TV
I’ve written, produced and appeared on a number of major TV shows, including The Thick Of It, Have I Got News For You, Time Trumpet with Armando Iannucci, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Fantasy Football League, The Last Leg, Comic Relief, Newsnight, The Revolution Will Be Televised, Brexageddon, Revolting, The Late Edition, Vidiotic, Room 101 and the BBC’s coverage of The Hundred. I do development work with a number of companies, including with Hat Trick Productions and Jed Mercurio. Here are a few selections from my TV work.
have i got news for you
I’m a writer for BBC Television's long-running, BAFTA-winning satirical quiz show. I also produce and edit he annual end-of-year compilation show (2010-present), and having grown up watching it from the very start it's been a dream come true to work on the show.
only connect
This fantastic entertainment show is the self-styled hardest quiz on television, and host Victoria Coren Mitchell is a master of self-deprecating humour towards herself, the show and its convoluted format (in which contestants must spot the link between unlikely groups of 4). As well as being a question writer, here are some examples of intros and outros I wrote for Victoria.
OUT OF THE THICK OF IT
For Series 3 of the legendary sitcom The Thick Of It, I co-directed and produced a set of bonus episodes, entitled ‘Out Of The Thick Of It’, which combined deleted scenes from the show with brand new material, created specially for the BBC’s Red Button service, and starring BAFTA-winning actress Joanna Scanlan and Polly Kemp. I also conducted, produced and edited a series of exclusive interviews with key cast and crew, including Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong and Chris Addison. Here’s episode 1 as it was broadcast.
time trumpet
This comedy series gets more prophetic with every year that passes. It was made in 2006 but set in the future in 2031, imagining what life would be like in the years to come and 'looking back' at now through the eyes of older versions of today's celebrities. I created many of the archive pieces and here's a short montage. The 'Cameron bracelet' has since gone viral on Youtube.
newsnight: Yes Minister Memo to the Minister 1
Conservative Manifesto 2010
When I worked for BBC Newsnight, I was lucky enough to work with the masterful Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn on a rebirth of Britain's most famous (fictional) civil servant, Sir Humphrey Appleby. I produced and wrote the basis for all three episodes.
yes minister: memo to the minister 2
LIB DEM manifesto 2010
We filmed the three manifestos at the Reform Club on Pall Mall, the famous location of the wager that sparked Around the World in Eighty Days. In truth, the BBC News crew hired for the filming were so unused to comedy production that it felt like 80 days before we got all three shorts in the can. Worth it, though.
Yes minister: Memo to the minister 3
labour manifesto 2010
As we made the memos, I remember being a little bit worried that the paranoid media-savvy Labour machine might take umbrage at our satirical attack on their manifesto, but in the event Peter Mandelson probably never saw it - and even if he did, our points were pretty unarguable. A final producer's note: as I watch them back, good to see my old Olympus dictaphone being immortalised on screen. Christmas present from dad put to good use!