101-510: David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams ( / ˈ w æ l j ə m z / ), is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent on ITV . He
202-502: A 'portly Thai bride' called Ting Tong." This was prompted after Netflix and BBC iPlayer removed the show from their catalogues. Lucas is a patron of the Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families. In April 2003, he appeared on Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won £62,500 for the charity. Lucas is gay. He first suspected his sexuality at age seven. At
303-401: A BBC Three interview aired on February 9, 2011, it was revealed that the creators had considered including Carol Beer, the travel agent character from Little Britain. However, they chose not to include her to avoid the impression that Come Fly with Me was just a spinoff. Instead, they introduced an entirely fresh cast of characters. On 28 March 2012, Lucas appeared as the "Generation X" guest on
404-451: A boy called Jack trying to rescue his Grandpa who suffers from Alzheimer's disease from a care home run by an evil matron. The book was adapted for BBC One , with the script written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil , and starring Tom Courtenay as Grandpa. This book, although set in the 1980s like Awful Auntie is, sees the return of Raj the newsagent. The same year that Grandpa's Great Escape
505-952: A car at the age of 6. When Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack. Lucas was educated at Aylward Primary School and Haberdashers' Boys' School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire . He studied drama at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 1995, although he did not complete his degree. He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre , where he met his future collaborator David Walliams . Lucas's association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. He appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, and went on to star with them in Shooting Stars . He quickly rose to fame as George Dawes,
606-641: A ceremony in Central London in December 2006, he entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee. In attendance were Barbara Windsor , Neil Tennant , Elton John , and Courtney Love . They separated and had their civil partnership dissolved through the High Court in 2008. Lucas was raised as Jewish but has variously described himself as an atheist and a "fairly secular Jew ". In 2022, he
707-703: A fictional series of awards based on nominations by his guests. On 3 October 2010, Lucas played Thénardier in the 25th Anniversary Concerts of Les Misérables , at the O2 Arena in London. A year later, from 23 June to 10 September 2011, he reprised the role at the Queen's Theatre , in the West End. He has since collaborated with Alfie Boe , who played Jean Valjean , to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album. Also in 2011, Lucas lent his voice to
808-547: A giant baby (often dressed in an adult-sized romper suit ) who would deliver a string of meaningless gags and insults before delivering the teams' scores, while sitting at and playing a drum kit. He also appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes , George's mother, who also appears in Little Britain . He again appeared with Reeves & Mortimer in the BBC TV series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and Catterick , in
909-718: A laboratory technician who worked at Sutton Grammar School . Walliams grew up in Banstead , Surrey , specifically in the residential area of Nork , with his mother, father and sister Julie. He was educated at Collingwood Boys' School in Wallington , and Reigate Grammar School in Surrey, where he was a contemporary of writer Robert Shearman . From 1989 to 1992, he studied at the University of Bristol , where he resided at Manor Hall and graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Drama). During university holidays in 1990, Walliams performed with
1010-629: A music video for the Pet Shop Boys single " I'm with Stupid ", in which the two are apparently auditioning their version of the song's video for Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe , who are tied up and appear to be hostages. The pair are best known for Little Britain , which ran from 2003 to 2009 on the BBC in the UK and from 2008 onwards on HBO in the US. The programme first aired on BBC Three before moving to
1111-486: A new download service through their website, which would provide audio plays in MP3 format, free of any digital rights management . They currently provide the large majority of their catalogue in MP3 and M4B format, with very few outstanding exceptions. In late April 2008, Big Finish released a download subscription service that mirrors its physical CD service. In addition, those who purchase Big Finish productions on CD through
SECTION 10
