Simeon Courtie

Last updated

Simeon Courtie
Born
Simeon Armstrong Courtie

(1970-04-01) 1 April 1970 (age 55)
Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Other namesSim
OccupationsBroadcaster, writer and communication skills trainer
Known forBBC Television (Children's BBC), BFBS Radio, the books The Long and Whining Road and All Hollow
Simeon Courtie presenting a TEDx talk Simeon Courtie.jpg
Simeon Courtie presenting a TEDx talk

Simeon Courtie (born 1 April 1970) is an English broadcaster and writer. He is best known as a television presenter on Children's BBC, a radio presenter on BFBS, [1] and BBC local radio, [2] a comedy writer for television and radio programmes including Have I Got News For You? , [3] and as the author of the humorous travel book The Long and Whining Road. [4] and the thriller All Hollow. [5]

Contents

Career

Courtie left school in 1986 and trained as a mechanical and electrical engineer, completing a four-year apprenticeship at a printing press manufacturer in Kettering. During this period he volunteered at hospital radio and BBC Radio Northampton, where he began his full-time broadcasting career in 1990 as a reporter and presenter.

In 1993 he joined BBC Two’s pop music programme The O-Zone . He later became a full-time presenter for Children's BBC [6] where he hosted the live continuity links alongside the puppet Otis the Aardvark. [7] Their humour developed a cult following, particularly among older viewers.. [6]

Between 1996 and 2000 Courtie presented several ITV programmes, including the live Saturday morning show Wow! , You'll Never Believe It, [8] and Get Wet produced by Scottish Television [9] as well as BBC Education series such as Working in... and Revise Wise.

From 2000 to 2005 he created television quiz and game show formats, including ESP for Channel Five and the Welsh-language quiz show Risg. [10]

He was a regular presenter on BFBS from 1997 to 2013, [1] and later contributed as a writer to Have I Got News For You? [11]

In 2010 he travelled around the world with his family in a camper van, busking Beatles songs to raise money for UNICEF [12] This journey formed the basis of The Long and Whining Road, published in 2012 and winner of the London Book Festival grand prize. [13]

In 2013 Courtie won a New York Festival Radio Award for Best Radio Personality. [8] [14] He subsequently presented a daily programme on BBC Wiltshire, and, in 2015, became the first to broadcaster to host a live radio show from CERN.

In 2016 his podcast Serial Box, a satire of the global podcast hit Serial, achieved notoriety when the makers of the original Serial issued a Cease and Desist order claiming copyright infringement of the letter 'S'.

Courtie published his debut novel All Hollow in 2019; it received several international literary awards.

In 2020 he delivered a TEDx talk called Aristotle the Ultimate Stand Up Comedian and founded the communication skills company Kindred Skills.

In 2025 he released his debut album Jung At Heart in which each song represents a Carl Jung character archetype. The songs Hero [15] and Shapeshifter [16] received international songwriting awards.

Awards

For The Long and Whining Road: [17]

London Book Festival Grand Prize Winner, 2012 [18]

USA Book News International Book Award Winner, 'Humor' category, 2013

Readers' Favorite Gold Award, 'Humour' category, 2013

IPPY Award for Independent Publishing, 'Travel' category, 2013

Shirley You Jest, winner 2013


For All Hollow: [19]

Distinguished Favourite Independent Press Award, 2020

Silver eLit Award, 2020

International Book Awards Finalist, 2020

Best Thriller finalist, Killer Nashville Awards, 2020

For broadcasting:

Silver New York Festival Award, Best Radio Personality, 2013


For Jung At Heart [20] :

Hero - Song of the Year semi-finalist [21]

Shapeshifter - Song of the Year semi-finalist [22]

Personal life

Courtie is married to former BBC journalist Jillian Moody. They have three children and live in Warwickshire. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 BFBS web page. "BFBS web page". British Forces Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Courtie, Simeon. "BBC Wiltshire". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Ican Talk. "Simeon Courtie biography". Ican Talk agency. Ican Talk. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Courtie, Simeon (2012). Google Books - The Long and Whining Road. Simantics Ltd. ISBN   9780957198005 . Retrieved 25 March 2013.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ↑ Amazon author page. "Amazon author page". Amazon. Retrieved 25 March 2013.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. 1 2 "Broom Cupboard". Broom Cupboard: An unofficial history of Children's BBC presentation. Greg Taylor. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. ↑ TVajb (5 February 2011). "CBBC Simeon Courtie". YouTube clip. YouTube TVajb. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 Courtie, Simeon. "Simeon Courtie official web site". Courtie. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  9. ↑ Scottish Television. "Get Wet". Get Wet YouTube channel. STV Ents and Comedy. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  10. ↑ UK Gameshows. "Risg - UK Gameshows". Risg - UK Gameshows, inventor Simeon Courtie. Labyrinth Games UK Gameshows web site. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  11. ↑ Courtie, Simeon (16 July 2009). "HIGNFY - YouTube". Courtie - YouTube. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  12. ↑ Beatnik Beatles. "Beatnik Beatles official website". Beatnik Beatles. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  13. ↑ JM Northern Media LLC. "London Book Festival winners". JM Northern Media LLC. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Courtie, Simeon. "Best Radio Personality". New York Festivals -2013. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  15. ↑ http://2025f.songoftheyear.com/simeoncourtie1.html
  16. ↑ http://2025f.songoftheyear.com/simeoncourtie2.html
  17. ↑ The Long and Whining Road. Simantics. July 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2020– via Amazon.
  18. ↑ "The Long and Whining Road". Goodreads. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  19. ↑ All Hollow. ASIN   0957198027 .
  20. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/album/7hTsnLs0xS9imq4xG2GlgO?si=-aXY1W9zRsOWhIibDGU-Ew
  21. ↑ http://2025f.songoftheyear.com/simeoncourtie1.html
  22. ↑ http://2025f.songoftheyear.com/simeoncourtie2.html


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