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Jack Docherty | |
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| Born | John Docherty 1962 (age 61–62) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, actor, presenter, producer |
John Docherty (born 1962) is a Scottish writer, actor, presenter and producer.
Docherty first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers which he formed with George Watson's College schoolfriends Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and Pete Baikie. They performed each year from 1980 to 1985. Arfington, Arfington their 1984 show and Mr Hargreaves Did It their 1985 show were both shortlisted for the Perrier Comedy Award. In 1982 he dropped out of Aberdeen University where he was studying law, after he and Moray Hunter became staff writers in the BBC radio comedy department contributing to various shows including Radio Active , In One Ear , Week Ending and The News Huddlines . He also recorded one series with The Bodgers for Radio 4 called In Other Words...The Bodgers. For the second series, producer Alan Nixon teamed them with John Sparkes and Morwenna Banks for Bodgers, Banks and Sparkes, forming the cast that would go on to make the sketch show Absolutely for Channel 4.
In addition to his radio work, he wrote for Spitting Image for four series between 1984 and 1987. During the same period he also contributed to various other comedy shows including Alas Smith and Jones , and The Lenny Henry Show . He was also script editor for the first series of Vic Reeves Big Night Out . He wrote four series of Absolutely (1989–1992) and with Hunter the spin-off Channel 4 sitcom Mr Don & Mr George (1993). With Morwenna Banks he co-wrote the C4 Comedy Lab "Model, Actress, Whatever..." directed by Rankin and, again with Moray Hunter, two series of the BBC2 sitcom The Creatives. In 2008 he and Hunter wrote the BBC2 series The Cup starring Steve Edge. This was an adaptation of the Canadian sitcom The Tournament . [1] In 2012 he wrote and acted in "Stop / Start", a pilot for BBC Radio 4. [2] This was then commissioned for a 6-part series which was broadcast on Radio 4 from 6 September 2013 with the title Start/Stop and ran for three series. It was made available as an audio download in October 2019 with the title changed to It's Not Us, It's Them, although the reason for the change is unknown. A TV pilot of the show was broadcast under the name Stop/Start in March 2016 as part of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse series. [3]
As an actor Docherty is best known for his work on the Channel 4 cult comedy sketch show Absolutely . Premiered in 1989 the show marked a shift away from the political satirical orthodoxy of the 1980s to the surreal, character based comedy of the 1990s. The recurring characters he portrayed included MacGlashan, George MacDiarmid, Peter Wells, Mr Nice and one of the Stoneybridge councillors. The sketch featuring the Stoneybridge council bidding for the Olympics was voted the 30th best of all time in The Top 50 Comedy Sketches on Channel 4. He also starred with Moray Hunter in the Absolutely spin off sitcom Mr Don & Mr George . He played the role of Ben Gray in two series of the advertising sitcom The Creatives (1998 and 2000) on BBC2. Also in 2000 he co-starred with Mark Williams in The Strangerers , the Rob Grant penned sci-fi series for Sky One, and provided one of the voices for the Aardman Oscar nominated short Humdrum . In 2013 he appeared regularly in the BBC3 sitcom Badults .
In 1997 he was part of the launch of Channel 5 becoming Britain's first five nights a week chat show host on The Jack Docherty Show . The show also featured some of the first television work of writers Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, and writer/performers David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Not The Jack Docherty Show , broadcast when Docherty was on holiday, featured guest hosts including Phill Jupitus, Rich Hall, Melinda Messenger and, most notably, Graham Norton, who was signed by Channel 4 after his stint to host So Graham Norton . Docherty quit the show in 1999 and Channel 5 did not replace him, ending their production of late night chat shows. In 2000, he hosted the BAFTA film awards in London. Notoriously, he began the night by revealing the twist ending to The Sixth Sense , a move that did not go down well with the audience. In 2000 to 2001 he hosted the Radio 2 show Saturday Night Jack which reunited him with his Absolutely colleague Pete Baikie. He was also an occasional host of Radio 2's Friday night arts show.
He plays Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson in BBC Scotland's comedy Scot Squad .
His work as a producer includes the BBC Scotland film No Holds Bard (2008), and two series (2009 and 2010) of the BBC1 sitcom The Old Guys .
Docherty was a co-founder of Absolutely Productions. The company was formed in 1989 to produce the eponymous sketch show for Channel 4 and has since gone on to produce various comedy shows including Mr Don & Mr George , Trigger Happy TV , The Armstrong and Miller Show , The Strangerers , Stressed Eric , The Jack Docherty Show and Meg and Mog .
