Simon Blackwell | |
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Born | Simon John Blackwell 27 May 1966 Battersea, London, England |
Alma mater | Churchill College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Screenwriter |
Years active | 1999–present |
Simon John Blackwell (born 27 May 1966) is an English comedy writer and producer. He is best known for his work on The Thick of It , In The Loop and Veep , and for his collaborations with Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on Peep Show , Four Lions and The Old Guys . Blackwell is the creator of the comedy series Back , starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as Breeders , starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard.
After graduating from Churchill College, Cambridge as a mature student and then working as a sub-editor for magazines, Blackwell started writing TV comedy in 1999 on shows such as Have I Got News For You , The Kumars at No. 42 , Alastair McGowan's Big Impression and The Armstrong and Miller Show , for which he created the duo's street-talking RAF pilot characters. [1] [2] [3] He first worked with Armando Iannucci in 2003 on the topical Channel 4 show Gash . He went on to write on all four series of Iannucci's political sitcom The Thick of It and co-wrote its spin-off film In The Loop , which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Other work with Iannucci includes 2004: The Stupid Version and Time Trumpet .
The two collaborated again on the HBO comedy Veep , with Blackwell co-writing the pilot episode and serving as writer and executive producer on the subsequent four seasons, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. [4]
Blackwell wrote for Chris Morris's 2010 black comedy film Four Lions , alongside Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain. He had previously collaborated with them on the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show and BBC One's The Old Guys .
In 2016, Blackwell created the sitcom Back starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It premiered on Channel 4 on 6 September 2017. [5]
In 2020, Blackwell created the dramedy Breeders , starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard. The series premiered on the American cable network FX on 2 March 2020, and on Sky One on 12 March 2020. [6]
Title | Year | Functioned as | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Writer | Producer | Other | |||
The Jim Tavaré Show | 1999 | Yes | 7 episodes | ||
The 11 O'Clock Show | 1999–2000 | Yes | 5 episodes | ||
Bremner, Bird and Fortune | 1999–2003 | Yes | |||
The Big Impression | 2000 | Yes | |||
Way to Go | 2001 | Yes | |||
Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show! | 2001–2002 | Yes | 10 episodes | ||
The Kumars at No. 42 | 2001–2002 | Yes | |||
Live Floor Show | 2002 | Yes | Episode: #2.8 | ||
Dead Ringers | 2002–2007 | Yes | |||
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher | 2003 | Yes | Script advisor | ||
Gash | 2003 | Yes | 4 episodes | ||
Bounty Hamster | 2003 | Yes | 7 episodes | ||
The Sketch Show | 2003–2004 | Yes | Additional writer | ||
Christmas Night with the Stars | 2004 | Yes | Television special | ||
The Impressionable Jon Culshaw | 2004 | Yes | 6 episodes | ||
2004: The Stupid Version | 2004 | Yes | Television special | ||
Monkey Trousers | 2005 | Yes | 5 episodes | ||
The Comic Side of 7 Days | 2005 | Yes | |||
Graham Norton's Bigger Picture | 2005 | Yes | |||
The Thick of It | 2005–2012 | Yes | 21 episodes | ||
Time Trumpet | 2006 | Yes | 2 episodes | ||
Hyperdrive | 2007 | Yes | Script associate | ||
Dogface | 2007 | Yes | Episode: #1.2 | ||
Moving Wallpaper | 2008 | Yes | 2 episodes | ||
Mumbai Calling | 2008 | Yes | 3 episodes | ||
Peep Show | 2008–2012 | Yes | 4 episodes | ||
The Old Guys | 2009–2010 | Yes | Associate | Yes | Also co-creator |
The Armstrong & Miller Show | 2009–2010 | Yes | 17 episodes | ||
Whites | 2010 | Yes | Script editor | ||
Parents | 2012 | Yes | Script editor | ||
Veep | 2012–2015 | Yes | Executive | 13 episodes | |
Trying Again | 2014 | Yes | Co-executive | Yes | Also co-creator |
Back | 2017–2021 | Yes | Executive | Yes | Also creator |
Breeders | 2020–present | Yes | Executive | Also creator | |
Title | Year | Functioned as | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Writer | Producer | Other | |||
In the Loop | 2009 | Yes | |||
Four Lions | 2010 | Yes | Additional material | ||
The Personal History of David Copperfield | 2019 | Yes | |||
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. Starting on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today.
Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Robert Patrick Webb is an English comedian, actor and writer. He rose to prominence alongside David Mitchell as the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb.
Peep Show is a British television sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It was written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb, among others. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 19 September 2003 to 16 December 2015. In 2010, it became the longest-running comedy in Channel 4 history in terms of years on air.
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor, and writer.
Mitchell and Webb are a British comedy double act composed of David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They are best known for starring in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show and their radio and TV sketch shows That Mitchell and Webb Sound and That Mitchell and Webb Look. The duo first met at the Footlights in 1993 and collaborated on the 1995 revue while at Cambridge.
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of British government. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012.
Jesse David Armstrong is a British screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing for a string of several critically acclaimed British comedy series as well as satirical dramas. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a nomination for an Academy Award.
Sam Bain is a British comedy writer, best known for the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. He attended St Paul's School in London before graduating from the University of Manchester, where he met his writing partner Jesse Armstrong.
William James Smith is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer.
Roger Drew is a British illustrator and television screenwriter who was educated at Victoria College, Jersey. He has written material for TV shows such as The Thick of It and won an Emmy for his work on Veep.
Veep is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci. The protagonist of Veep is Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice President of the United States. The series follows Meyer and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy but often instead become mired in day-to-day political games.
Celia Daisy Morna Haggard is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the BBC sitcoms Uncle and Episodes. Haggard stars in BBC Three’s comedy-drama, Back to Life, which she also created and co-wrote with Laura Solon. Since 2020, she has appeared alongside Martin Freeman as Ally in the FX series Breeders, a role for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.
Tony Roche is an English television, radio and film comedy writer and producer, best known as a writer of the HBO comedy Veep, the BBC Television series The Thick of It and its film spin-off In the Loop.
Sean Gray is a British comedy writer, producer and director. He is known for his work on the HBO series Veep, the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and the feature film The Day Shall Come. He is a two-time Emmy-winner and Golden Globe-nominee.
Phil Clarke is a British television comedy producer and executive. He has produced or executive produced many popular British TV comedy programmes including Peep Show, Brass Eye, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Big Train. In 2012 Clarke became Head of Comedy at Channel 4. In 2017 he founded the independent television production company Various Artists Ltd (VAL), along with co-directors Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain and Roberto Troni. Since founding VAL, Clarke has produced and/or executive produced the BAFTA-award winning Sally4Ever, and the multi-BAFTA and Emmy-winning I May Destroy You.
Ian Martin is an English comedy writer. Martin was a writer for the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It. He was famously hired as "swearing consultant" in 2005 by the show's creator, Armando Iannucci, for Series 1 of the political satire and went on to become a full member of the writing team. He won an Emmy for his writing across five series of Veep and was BAFTA nominated for co-writing The Death of Stalin.
Back is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It was filmed and is set in and around Stroud, Gloucestershire. The Channel 4 series was created by Simon Blackwell, and its first series was broadcast from 6 September – 11 October 2017.
Breeders is a dark comedy television series created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell. The series follows two parents who struggle with parenthood and is partially based on Freeman's own experiences. Freeman plays one of the two leads in the series and is also an executive producer on the show along with Addison and Blackwell.