the BBC crime drama Second Sight in the episode 'Parasomni'” (8th June 2000) as Bruce Roddam, the father of a girl with a sleep disorder accused of murdering her fiancé.
Kitchen had been a jobbing guest star actor and had featured in several mini-series, but he had never undertaken a recurring role in an ongoing television series before. During 2001 and 2002 he made his debut in such a series, Always and Everyone, a medical drama produced by Granada Television, starting in the third season as one of the principal characters, Jack Turner. The character was created to act as a catalyst between established characters Robert Kingsford (Martin Shaw, another Beasts luminary) and Christine Fletcher (Niamh Cusack) and continued into the fourth and final season in 2002. He also narrated a couple of World War Two documentaries - Hitler’s Fixer (2002), which detailed the life of Hitler’s right hand man Martin Bormann, and Adolf and Eva (29th April 2001).
Kitchen could also be heard as one of the voices reading aloud from historical documents in the first season of Simon Schama’s BBC documentary series A History of Britain (30th September – 11th November 2000). He was then cast as Judge Jeffries for the BBC adaptation of Lorna Doone before moving onto feature in the BBC crime drama Second Sight in the episode 'Parasomni'” (8th June 2000) as Bruce Roddam, the father of a girl with a sleep disorder accused of murdering her fiancé.
Kitchen had been a jobbing guest star actor and had featured in several mini-series, but he had never undertaken a recurring role in an ongoing television series before. During 2001 and 2002 he made his debut in such a series, Always and Everyone, a medical drama produced by Granada Television, starting in the third season as one of the principal characters, Jack Turner. The character was created to act as a catalyst between established characters Robert Kingsford (Martin Shaw, another Beasts luminary) and Christine Fletcher (Niamh Cusack) and continued into the fourth and final season in 2002. He also narrated a couple of World War Two documentaries - Hitler’s Fixer (2002), which detailed the life of Hitler’s right hand man Martin Bormann, and Adolf and Eva (29th April 2001).
2002 would see Kitchen take on what has become his signature television role, Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle who investigates crimes as England confronts Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The character has appeared in twenty eight episodes produced between 2002 and 2015. Kitchen himself has been a consultant producer on other twenty episodes of the series. The character was created by writer Anthony Horowitz and was commissioned by ITV after the cancellation of Inspector Morse. Foyle’s War was cancelled in 2007, but a torrent of complaints and good ratings for the fifth series in 2008 prompted the programme to be revived. The final episode was broadcast in January 2015 after eight series.
During 2003 Kitchen took the role of Doctor Adams in the short film Crisis (2003) and the role of Greg Brentwood in the two-part mini-series Alibi (25th & 26th August 2003) - a black comedy written by Paul Abbott which sees Greg discover with the dead body of his wife’s lover and his attempts to cover it up. Kitchen also utilised his vocal talents by narrating the first season of the reality series Faking It USA (2003). Kitchen was once again cast in a production scripted by Andrew Davies with Falling (6th March 2005), a Granada Television romantic thriller based in the novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Kitchen appeared as Henry Kent who starts a romance with writer Daisy Langrish (Penelope Wilton), but his advances are not always done with the best intentions.
With his Foyle’s War commitments Kitchen found little time to make many appearances in other programmes. One of his guest roles in another production was as David Guest in the three-part thriller series Mobile (19th March – 2nd April 2007). Following this role Kitchen confined himself purely to appearing in Foyle’s War and it would be four years before Kitchen appeared outside of the wartime detective drama. This came in the form of a supporting role as Hugh Perceval, the British screenwriter and producer, in the film My Week with Marilyn (2011).
He then fully capitalised on his earlier entries into comedy with feature length comedy drama Hacks (1st January 2012), playing the media baron Stanhope Feast, as well as taking on the recurring role of John Farrow, the splenetic agent of Brian Pern, in the spoof documentary series The Life of Rock with Brian Pern which ran for three seasons between 2014 and 2016. A one-off special followed, Brian Pern: A Tribute (29th March 2017), after Pern had passed away. Kitchen’s most recent screen role to date has been in the Amazon original series The Collection, a drama series set in a post-War Parisian fashion house. Kitchen guest stars in the episode 'The Scent' (10th February 2017) as Frederic Lemaire.
In 1988 he married Rowena Miller and the couple have two children. They met whilst Miller was working as a dresser for the Royal Shakespeare Company. A very private individual, Kitchen very rarely gives interviews.
In 1988 he married Rowena Miller and the couple have two children. They met whilst Miller was working as a dresser for the Royal Shakespeare Company. A very private individual, Kitchen very rarely gives interviews.
[1] Kitchen also appeared on stage
during his time in Coventry, making his debut for the company when he took over
the role of Lord Fellamar from David Munro, who had to spend time in hospital.
This was in May 1967 shortly before Kitchen enrolled at RADA.
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