Acting
Oct 6, 1978
Hammersmith, London, UK
Joe Armstrong
Acting
Biography
Joe Armstrong is an English actor, best known for his roles in the television series Robin Hood, Happy Valley, and The Village. He has also starred in productions such as Darkest Hour and The Hollow Crown. Armstrong was born in Hammersmith, London, England, in 1978. He is the son of actor Alun Armstrong. He has an older brother, Tom, and a younger brother, Dan, who was in the band Clock Opera. He attended Elliott School in Putney from 1993 to 1997. He then studied at the University of Bristol, where he acted in The Brecht Project—a collection of scenes from the works of Bertolt Brecht—in 1998 and Women Beware Women in 1999. Armstrong's first major television role came in 2006, when he was cast as Allan A Dale in the BBC series Robin Hood. He remained with the series for all three seasons, which aired from 2006 to 2009. In 2014, Armstrong starred in the BBC series Happy Valley as Ashley Cowgill, a local caravan park owner and drug dealer involved in a high-stakes kidnapping plot. The series was a critical and commercial success, and Armstrong's performance was praised by critics. In 2013, Armstrong starred in the BBC series The Village as Stephen Bairstow, a deeply traumatized war veteran returning home to a changing rural community. The series was also a critical and commercial success, and Armstrong's performance was praised by critics. In his recent work leading up to 2026, Armstrong has continued to secure prominent roles on British television and stage. He appeared in the crime drama The Bay (2023) and the global Netflix hit Fool Me Once (2024), followed by performances in the historical drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story (2025) and the thriller series The Blame (2026). Additionally, he returned to the stage to star in the acclaimed National Theatre production of London Tide (2024).
Feature Films (8)
A Romanian police officer teams up with a small crew of bank robbers to pull off a heist by convincing everyone at the scene of the crime that they are only filming a movie.
Closer to the Moon
A historical drama that tells the story of the development of penicillin in the 1930's/40's, by a group of scientists in Oxford at The Dunn School of Pathology
Breaking the Mould
During World War I, a Czech civilian is forced into the Austrian army. Everywhere he goes, everything he is ordered to do becomes a disaster for the Austrians. Is Schwejk astoundingly stupid or deviously defiant?
The Good Soldier Schwejk
To Walk Invisible takes a new look at the extraordinary Brontë family, telling the story of these remarkable women who, despite the obstacles they faced, came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English language.
To Walk Invisible
In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
Darkest Hour
On the same day a notorious crime kingpin Jimmy Vincent is released from prison, there is a daring armored car diamond heist of diamonds using his m.o.
Once Upon a Time on the Westway
Television & Series (26)
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
Ripley Holden is a small-time entrepreneur desperate to make it big with his new state-of-the-art amusement arcade. The opening extravaganza is overshadowed by the find of a dead body on the premises. DI Carlisle is called in and quickly finds he has more on his mind than murder, when he falls in love with Ripley's long-suffering wife.
Blackpool
DS Barbara Havers is assigned to work with the upper-crust DI Thomas Lynley to solve murders.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
The Bill
Party Animals presents Westminster from the ground up – the young researchers and advisors shouldering huge responsibility in a frantic, high-stakes world. It's no wonder their personal lives are so messy. Sons of an ex-Labour MP, Scott and Danny Foster have politics in their blood.
