Simon Spencer (born 26 June 1959) is a British television and theatre producer, director and writer. [1]
Spencer started his career in theatre before joining BBC Television and working mainly in Light Entertainment. He later went freelance and moved into children's television, for which he has received three BAFTA nominations as director and producer.
Spencer is writer and producer of a new British musical Are You As Nervous As I Am? that premièred in London in October 2022. [2] The creative team included composer Leighton James House and lyricist Shaun McKenna.
In 1977, Spencer began his career as an assistant stage manager at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester. He later became a puppeteer at the DaSilva Puppet Company, which was unique in its position as Britain's largest and most successful unsubsidised puppet company. [3] During that time, Spencer performed with shadow puppets, bunraku puppets, rod puppets and marionettes.
Spencer was appointed deputy stage manager and then stage manager at the Torch Theatre in Pembrokeshire, Wales. At that time he was the UK's youngest repertory theatre stage manager. Spencer joined BBC Television in 1983 as a Floor Assistant.
Working his way up the production ladder, from 1989 Spencer directed a number of high-profile entertainment programmes. These included popular stand-up, sketch shows, talk shows, situation comedy and music programming.
Notable credits include: The Paul Daniels Magic Show (1989), In Sickness and in Health (1990), Rory Bremner (1991) and Wogan (1992). Spencer also co-directed The Laurence Olivier Awards (1993–1995).
Among Spencer's shows as a director are two BBC entries into the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux festival (Rory Bremner in 1991 and The Rudy Coby Show in 1994), as well as ITV comedy series Gayle's World, [4] 1997 winner of the Royal Television Society (RTS) Award for Best New Light Entertainment programme.
In 1995 and 1996, Spencer produced and directed several international television specials for The Walt Disney Company including On The Trail Of The Lion King featuring Australian singer Dannii Minogue.
Since 1999, Spencer has specialised in directing and producing international preschool television series across various multimedia formats blending animation, live action, puppets and animatronics. Series include Moptatop's Shop (1999–2003) [5] and the ground-breaking BAFTA-nominated Jim Henson's Construction Site (ITV 2001–2002). [6]
In 2003, writer and producer Jocelyn Stevenson (Creative Director at HIT Entertainment) engaged Spencer to reimagine the classic Thomas & Friends stories and to develop the original five-minute format for a relaunch of the live action series for both PBS in the United States and Channel 5 in the UK (2003–2008). This provided Spencer with his second BAFTA nomination.
Other notable programmes, with Spencer working as both showrunner and series producer, include: Waybuloo (BBC 2008–2011), Cbeebies biggest preschool commission since the Teletubbies and again BAFTA nominated, described as a "show of wonder and delight" by the Daily Telegraph newspaper; [7] Zack & Quack (Nickelodeon 2011–2014); and Jessy and Nessy (Amazon Prime 2018–19). [8]
Television writing credits include:
In 2013, Spencer was elected to the BAFTA TV committee [9] with a special interest in children's TV. This included sitting on the BAFTA Kids committee for six years.
From 2021-23, Spencer produced the musical CBeebies series Nick Cope’s Popcast, again mixing live action with animation. English musician Nick Cope was previously lead singer in the rock band The Candyskins.
Spencer is on record as having "strong feelings" about the challenges involved in creating new and engaging high-quality preschool content. Interviewed by Annabel Freyberg in the Daily Telegraph, he commented:
“You don't even know if kids will like the show till it gets out there. You're trying new characters, new music, a new style and a new format. Your only safeguard is putting together a team of highly experienced professionals who don't underestimate the specialities of pre-school.” [10]
In 2016, Spencer began collaborating with lyricist Shaun McKenna and composer Leighton James House to create the musical Are You As Nervous As I Am? [11] Delayed due to the pandemic and lockdowns, the show only premièred at London's Greenwich Theatre on 1 October 2022, running until 23 October. [12] The press release [13] issued in June 2022 described this new British musical as "a strong female-driven story of empowerment: touching on disability, sexuality, abuse and race, with memorable characters and powerful original songs."
The production was directed by Phoebe Barran, with musical arrangements by Dr Matthew Malone, set and costume design by Kevin Jenkins, lighting by Mike Robertson, and movement by Denni Sayers. It starred Katie Elin-Salt as Peggy, a young and impressionable girl with a passion for singing, and Emma Thornett as Janet, "the runaway sister in search of a more honest life".
