Mark Gatiss (/ˈɡeɪtɪs/ ( listen); born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock. Together with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson, he is a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen. He played Tycho Nestoris in the HBO series Game of Thrones.\n', '

Gatiss was born in Sedgefield, County Durham, England, to Winifred Rose (née O\'Kane, 1931–2003) and Maurice Gatiss (b. 1931). He grew up opposite the Edwardian psychiatric hospital where his father worked. His family background is working class. His childhood passions included watching Doctor Who and Hammer Horror films on television, reading Sherlock Holmes and H.G. Wells, and collecting fossils. One of his early forays into theatre was in the role of Dad in The Waiting Room by Tony Stowers in Darlington in March 1983, a macabre and surreal Pinteresque comedy exploring a disintegrating family unit. He would have also been in the Stowers follow-up A Sense of Insecurity also in Darlington in July of the same year but he was unable to take the role because his Dad wouldn\'t allow him to and insisted he take his exams instead All of these interests have fuelled his creative work as an adult.\n', '

He attended Heighington Church of England Primary School and Woodham Comprehensive School in Newton Aycliffe; at the latter, he was two years ahead of Paul Magrs, who would also go on to write Doctor Who fiction. He then studied Theatre Arts at Bretton Hall College which was an arts college affiliated to Leeds University.\n', '

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