Born: 2nd March 1970 (as Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong)
Episodes Broadcast: 2007-2011

Born in Rothbury, Northumberland, Alexander Armstrong was a talented singer who was also accomplished on the piano, cello and oboe. As a result, he earned a scholarship to study music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he ultimately pursued a degree in English and began writing for the Footlights drama society. Armstrong moved to London, where he worked as a waiter and a bartender while earning early television credits during the mid-Nineties for programmes such as The Thin Blue Line, You Bet! and Sharpe. Eager to try his hand at comedy, he forged a partnership with Ben Miller, and their performance at the 1996 Edinburgh Festival Fringe earned rave reviews. The following year, their sketch show Armstrong And Miller premiered. Armstrong also started to find work as a voice artiste, both on radio and for television shows like Stressed Eric, and he appeared in the 1999 comedy film Plunkett & Macleane.

After four successful seasons, Armstrong And Miller ended in 2001 while its stars focussed on solo projects. For Armstrong, this included shows like Life Begins, Agatha Christie's Marple and Saxondale, frequent presenting roles including Have I Got News For You and Best Of The Worst, plus the Woody Allen movies Match Point and Scoop. In 2003, he married Hannah Bronwen Snow; they would have four sons. The comedy partnership was revived for The Armstrong And Miller Show, which debuted in 2007. The same year, Armstrong could be heard as the voice of Mr Smith, the supercilious supercomputer owned by the title character of The Sarah Jane Adventures. His debut in the Doctor Who spin-off came in the pilot episode, Invasion Of The Bane, which was broadcast on New Year's Day. During his time on The Sarah Jane Adventures, Armstrong could also be seen in programmes like Mutual Friends and Reggie Perrin, and he became the co-host of the long-running quiz show Pointless.

Following the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Armstrong was recruited for the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special

Armstrong's role as Mr Smith led to his involvement with the 2008 Doctor Who season finale, The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Following the untimely end of The Sarah Jane Adventures, he was recruited back to the parent show for the 2011 Christmas special, The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe. Armstrong now played a new character, a Second World War pilot whose life was saved thanks to the intervention of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor. Meanwhile, The Armstrong And Miller Show had again come to an end in 2010, after three further seasons.

In addition to a number of presenting roles, Armstrong's work during the 2010s often came in the form of voice parts, including the children's shows Peppa Pig, Hey Duggee and Danger Mouse. Nonetheless, he was both seen and heard in programmes such as Love Life and Hunderby, as well as 2019's Horrible Histories: The Movie: Rotten Romans. Singing also took a renewed prominence in Armstrong's professional life, and he toured with a cover band during 2013. He later released his first album, A Year Of Songs, in 2015.