The BAFTA TV Award-winning actor, Tim Pigott-Smith was a television, stage, and film actor whose career spanned five decades. Best known for his portrayal of the local Indian Police superintendent Ronald Merrick in the British television series The Jewel in the Crown, Smith started his career with stage shows in the early 1970s, initially playing Shakespearean and German roles. Some of the plays that he has been a part of are Cymbeline, King Lear, Enron, A Delicate Balance, and King Charles III.

Meanwhile, Smith started his television career with rather small roles in shows such as The Regiment, North & South, and The Glittering Prizes before he was seen in Doctor Who, playing the role of Marco/Captain Harker. Among his many other prominent television appearances are Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, Fame Is the Spur, I Remember Nelson, and Struggle, however, his most recognised performance continues to remain that in The Jewel in the Crown, which won him the BAFTA for Best Actor in 1985. Most recently, Smith was seen in the television series The Vice, Holby Blue, and The Hour, while he continued to make appearances in single episodes of several other shows.

After his television and stage debut, Smith made his movie debut in 1976 with the war action drama Aces High. Among his notable movie credits are Clash of the Titans (1981), Gangs of New York (2002), Johnny English (2003), Alexander (2004), V for Vendetta (2005), Quantum of Solace (2008), Red 2 (2013) and Jupiter Ascending (2015). In 2017, the actor completing shooting for the movies 6 Days, Victoria and Abdul, and The Little Vampire 3D, however, he suddenly passed away at the age of 70, with the movies releasing after his death.