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.
Absolutely is a British comedy sketch show. The cast and crew are mainly Scottish; the principal writers and performers are Moray Hunter, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie, Gordon Kennedy, Morwenna Banks (English) and John Sparkes (Welsh). The original television series, produced by Absolutely Productions, aired on Channel 4 for four series between May 1989 and February 1993. Following an award-winning one-off radio reunion special for BBC Radio 4 in 2013, the show returned for a new four-part radio series with most of the original cast in September 2015. A second Radio 4 series of four programmes was broadcast from 25 June 2017, and a third in July 2019.
Reeves and Mortimer, colloquially known as Vic and Bob, are a British double act consisting of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. They have written and starred in several comedy programmes on British television since 1990, with Reeves having made his first TV appearance in 1986. They have often been referred to as a modern-day Morecambe and Wise.
Robert Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian, author, television presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob double act, and more recently the Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series with Paul Whitehouse. He has also appeared on panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Taskmaster.
The National Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.
British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures. Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits, though a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is sometimes considered insensitive. Many British comedy series have become successful internationally, serving as a representation of British culture to overseas audiences.
John Sparkes is a Welsh actor and comedian. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the HTV Wales series Barry Welsh Is Coming. He has also had major roles in Naked Video, Absolutely, Fireman Sam, Shaun the Sheep, and Jeff Global's Global Probe, and is the narrator of the children's television show Peppa Pig.
Tamsin Morwenna Banks is a British actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show Absolutely, and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film The Announcement. She voices Mummy Pig, Madame Gazelle and Dr Hamster in the children's series Peppa Pig. She adapted Nick Hornby's novel Funny Girl for Sky Max and is a writer on Slow Horses for Apple TV+.
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.
Robert Darren Popper is a British comedy producer, writer, actor, and author, best known as co-creator of the mock BBC documentary Look Around You, and creator of Channel 4's sitcom Friday Night Dinner. He also wrote the books The Timewaster Letters, Return of The Timewaster Letters and The Timewaster Diaries under the pseudonym Robin Cooper.
Mr Don & Mr George is a Channel 4 sitcom, featuring two characters from the Scottish comedy sketch show Absolutely. Moray Hunter (Don) and Jack Docherty (George) played two unrelated characters who happened to share a surname (McDiarmid). Hunter and Docherty wrote the series and it was made by their production company, Absolutely Productions. The humour was surreal and often featured ridiculous visual gags and wordplay. A single six-episode series was made, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in 1993.
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.
Helen Margaret Lederer is a British comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona.
In One Ear was a late-night alternative comedy sketch show, broadcast between 1984 and 1986, on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom, broadcast live from the BBC Paris Studio in London, with a repeat later in the week.
Barry Welsh Is Coming is a Welsh sketch show produced by Absolutely Productions for HTV Wales. The programme was first broadcast at 10:40 pm on Friday 6 September 1996 and originally ran for six series with some episodes later broadcast on the Paramount Comedy Channel. It was produced by Pete Baikie, and almost all the main characters were played by John Sparkes, who also played the inept presenter Barry Welsh. For the final series, the show was renamed Barry Welsh Is Going and consisted of three compilation specials. The series was replaced by Jeff Global's Global Probe, which ended after six episodes.
Moray Hunter is a Scottish comedian, writer and performer. He starred in the Channel 4 sketch show, Absolutely. Alongside Jack Docherty he played one half of the eccentric double-act, Don and George, in Absolutely and later in the spin-off series, Mr. Don and Mr. George. Moray also provided the voice for a shadow puppet in one of Aardman Animations' short films, Humdrum.
Peter Baikie is a Scottish comedian and composer. He appeared in the British comedy sketch-show Absolutely, composed the theme music and provided comedy songs for the show. He also created several musical comedy characters including Mr Muzak the Piano-playing man and the Laughing man.
Absolutely Productions is a British media production company, working mostly in television, formed in 1988 by Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter, Pete Baikie, John Sparkes, and Gordon Kennedy, all of whom were the cast of British television comedy sketch show Absolutely.
The Jack Docherty Show was a weeknightly comedy chat show which first aired on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom between 30 March 1997 and 23 June 1999. Presented by comedian Jack Docherty, the programme was one of the first to air on the channel, doing so as part of its opening-night schedule on 30 March 1997. The show was recorded at London's Whitehall Theatre during the early evening and would then be broadcast in a late-night slot. It featured a mixture of chat with celebrity guests, comedy, and music, and followed a similar format to shows such as NBC's Late Night with David Letterman in the United States.
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