Born: 28th March 1981 (as Gareth David Lloyd)
Episodes Broadcast: 2006-2009

Gareth David Lloyd was born in Bettws, Wales, and was initially encouraged to act by his aunt. After appearing in school plays, he joined the Gwent Young People's Theatre and the Dolman Youth Theatre. Lloyd studied performing arts at Coleg Gwent, adding a hyphen to his real name to adopt “Gareth David-Lloyd” as his professional moniker. After training at the National Youth Theatre, he began appearing in television shows such as Absolute Power, Rosemary & Thyme and The Bill. David-Lloyd's first association with Russell T Davies was a 2004 installment of Mine All Mine. Davies' script included a character called Yanto Jones, and David-Lloyd won the part.

The actor's big break then came in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, for which Davies was the executive producer. David-Lloyd's character -- given the familiar name Ianto Jones -- appeared in the very first episode, 2006's Everything Changes, but was meant to be killed off after just a few episodes. However, the production team became so impressed by his performance that the character was not only kept alive, but his role was expanded, including a romantic relationship with Torchwood boss Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman. As a result, David-Lloyd appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who season finale, The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, as well as the same year's Torchwood audio play Lost Souls for BBC Radio 4.

David-Lloyd became the lead singer of Blue Gillespie, who released the album Synesthesia in 2010

Although Ianto Jones had survived far longer than originally planned, few characters made it out of Torchwood alive, and death finally came calling in the shocking penultimate episode of Children Of Earth, the epic story which encompassed the entirety of the show's 2009 season. The fan reaction was so strong that a shrine to Ianto stood for many years near Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff, the putative site of Torchwood's headquarters. David-Lloyd subsequently wrote the comic strip Shrouded for Torchwood Magazine, published by Titan in 2010. The same year, he married actress Gemma James; they would have a daughter, Lily, and a son, Eli. Meanwhile, David-Lloyd had become the lead singer of the metal band Blue Gillespie. Having released their first EP in 2008, they followed it with an album, Synesthesia, in 2010.

David-Lloyd went on to appear in programmes such as Caerdydd, Holby City, Waterloo Road and Casualty. He was an executive producer of the 2011 short film Casimir Effect, in which he and James also starred, and he had a lead role in the 2016 horror movie Dark Signal. David-Lloyd began reprising Ianto Jones for the range of Torchwood audio dramas from Big Finish Productions, initially appearing in 2015's Fall To Earth. He would go on to write several of the releases, starting with The Last Beacon in 2018.