Actor Noel Clarke has been taken into custody by police at his family residence in London. On Thursday, detectives searched the former Doctor Who star’s Kensington home, with officers seen leaving carrying boxes believed to contain a laptop and paperwork. The Metropolitan Police investigation started on 1 September and is being managed by the Central Specialist Crime Command. Clarke was arrested, questioned, and later released. The reason for his detention has not yet been disclosed, however, the Met was asked for comment.

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The arrest comes after Clarke lost his libel case against The Guardian in August, following the paper’s reporting of sexual misconduct allegations made by over 20 women in 2021. The 49-year-old, who has consistently denied the claims, has been ordered to pay a minimum of £3 million towards the publisher’s legal costs after losing the case. Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed Clarke’s lawsuit, ruling that the paper had proved its defences of truth and public interest. Clarke alleged the Guardian’s coverage was false and that he had been targeted by a wrongful conspiracy. However, Steyn stated in her high court ruling that while she accepted certain elements of his testimony, “but overall I find that he was not a credible or reliable witness”.

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She described his “general pattern” as “of only being prepared to admit that which was established by documentary evidence (which he had carefully studied), and even then only to the minimum extent shown”. Steyn concluded there had been no organised plot to fabricate stories, and that the conspiracy claim lacked a “proper foundation”.

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The Guardian based its defence on statements from nearly 30 people, with 26 testifying in court about their experiences with Clarke. Some said they had personally been impacted by his behaviour, while others reported witnessing misconduct. The actor, writer and producer, known for the Kidulthood trilogy, had taken legal action against Guardian News & Media (GNM) over seven articles and a podcast released between April 2021 and March 2022 in which more than 20 women accused him of sexual impropriety.

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Born in London, Clarke became well known as Mickey Smith during the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant runs of Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010. As a filmmaker and performer, he gained significant influence in the British film scene after creating the Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood series, and starring in the TV police drama Bulletproof. The series is widely regarded as a significant point of nostalgia in black British culture. In 2009, he was also awarded the Bafta Rising Star trophy, and in 2021, received Bafta’s Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award. That honour and his Bafta membership were suspended when the Guardian’s allegations emerged in 2021.

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