Steve Pemberton | |
---|---|
Born | Blackburn, Lancashire, England | 1 September 1967
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, director, writer |
Years active | 1995–present |
Partner | Alison Rowles |
Children | 3 |
Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy Psychoville and the anthology series Inside No. 9 . His other notable television credits include Doctor Who , Benidorm , Blackpool , Shameless , Whitechapel , Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia .
Steve Pemberton was born and raised in Blackburn, Lancashire and attended Saint Michael's Church of England High School, Chorley. [1]
Pemberton's television performance credits include Whitechapel , Doctor Who , Benidorm , Under the Greenwood Tree , Hotel Babylon , The Last Detective , Randall and Hopkirk , Blackpool and Shameless . In 2004, he portrayed Dr Bessner in Death on the Nile and Harry Secombe in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers . He also appeared in the film Lassie (2005).
Pemberton is best known as being a member of the sketch comedy team The League of Gentlemen, along with fellow performers Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith, and co-writer Jeremy Dyson, all of whom he met at Bretton Hall College in his late teens. The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, then transferred to BBC Radio 4 as On the Town with the League of Gentlemen in 1997, and finally arrived on television on BBC Two in 1999. The latter has seen Pemberton and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and a Golden Rose of Montreux.
From 2007 to 2015, Pemberton appeared as Mick Garvey in Benidorm . Pemberton appeared in 43 episodes.
In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy , Pemberton voiced Mattis, a heavy-set and bizarrely-dressed biker member of the Lappish Mafia. In June 2009, Psychoville aired and marked Pemberton's return to BBC Two. [2] [3] [4] [5] It was co-written by Pemberton and his fellow League of Gentlemen member, Reece Shearsmith. Both of them play numerous characters in the series, similar to the format of The League of Gentlemen.
Pemberton portrayed Rufus Drumknott in 2010's Terry Pratchett's Going Postal . He appeared as Vice Principal Douglas Panch in the Donmar's 2011 production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee . In 2014, he played Georgie Pillson in an adaptation of E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia . He also wrote the adaptation, which featured his League of Gentlemen colleague Mark Gatiss. It was broadcast during Christmas 2014. [6] Since 2014, he has starred as various characters in the dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9, which he co-created with Shearsmith, airing on BBC Two. Series six aired in 2021. [7]
Pemberton reunited with his The League of Gentlemen colleagues in 2017 for three special episodes, transmitted in December 2017 on BBC2. [8] [9] [10] He appeared as himself in the 2018 short film To Trend on Twitter in aid of young people with cancer charity CLIC Sargent with fellow comedians David Baddiel, Reece Shearsmith, Helen Lederer and actor Jason Flemyng. [11]
In October 2021, Pemberton was nominated for Best Outstanding Comedy Actor at the inaugural National Comedy Awards for Stand Up to Cancer [12] for his appearances in series 6 of Inside No. 9.
The seventh series of Inside No. 9 premiered on 20 April 2022. [13]
Pemberton is a contestant on the seventeenth series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster which launched in March, 2024. [14]
Pemberton's early work centred mainly around fringe theatre; he was a founding member of the 606 Theatre with Gordon Anderson, Tom Hadley, and producer Shane Walter. He has produced, performed in, and directed various stage productions.
In 2020 it was announced that Pemberton would join Aaron Taylor-Johnson on West End stage in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman , directed by Matthew Dunster. [15] However, due to the Covid-19 situation, the run was postponed until 2021. Pemberton said, "It's been a dark time for the performing arts and I can't wait to have the theatres open again. Unfortunately, The Pillowman has to be put to bed for now, but I very much hope that we'll be able to bring Martin's dazzling play to the West End before too long." [16] The play was staged from 10 June 2023 to 2 September 2023 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End with Lily Allen, Paul Kaye, Pemberton, and Matthew Tennison. [17] [18] The Guardian praised Pemberton's performance as "unfailingly excellent", [19] although other reviews of the play were mixed. [20] [21]
Pemberton has written for Variety and was the assistant editor of the International Film Guide from 1991 to 1998.
