John most recently starred as Colonel Pickering in the UK Tour of My Fair Lady.

John Middleton is best known for his part in ITV’s Emmerdale as Ashley Thomas, a role which he remained in from 1996 to 2017. After this he starred in a highly successful theatre tour of Strangers on a Train where he appeared as the American detective Arthur Gerard, alongside Christopher Harper, Jack Ashton and Hannah Tointon, directed by Anthony Banks for ATG. In 2021, John played Frank in Hull Truck Theatre’s Hull & High Water. Throughout 2022 and 2023, John played Colonel Pickering in the UK Tour of My Fair Lady.

He has appeared in many other TV programmes, most notably as John Hargreaves in Coronation Street. His first Emmerdale role was that of PC John Jarvis at the time of the Post Office raid in 1994. He landed the role of Vicar Ashley Thomas in December 1996.

In October 2014 Middleton was given the story that Ashley would be diagnosed with Vascular Dementia, which played out over the subsequent two and a half years. At the culmination of that story in 2017, when his character died, Emmerdale won the Broadcast, Royal Television Society, National Television Award, BAFTA and British Soap Award for Best Soap and his story won Best Story and Best Episode.

He himself won Best Male Dramatic Performance and Best Actor. At the Yorkshire Royal Television Society Awards he won Best Actor and a Special Achievement award.

In the mid 90’s John appeared in a series of British Telecom adverts directed by John Madden.

He has also appeared in the following TV programmes: Doctors, The Things You Do for Love, Against all Odds, The Round Tower, The Grand, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The World of Lee Evans, The Gambling Man, Cracker, Heartbeat, Medics, In Suspicious Circumstances, Prime Suspect 3, Bad Company and Shadow of the Noose.