[1] Described by the BBC as "one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors",[2] he has had a varied career in theatre, film and television, and is particularly noted for radio acting and voicing audiobooks.
His other stage work includes Woman in Mind and Henceforward... by Alan Ayckbourn, Other Places by Harold Pinter, Exchange by Michael Frayn, and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (opposite Judi Dench).
In the 1980s Michael Frayn's columns for The Guardian and The Observer, described by some as models of the comic essay, were adapted and performed in many voices for BBC Radio 4 by Jarvis.
Jarvis's first television appearance was in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who as Hilio, captain of the butterfly-like Menoptra, in The Web Planet (1965).
[citation needed] Jarvis's appearances on American television include such series as Murder, She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, and more recently Stargate Atlantis and Numb3rs.
In March 2010, it was announced that he would appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders playing journalist Harvey Freeman.
[11] Jarvis appeared in a 2014 episode of Law & Order: UK as Eddie Stewart, a man arrested and charged with murder.
[citation needed] In September 2022, Jarvis appeared alongside his wife in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as John Chilton.
He has also voiced various characters in animated series such as The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and The Life and Times of Juniper Lee.
Focus on the Family used Jarvis' voice for two of their audio dramas, Ben-Hur and a Father Gilbert Mystery entitled The Play's the Thing.
[citation needed] Jarvis married Rosalind Ayres on 23 November 1974 in Ealing; he has two sons by a previous marriage.