Pemberton lives in Fortis Green, London, with his partner, Alison Rowles, and their three children. [22] [23] [24] He also speaks German and French. [25] The University of Huddersfield awarded him an honorary doctorate of letters in 2003. [26]
Pemberton is a football fan and a supporter of Blackburn Rovers F.C. [27]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse | Various Characters | Co-creator, co-writer |
Lassie | Hynes | ||
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Mr. Prosser / Additional Vogon voices | Collectively credited as "The League of Gentlemen" | |
Match Point | Detective Parry | ||
2007 | The Old Curiosity Shop | Mr. Short | |
Mr. Bean's Holiday | Vicar (Special Participation) | ||
2008 | Free Jimmy | Mattis | |
2012 | Football Managers | Oliver | Writer |
2018 | To Trend on Twitter | Himself | |
2024 | Better Man | Peter |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Alice in Russialand | Various Characters | TV movie |
1999–2002, 2017 | The League of Gentlemen | Various Characters | Series 1–4 Co-creator, co-writer |
2000 | Gormenghast | Professor Mule | |
2000–2001 | Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) | Sergeant Liddel | Episode #1.1 |
2004 | Blackpool | Adrian Marr | |
Agatha Christie's Poirot: Death on the Nile | Dr Bessner | ||
Shameless | Eddie Jackson | ||
2005 | Hotel Babylon | Mr Daniels | Episode #1.3 |
The Last Detective | Edward Netherton | Episode "Friends Reunited" | |
Under the Greenwood Tree | Mr Shinar | ||
2007–2015 | Benidorm | Mick Garvey | Regular; 43 episodes (Series 1–7) |
2008 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Henry Wake | Episode: "Murder is Easy" |
Doctor Who | Strackman Lux | Episodes: "Silence in the Library", "Forest of the Dead" | |
2009 | Terry Pratchett's Going Postal | Drumknott | |
Minder | Vlad the Imposter | Episode: "A Matter of Life and Debt" | |
2009–2011 | Psychoville | Various Characters | Co-writer |
2009–2013 | Whitechapel | Edward Buchan | Writer of 2 episodes |
2012 | Sport Relief 2012 | Mick Garvey | 1 episode: Benidorm meets Britain's Got Talent |
2012–2013 | Horrible Histories | Hollywood Producer | 10 episodes |
2013 | Heading Out | Vet Inspector | 1 episode |
2014 | Mapp and Lucia | Georgie Pillson | Writer |
Happy Valley | Kevin Weatherill | ||
Toast of London | Francis Bacon | Episode: "Fool in Love" | |
2014–present | Inside No. 9 | Various Characters | Co-writer and director; 45 episodes |
2015 | Lewis | Ian Tedman | Episodes: "One For Sorrow" parts 1 and 2 |
Harry Hill in Professor Branestawm Returns | Professor Algebrain | One-off special | |
2016 | Camping | Robin | 6 episodes |
Tracey Ullman's Show | Colin | 1 episode | |
2017 | Midsomer Murders | Timothy Benson | 1 episode : "Red in Tooth & Claw" |
2018 | The Interrogation of Tony Martin | Tony Martin | TV film |
2019 | Worzel Gummidge | Mr Braithwaite | |
2019–present | Good Omens | Glozier | 2 episodes: "Hard Times" and "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters" |
2020 | Death in Paradise | Neil Henderson | 1 episode |
Killing Eve | Paul | Recurring; 5 episodes | |
2022 | Brassic | Mr King | 1 episode |
2024 | Taskmaster | Himself | Series 17 / 10 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Art | Mark | Whitehall Theatre |
2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 | The Rocky Horror Show | Guest narrator | Various |
2007 | The Drowsy Chaperone | Man in Chair | Novello Theatre |
2009 | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Vice Principal Douglas Panch | Donmar Warehouse |
2012 | She Stoops to Conquer | Mr Hardcastle | Olivier Theatre, Royal National Theatre |
2016 | Dead Funny | Brian | Vaudeville Theatre |
2023 | The Pillowman | Tupolski | Duke of York's Theatre |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Royal Television Society | Best Comedy Performance - Male | For Inside No.9 | Won | |
2018 | Writers' Guild of Great Britain | Best TV Situation Comedy | With Reece Shearsmith, For episode 'Zanzibar' | Won | [28] |
2019 | Royal Television Society | Best Comedy Performance - Male | For Inside No.9 | Won | |
2019 | 2019 British Academy Television Awards | Best Male Comedy Performance | Steve Pemberton | Won | [29] |
2021 | National Comedy Awards for Stand Up to Cancer | Best Outstanding Comedy Actor | For Inside No. 9 | Nominated | [30] |
The League of Gentlemen is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Bacup, Lancashire, and follows the lives of bizarre characters, most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers – Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith – who, along with Jeremy Dyson, formed the League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for three series from 1999 until 2002, and was followed by a film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and a stage production The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You!, both in 2005.
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. He is best known for his work in television acting in and co-creating shows with Steven Moffat. Gatiss has received several awards including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards.
