Benjamin Charles Miles (born 29 September 1966) is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the television comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004, as Montague Dartie in The Forsyte Saga, from 2002 to 2003, as Peter Townsend in the Netflix drama The Crown (2016–2017) and George in episode 8 "The One That Holds Everything" in the TV drama The Romanoffs (2018). Miles was born in Wimbledon, London, and lived as a young man in Ashover, Derbyshire, attending Tupton Hall School. He began acting in school productions, which he pursued mainly because it allowed him to miss classes.