From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Nicholas Ball (born 11 April 1946) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title role of James Hazell in the television series Hazell. He recently portrayed the violent gangster Terry Bates in EastEnders between 2007 and 2009. He played Garry Ryan in series five of Footballers' Wives and both series of its spin-off programme Footballers' Wives: Extra Time. The voice of Nicholas Ball can be heard as well on various audio books offered via the internet; he has narrated books from such authors as Christopher Hitchens and James Maybrick. He can currently be seen in an advert for Premier Inn, playing the part of Lenny Henry's manager. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nicholas Ball (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.