#17327826033301212-605: A new series of Torchwood , featuring Captain Jack Harkness ( John Barrowman ). Since this announcement. In 2017, Big Finish announced six new stories of Class featuring original members of the class, as well as a story starring Ace ( Sophie Aldred ). On 27 June 2015, it was announced that Big Finish would produce a line of stories featuring River Song and the Eighth Doctor, as well as stories from Winston Churchill ( Ian McNeice ) and his interactions with
1313-742: A public information campaign on digital switchover . On 26 November 2006 he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs . He made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as Tom, the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne. In 2007, he released " I'm Gonna Be ", originally by The Proclaimers , with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief . He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin , along with Kay playing as Brian Potter . He also starred as Mr. Toad in The Wind in
1414-475: A role in Boy George 's musical Taboo at The Venue in London. He played the performance artist Leigh Bowery . Little Britain is Lucas' most commercially successful work. The show came about when trainee BBC radio producer Ashley Blaker , tasked with coming up with ideas for a television or radio series, bumped into Lucas in London. The two were old friends from Haberdashers' and Lucas took Blaker to
1515-639: A segment of the Sport Relief telethon in 2012 , co-hosting the 22:00–22:40 slot with Miranda Hart when the show moved over to BBC Two while the BBC News at Ten was aired. Walliams also co-hosted the 2014 Sport Relief telethon. This time, he hosted the earlier slot between 19:00–22:00 with Gary Lineker and later Davina McCall . On 4 July 2006 Walliams swam the English Channel for Sport Relief. It took him 10 hours and 34 minutes to swim
1616-664: A short video for the charity, Electrical Safety First , featuring the character Charley from the Charley Says educational films of the 1970s. For Comic Relief 2015 , Walliams appeared as Lou Todd and Stephen Hawking in the Andy Pipkin role along with Catherine Tate as a nun. In 2015, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie 's birth, Walliams played the role of Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime ,
1717-547: A six-part BBC series. In September 2015, Walliams began filming for his BBC sketch show Walliams & Friend , which also starred Joanna Lumley and Morgana Robinson and premiered on Christmas Eve in 2015. The show returned for a full series in November 2016. Walliams hosted the final comedy show Thrills and Spills in December 2016. The final was held in Louisville , Kentucky . In December 2016, Walliams presented
1818-769: A small role in Country House by Blur Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include Doctor Who , the characters Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog from 2000 AD , Blake's 7 , Dark Shadows , Dracula , Terrahawks , Sapphire & Steel , Sherlock Holmes , Stargate , The Avengers , The Prisoner , Timeslip , and Torchwood . Founded in 1996, Big Finish in late 1998 began releasing audio plays adapted from
1919-443: A song, "Fade In/Fade Out", in honour of Walliams' achievement; it can be found on their self-titled album , released on 9 October 2006. On 7 March 2008 Walliams, along with James Cracknell , swam the 12-mile (19 km) Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco , again for Sport Relief. He successfully completed the swim in just over 4½ hours. In March 2010 Walliams and a group of celebrities cycled an end-to-end journey through
2020-527: A special: The Legacy of Time which combined several spin-offs, including UNIT , The Diary of River Song , Bernice Summerfield and Counter-Measures . Other celebratory releases included the third series of Ravenous (featuring almost all Eighth Doctor companions); fourth series of Ravenous (featuring multiple incarnations of the Master ; the sixth Series of the Early Adventures (in which
2121-460: A trained orangutan who serves as his butler, but there is just one thing he really needs: a friend. The book included a 'billion pound note' that was used to enter a competition to win a day as a billionaire in London. This was the first of his books to be illustrated by Tony Ross. Walliams' fourth book, Gangsta Granny was released in October 2011 and again illustrated by Tony Ross . It tells
SECTION 20
#17327826033302222-684: A variety of roles. In 1999, Lucas paired with David Walliams , with whom he had already worked in Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes , to create Rock Profile , a comedy show spoofing famous musical personalities. It is notable for being one of their first comedic collaborations. His music video appearances include the Damien Hirst -directed video for Blur 's " Country House ", "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, " I'm with Stupid " by Pet Shop Boys , and " Vindaloo " by Fat Les . Lucas ventured into stage musicals in 2002, when he took