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a 2005 disaster horror comedy film based on the British television series The League of Gentlemen. It is directed by Steve Bendelack at his directorial debut and written by the series' cast along with Jeremy Dyson. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who reprise their roles from the TV series, along with Michael Sheen, Victoria Wood, David Warner, Alan Morrissey, Bruno Langley, Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg and Peter Kay who appear in guest roles, the film follows the series' characters as they enter the real world and meet their creators while the setting, the fictional town of Royston Vasey, is facing a series of apocalyptic events.
Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor, writer and comedian. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen, with Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. He later created, wrote and starred in the sitcom Psychoville, with Pemberton, as well as the dark comedy anthology series, Inside No. 9. He has had notable roles in Spaced and The World's End.
Jeremy Dyson is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show Ghost Stories and its film adaptation.
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.
Psychoville is a British psychological horror-thriller black comedy mystery television series created and written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the BBC. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French, Jason Tompkins, Daniel Kaluuya and Eileen Atkins in additional starring roles. The first series was followed by a Halloween special, broadcast on 31 October 2010, which saw Imelda Staunton and Jason Watkins added to the main cast. The second series was first broadcast on 5 May 2011 and ended on 6 June. Reece Shearsmith has said that there will not be a third series. In February 2020, Shearsmith and Pemberton's follow-up series, Inside No. 9, crossed over with Psychoville and brought back five of the characters for the episode "Death Be Not Proud".
Inside No. 9 is a British black comedy anthology television programme that first aired on 5 February 2014. It is written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and produced by the BBC. Each 30-minute episode is a self-contained story with new characters and a new setting, almost all starring Pemberton or Shearsmith. Aside from the writers, each episode has a new cast, allowing Inside No. 9 to attract a number of well-known actors. The stories are linked only by the number 9 in some way, typically taking the form of a door marked with the number 9, and a brass hare statue that is in the background of all episodes. Themes and tone vary from episode to episode, but all have elements of comedy and horror or perverse humour, in addition to a plot twist. Pemberton and Shearsmith took inspiration for Inside No. 9 from an episode of Psychoville, a previous project, which was filmed in a single room – this in turn was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rope.
"Sardines" is the first episode of the first series of the British black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. Written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, it premiered on BBC Two and BBC Two HD on 5 February 2014. In the episode, a group of adults play sardines at an engagement party. Rebecca, the bride-to-be, finds a boring man named Ian in a wardrobe; he introduces himself as a colleague of Jeremy, Rebecca's fiancé. The pair are subsequently joined by family, friends and colleagues of Rebecca and Jeremy. As more people enter the room and step into the wardrobe, secrets shared by some of the characters are revealed, with various allusions to incestuous relationships, child sexual abuse, and adultery. The humour is both dark and British, with references to past unhappiness and polite but awkward interactions.
"A Quiet Night In" is the second episode of the British dark comedy television anthology series Inside No. 9. It first aired on 12 February 2014 on BBC Two. Written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, it stars the writers as a pair of hapless burglars attempting to break into the large, modernist house of a couple—played by Denis Lawson and Oona Chaplin—to steal a painting. Once the burglars make it into the house, they encounter obstacle after obstacle, while the lovers, unaware of the burglars' presence, argue. The episode progresses almost entirely without dialogue, relying instead on physical comedy and slapstick, though more sinister elements are present in the plot. In addition to Pemberton, Shearsmith, Lawson and Chaplin, "A Quiet Night In" also starred Joyce Veheary and Kayvan Novak.
"Tom & Gerri" is the third episode of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It premiered on BBC2 on 19 February 2014. The episode was based on a play that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith had written while living together prior to the development of their series The League of Gentlemen. While the play had originally been around two hours in length, the episode was only half an hour. "Tom & Gerri" follows a difficult period in the life of Tom (Shearsmith), a primary school teacher and aspiring writer, and his girlfriend Gerri, a struggling actress, after Tom invites the homeless Migg (Pemberton) into his home. Conleth Hill stars as Stevie, a man worried about the mental health of his friend Tom. The entire episode takes place inside Tom's flat.
"The Understudy" is the fifth episode of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 5 March 2014 on BBC Two. The episode was written by and starred Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and guest-starred Lyndsey Marshal, Julia Davis, Rosie Cavaliero, Roger Sloman, Di Botcher, Richard Cordery, Bruce Mackinnon and Jo Stone-Fewings. Pemberton plays actor Tony, who is starring as Macbeth in a West End production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and Shearsmith plays Jim, Tony's understudy. The plot of "The Understudy" partially mirrors the story of Macbeth, exploring the theme of power and the lives of actors.