Captain Kangaroo is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. In 1986, the American Program Service integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the newer version of the series to PBS and independent public stations until 1993.
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six years and under. Its sister channel, CBBC, is intended for older children aged six to twelve. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, timesharing with BBC Four.
Tweenies is a British live-action puppet children's television series created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan. The programme is focused on four preschool-aged characters, known as the "Tweenies", playing, singing, dancing, and learning in a fictional playgroup in England. They are cared for by two adult Tweenies and two dogs.
Something Special is a British children's television programme presented by Justin Fletcher. It was created and produced by Allan Johnston. It is broadcast by the BBC, debuting on 1 September 2003. It is designed to introduce children to Makaton signing, and is specifically aimed at children with delayed learning and communication difficulties. It is aired on the CBeebies channel and is currently the longest running CBeebies programme and the longest running preschool series in Britain. In the past, it was also broadcast as part of the CBeebies programme strand on BBC One and BBC Two.
Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. She later co-wrote and starred in the Sky One comedy-drama Stella (2012–2017), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance and won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.
Andrew William Agnew is a Scottish actor, singer and director. He is best known for playing the role of PC Plum in the BAFTA award-winning CBeebies programme Balamory, Tam in CBeebies Woolly & Tig and Walter in Scots Squad.
Arthur Mark Taylor is an animation director with the Bristol-based animation company A Productions. He created and directed the children's series Rubbish, King of the Jumble for ITV and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2002-03 for the BBC preschool animation series Boo! which he directed. He is also credited as animation director on the CBeebies show Tweenies, on the CITV show Jim Jam & Sunny and on the DK and Disney series Amazing Animals as well as the HarperCollins video of The Village with Three Corners.
Justin Fletcher is an English children's television presenter, actor and comedian, appearing mainly on the BBC pre-school television channel CBeebies. Speaking and performing in various, often self-created, roles, he specialises in slapstick comedy and works with children with special educational needs through his show Something Special. Fletcher also appears as the comedian Mr Tumble.
Michael Andrew Carrington, is an Australian broadcast media executive who is currently Director, Entertainment and Specialist at the ABC based in Sydney, New South Wales. He oversees all national radio, television, and digital services including ABC TV (ABC1), ABC TV Plus (ABC2), ABC Me, ABC Kids plus ABC iview, ABC Listen, ABC Kids Listen, ABC Classic FM, ABC Jazz, ABC Country, and Radio National.
Timmy Time is a British stop-motion animated television programme for preschoolers created and produced by Bob the Builder producer Jackie Cockle for the BBC's CBeebies and produced by Aardman Animations. It started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2009. It is a spin-off of Shaun the Sheep, itself a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave (1995).
Andrew Davenport is an English writer, puppeteer, producer, composer, and actor, specialising in creating television, music, and books for young children. He is known as co-creator and writer of Teletubbies and writer, voice artist and puppeteer of "Tiny" on Tots TV. He is also the creator, writer, and composer of both In the Night Garden... and Moon and Me.
Waybuloo is a live-action/animated children's television series created by Dan Good and Absolutely Cuckoo. Set in the fictional land of Nara, it features four CGI creatures with large heads and eyes called Piplings who practise a form of yoga which they call "Yogo". They are visited in each episode by live action children who are referred to as "Cheebies". It was broadcast on CBeebies in the UK between 2009 and 2012.
Bob Golding is an English actor and voice artist. He is best known for the voices of Milo and Max in the CBeebies show Tweenies.
Kindle Entertainment is an independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed by Anne Brogan, the former controller of ITV Kids, and former head of development at ITV Kids, Melanie Stokes after ITV Kids was closed. The company is currently owned by Banijay Entertainment, via its Banijay Kids & Family division.
Will Brenton is a writer/producer-director who has worked in many areas of television and theatre, primarily through his companies Tell-Tale productions and Wish Films, both of which he founded with Iain Lauchlan. Together they gained six BAFTA nominations, as well as many other awards for their work together. They won a 2000 BAFTA, Best Pre-School Live Action.
Sixteen South is a Northern Irish production and distribution company that specialises in creating children's television programmes. Founded in Belfast in 2007 by Colin Williams, Sixteen South has partnered with major names in children's entertainment, co-producing shows with Sesame Workshop, The Jim Henson Company and the BBC.
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