Career
He has played two different characters in Coronation Street: in 1996 as Doctor Stirling, and in 2005 as a vicar. Films include Vera Drake, Stoned and Buddy"s Song. Raffield took part in the audio commentary for the Digital Video Disc release of the second series in 2008.
Shortly after filming the pilot for Joking Apart, he briefly appeared in Press Gang, in the fourth season episode "Bad News", also written by Steven Moffat and directed by Bob Spiers.
He has since completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Law. After lecturing at Birkbeck College, University of London, he is now a Professor in the School of Law at The University of Warwick.
In 2009, Paul became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. He is the author of Images and Cultures of Law in Early Modern England: Justice and Political Power, 1558-1660 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), now available in paperback.
He co-edited Shakespeare and the Law (Hart Publishing, 2008), a collection of papers from the international conference on Shakespeare and the Law, hosted by The University of Warwick in 2007.
He is the founding co-editor of the journal, Law and Humanities. His latest book, Shakespeare"s Imaginary Constitution: Late-Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law, was published in 2010 by Hart Publishing. lieutenant was nominated for the 2011 Inner Temple Book Prize, awarded every 3 years for a book which has made a profound contribution to the understanding of law in the United Kingdom.
Paul played Dickie Sainsbury in the West End revival of Michael Frayn"s Donkeys" Years.
He directed Tim Firth"s "Neville"s Island" (having played Angus in the West End production), John Godber"s "On the Piste" and Terry Johnson"s award-winning comedy, Hysteria, at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He played Alan Hodges in Christmas at the Riviera, ITV1.