Chris Gascoyne, best known for playing fan favourite Peter Barlow in Coronation Street, is back on our screens in October 2026 playing another bad boy – this time in The Northumbria Mysteries.
The actor left the Weatherfield soap in 2023 to pursue new opportunities. And the latest BBC One crime drama is his most significant role since then.
And his fans will be thrilled to have him back on their screens, playing morally corrupt villain Archie ‘Ace’ Dawson. Here’s Chris Gascoyne in profile, including everything you need to know about his new TV role in The Northumbria Mysteries, and his marriage to his actress wife.
Chris Gascoyne plays Archie ‘Ace’ Dawson in The Northumbria Mysteries
Actor Chris Gascoyne has been very selective about what he does since leaving Coronation Street in 2023. His role in The Northumbria Mysteries is one of a handful in the past three years (excluding a sprinkling of panto roles).
He plays Archie ‘Ace’ Dawson in the new eight-part crime drama. Ace is the leader of the Dawson crime family, loan shark and generally dodgy character who keeps on cropping up in DI Rose O’Connell’s investigations.
In episode one, Ace becomes implicated in a crime, leading ex-con Joe Ruby (Robson Green) to look into him. However, it’s a decision Joe soon regrets. Turns out the pair have a past, having been in prison together at the same time. But that doesn’t make them mates. Ace makes that very clear.
Ace turns up in every episode of the crime drama, but how dangerous he is to Joe and Rose isn’t immediately clear…
Chris Gascoyne’s TV and film roles
Chris previously played Peter Barlow for over 20 years on and off in ITV soap Coronation Street. He first arrived as Ken’s son in 2000, and left the soap in 2023. He was the seventh actor to portray the role.
Chris has been on our screens since 1984 when, as a teenager, he played Jud in Murphy’s Mob. He went on to portray Barry Kent in the TV series The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13, and its sequel The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole. Barry Kent was the school bully who used to beat up main character Adrian in exchange for money.
Other notable roles include Mike Williams in Starting Out, Barry Forrester in The Locksmith, Fus Tony Rossi in Soldier Soldier, and Al Ware in New Street Law.
More recently, former soap star Chris Gascoyne portrayed brusque builder Lee Hatby in the ensemble cast of Channel 5 thriller The Feud (another wrong’un). He’s also popped up as Harry Coker in All Creatures Great & Small, and Kevin Gill in Patience.
Why did Chris Gascoyne leave Coronation Street?
Chris Gascoyne’s Corrie character Peter Barlow had some hard-hitting storylines during his time in Weatherfield. These included dealing with alcoholism, being wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the loss of his unborn child.
In 2023, ITV confirmed that Chris Gascoyne would be leaving the soap to pursue other acting projects and to spend more time with his family. After playing Peter Barlow on and off for 23 years, Gascoyne wanted a rest from the intense filming schedule and the chance to explore other creative projects.
On screen, his character struggled with the emotional fallout from accidentally running over serial killer Stephen Reid. Peter and his wife, Carla Connor, made the emotional decision to part ways, and Carla booked him a one-way ticket to start a sailing job abroad.
Peter’s final scenes aired on Boxing Day 2023. He went on to play Captain Hook in panto.
Will he return to Corrie?
ITV made it clear that Chris Gascoyne was on an “extended break”, clearly implying he’ll be back. The door is very much open for his return.
Alison King, who plays his on-screen wife, explained: “I hate it when he leaves me. It’s horrible. But luckily I just hand him over to his normal wife, let her have him for a bit and then he comes back and he can have his on-screen wife for a bit.
“It never feels like we’re far away from each other because we know each other so well now.”
Currently in Corrie, Peter and Carla are divorced. Peter’s got a new woman in his life, and Carla’s loved up in Weatherfield with wife DS Lisa Swain.
But we can reasonably expect the actor back one day in future… Unless, of course, he has so much fun playing Ace Dawson in The Northumbria Mysteries, that he never wants to go back!
Is he married? Who is his wife?
Chris is married to actress Caroline Harding, and has been since 2003.
She is a jobbing actress, who has been on our screens since a 1992 appearance in the original Van der Valk. She’s popped up in dozens of TV shows over the years, including Fish, Casualty, Scott & Bailey, and Happy Valley.
Caroline even appeared in Coronation Street as a consultant in 2015, before returning in 2020 as Dr Haworth.
She has actually made multiple appearances in different soaps as different characters. She has played four different roles in Emmerdale, three in Doctors, and two roles in Casualty.
How many children does The Northumbria Mysteries star Chris Gascoyne have?
Chris has one child with wife Caroline Harding, a daughter called Belle who is 23 years old.
He is also step-dad to Caroline Harding’s two children – Pip and Freddie – from her previous marriage. Caroline was previously married to ED! favourite Jason Watkins.
After their divorce, Caroline and Jason remained friends. Both families maintain a close extended-family relationship. Jason went on to marry jewellery designer Clara Francis.
Is he a Buddhist?
Chris turned to Buddhism after struggling with emotional pressure after some tough storylines on Corrie. He practices Buddhism and incorporates Buddhist meditation into his daily life. Although he has described it as a personal practice to cope with the stress of acting, rather than formally labelling himself a Buddhist.
He meditates for 15 to 30 minutes every day to help ground himself and disconnect from intense acting roles. Chris has regularly attended Buddhist retreats (such as in the Scottish Highlands) to decompress, particularly after heavy storylines.
He revealed to The Mirror: “The storylines were fantastic and I loved doing it, but I lost myself.” He booked himself time off in a Buddhist retreat in the remote Highlands of Scotland where there was no TV or contact with the outside world. Once there, he was expected to help with chores, and follow a vegan diet. When he had free time he would go for walks and swims in the lake.
Chris Gascoyne’s bad boy past
He might be playing Ace Dawson in The Northumbria Mysteries but he’s broken ‘the rules’ in real life, too.
In 2008, he lost his driving licence for 12 months and was fined £500 after being stopped by traffic officers whilst driving home from a nightclub. He was found to be over the legal limit. He had drunk three and a half pints after playing Captain Hook in the Peter Pan panto in Llandudno.
Chris admitted to the offences and apologised to his fans saying: “I made a mistake. I admitted it then and I admit it now, and I got what I expected.”
He later went on to say: “I just want to say I apologise and I have put it down to experience.”
Does The Northumbria Mysteries star Chris Gascoyne have tattoos in real life?
Actor Chris does have plenty of tattoos in real life.
In an interview with Manchester Gossip, Chris said: “They’re all real. Most of them I had done when I was young. They fit well with the character as Peter Barlow was in the Navy.
“The first tattoo I had was a panther’s head with my name written under it. The tattooist said ‘Oops, sorry mate I’ve [bleep].’ He had written ‘CHIS’ instead of ‘CHRIS’! He squeezed an ‘R’ in which looked rubbish so I had another black panther on top of it to cover it up. I don’t regret them, I don’t really think about them anymore.”