Joey Batey

Joey Batey was born in Newcastle upon Tyne.^[1] He has said he grew up in a "musical family" and has always been around music.^[2] He took a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from Robinson College, Cambridge, then studied at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq.^[3] Whilst at Cambridge, he co-wrote and performed the comedic sketch show Good Clean Men with Alex Owen, Ben Ashenden and Simon Haines^[4][5] and he performed in a production of The Seagull alongside Haines, Lily Cole and Genevieve Gaunt.^[6][7]

Batey's film debut was in the 2013 British thriller, Murder on the Home Front, directed by Geoffrey Sax.^[8] In 2014, he appeared in The Riot Club directed by Lone Scherfig.^[9] In 2017, Paul McGuigan cast him as Eddie in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.^[10] Batey also played in the British TV series Strike (2017),^[11] and In The Dark (2017).^[12] He appeared in the series Knightfall in 2017–2018, a 14th century period piece centered on the Knights Templar, where he played the role of Pierre, a spy after information on the Holy Grail.^[13]

Batey is a vocalist and musician for the indie folk band The Amazing Devil, as well as the primary writer and composer.^[14] He and collaborator Madeleine Hyland met while acting for the Royal Shakespeare Company and together they formed the band in 2015,^[15] producing what Batey has described as music that “sad people can listen to at train stations.”^[16] The band has released three albums including Love Run (2016),^[14] and The Horror and the Wild (2020).^[17] Their most recent album, Ruin, was released on 31 October 2021.^[18][19]

Since 2019, Batey has played the character of the bard, Jaskier, in Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher, based on the Polish novel series of the same name.^[20][21] Batey has performed the following songs featured in the series:^[22][23] "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher",^[22] "The Fishmonger's Daughter"^[24] and "Her Sweet Kiss", as well as "Burn Butcher Burn",^[25] "Whoreson Prison Blues"^[26] and "The Golden One".^[27]

Before his debut novel, It's Not A Cult, he stated he had been writing for 17 years.^[28] It's Not a Cult is described as a "darkly comic folk horror" and was released October 23, 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing.^[29] The audiobook, read aloud by Batey, is currently only available in the United Kingdom. The illustrations featured in the book are made by Madeleine Hyland.

• Rivera, Starleen (31 December 2021). "The Witcher: 10 Movies and Shows Where You've Seen the Cast". Screen Rant. Montreal, Quebec: Valnet Inc. Retrieved 25 January 2022.