[2] Protheroe was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England,[3] on 16 June 1944,[4] to a Welsh father and English mother.

He worked there for about seven months then spent the next five years in various theatre companies around Britain, developing his musical skills as well as becoming an experienced actor.

In 1968, he worked for nearly two years in a theatre company in Lincoln, where he met Martin Duncan who was also a musician, writer and actor.

[citation needed] This was followed over the next couple of years by two more albums – Pick Up and I/You[3] (which featured Simon Phillips, as well as Ian Anderson and Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull).

The song "Pick-Up"" was the centrepiece of a cabaret show called KinoTata which was put on by Martin Duncan, Protheroe's oft-times lyrical collaborator.

[3] In 1982, he was cast in the BBC Two play Spider's Web by Agatha Christie, and in the following year played the role of Edward IV in the BBC Television Shakespeare productions of Henry VI, Part 2, Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard III.

[7] His television work includes: Reilly, Ace of Spies, Gentlemen and Players, Lovejoy, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less[3] (for which he also sang the title song), 55 Degrees North, North and South, Holby City, Love Soup, Midsomer Murders and Doctors.

More recently he appeared in the eighth series of Spooks, in which he played the part of Samuel Walker, a senior CIA officer based in London.