"The Harrowing" is the sixth and final episode of the first series of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It aired on 12 March 2014 on BBC Two. The episode was written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and stars Shearsmith, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Helen McCrory, Poppy Rush and Sean Buckley. While comedic in places, "The Harrowing" makes extensive use of gothic horror elements transmuted into a modern context. The plot follows Katy (Edwards), who has been hired to housesit for eccentric siblings Hector (Shearsmith) and Tabitha (McCrory). They rarely leave the house, but have an event to attend. They tell Katy about their bedridden, disabled brother Andras (Buckley), who cannot speak but will ring a bell if he needs assistance. Katy is joined by her friend Shell (Rush) once Hector and Tabitha leave, and, upon hearing Andras's bell, the pair reluctantly head upstairs. The episode takes place in Hector and Tabitha's mansion, which is kept deliberately cold and filled with paintings depicting Hell. The writers experimented with a variety of possible endings, hoping to make the episode's close both interesting and scary.
"The 12 Days of Christine" is the second episode of the second series of British black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It first aired on 2 April 2015 on BBC Two. It was written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and directed by Guillem Morales. The episode tells the story of Christine, a young woman living in a small flat, over 12 years in her life, focussing on key days and life events in that time. Christine is played by Sheridan Smith, while those who play an important part in her life are played variously by Tom Riley, Stacy Liu, Michele Dotrice, Paul Copley, Pemberton, Jessica Ellerby, Joel Little and Dexter Little. Shearsmith plays the Stranger, an unknown figure apparently haunting Christine.
"The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge" is the third episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, and directed by Dan Zeff. It first aired on 9 April 2015 on BBC Two. The story follows a 17th-century witch trial. Elizabeth Gadge, played by Ruth Sheen, stands accused of witchcraft by inhabitants of the village of Little Happens, including characters played by Sinead Matthews, Jim Howick, Paul Kaye and Trevor Cooper. The magistrate Sir Andrew Pike, played by David Warner, has summoned the famed witch-finders Mr Warren and Mr Clarke, played by Shearsmith and Pemberton, to try Elizabeth, but is more concerned with bringing visitors to the village than finding the truth.
"Cold Comfort" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. The episode, which was written and directed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, was first broadcast on 16 April 2015 on BBC Two. Most of "Cold Comfort" is composed of a stream from a fixed camera on the desk of Andy, the protagonist, with smaller pictures on the side of the screen, in the style of a CCTV feed. "Cold Comfort" was filmed over two and a half days in Twickenham, and was, like "A Quiet Night In" from Inside No. 9's first series, highly experimental. It was Pemberton and Shearsmith's directorial debut.
"Séance Time" is the sixth and final episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 29 April 2015 on BBC Two. The episode was written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and directed by Dan Zeff. It stars Pemberton, Shearsmith, Alison Steadman, Alice Lowe, Sophie McShera, Dan Starkey, Cariad Lloyd and Caden-Ellis Wall. The episode begins with Tina (McShera) arriving at a Victorian villa for a séance. Hives (Shearsmith) sits her at a table and then escorts the ominous, shrouded Madam Talbot (Steadman) into the room.
"The Devil of Christmas" is a Christmas special of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9, and the first episode of the third series. It was first aired on 27 December 2016 on BBC Two. The episode was directed by Graeme Harper and written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Stylistically, it took heavy inspiration from classic 1970s anthology programmes, such as Beasts, Thriller, Tales of the Unexpected and Armchair Thriller, and was filmed using authentic equipment. Pemberton intended the episode to be a recreation of this kind of classic programming, with critics characterising it as a homage, pastiche or loving parody.
"The Bill" is the second episode of the third series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first aired on 21 February 2017, on BBC Two. The episode was written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, and was directed by Guillem Morales. "The Bill" focuses on four men—Archie, Malcolm, Kevin, and Craig—arguing over who should pay the bill in a restaurant at closing time, much to the dismay of the waitress Anya. It addresses themes of masculinity and competition, and the English north–south divide is a recurring issue; Craig, the visiting southerner, is wealthier than the other three, and unfamiliar with some of their terminology.
"The Riddle of the Sphinx" is the third episode of the third series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first aired, on BBC Two, on 28 February 2017. The episode was written by the programme's creators, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and directed by Guillem Morales. "The Riddle of the Sphinx", which is set in Cambridge, stars Alexandra Roach as Nina, a young woman seeking answers to the Varsity cryptic crossword, Pemberton as Professor Nigel Squires, who pseudonymously sets the crossword using the name Sphinx, and Shearsmith as Dr Jacob Tyler, another Cambridge academic. The story begins with Nina surreptitiously entering Squires's rooms on a stormy night and being discovered; this leads to Squires teaching her how to decipher clues in cryptic crosswords.