2323-550: Is "never, ever wrong". Ma, who also called out the story for its "casual racism", talked in May with representatives of HarperCollins , who agreed to remove the story in future editions of the book. The book was later republished in 2022, with a new story about Charlie the Chucker, who "delights in pelting people with snowballs". On 28 April 2022, Walliams' next book in the short story collections, this time titled The World's Worst Pets
2424-503: Is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 37 million copies worldwide. Walliams played the role of Greville White in the 2007 television drama film Capturing Mary . From 2013 to 2014, he wrote and starred in the BBC One sitcom Big School . In 2015, he starred as Tommy Beresford in the BBC drama series Partners in Crime , and wrote and starred in the sketch comedy series Walliams & Friend . Walliams has won
2525-486: The Royal Variety Performance and a Christmas special episode of Blankety Blank , both shows for ITV. In 2017, Walliams guest presented five episodes of The Nightly Show for ITV. In 2017, Walliams, along with Rochelle Humes , were both confirmed as Voice Trumpets, joining the existing cast of Daniel Rigby , Antonia Thomas , Jim Broadbent , Fearne Cotton and Jane Horrocks In series 2 of
2626-572: The 2017 Birthday Honours for services to charity and the arts. His charity work includes swimming the English Channel , Strait of Gibraltar and River Thames , raising millions of pounds for the BBC charity Sport Relief . Walliams was born at St Teresa's Maternity Hospital in Wimbledon , in the London Borough of Merton , in 1971. He is the son of Peter Williams (1936–2007), a London Transport engineer, and Kathleen Williams (née Ellis),
2727-557: The Doctor Who audios. When Russell left the company, Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs took joint responsibility as Co-Executive Producers. Briggs now bears creative responsibility for Big Finish's Doctor Who range, along with script editor Alan Barnes . David Richardson holds the title of senior producer across all ranges, organising the schedules across the company's output, as well as having creative producer responsibility for The Companion Chronicles , Lost Stories, and
2828-524: The First Doctor encountered the Second Doctor , as well as using the character of Katerina for the first time); The Diary of River Song series 5 (the first appearance of Eric Roberts ' Master since the 1996 film and the return of Missy ). In August 2020, Big Finish announced a new series of audios beginning release in May 2021, featuring Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as
2929-564: The Groucho Club , where he told Blaker of his ideas for a sketch show. Little Britain was launched as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 and it later became a TV series. Among the many characters he plays in the series, which he writes and acts in along with David Walliams, are apparently "disabled" Andy Pipkin , teenage Bristol chav Vicky Pollard , homophobic homosexual Daffyd Thomas , and insensitive slimming club organiser Marjorie Dawes . In January 2005, Lucas and Walliams were named
3030-524: The ITV2 series Top Dog Model . In 2013, Walliams appeared in two episodes of the comedy series Blandings as Rupert Baxter , an efficiency expert hired to serve as Lord Emsworth 's secretary. Also that year, and in 2014, Walliams starred as chemistry teacher Keith Church in the BBC One sitcom Big School , which he created and co-wrote. The series also starred Catherine Tate , Frances de la Tour and Philip Glenister . In March 2014 Walliams narrated
3131-517: The National Youth Theatre , where he met future comedy partner and friend Matt Lucas . He changed his stage name to David Walliams when he joined college Equity , as there was already a member named David Williams. Walliams performed in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play Phantasmagoria , written by Mark Gatiss in 1999. In 2005, Walliams, Simon Pegg , Lucy Davis and Lauren Laverne starred in
David Walliams - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-558: The New Adventures , a series of novels from Virgin Books which had originally been licensed Doctor Who stories, but by then had become officially independent from the show and were based around the character of Bernice "Benny" Summerfield . In 1999, Big Finish obtained a non-exclusive licence to produce official Doctor Who plays, beginning with the multi-Doctor story The Sirens of Time . Doctor Who and spin-offs have remained
3333-538: The Ninth Doctor (for the first time since his departure from the series in 2005). In December 2021, Big Finish announced that their license to produce Doctor Who audios was extended until the 31st of March 2030. In June 2022, Big Finish announced that in November of the same year, the prices of all unreleased boxsets as of that month would see an increase in price due to the rising costs of production and supply costs. These new prices are yet to be announced as of
3434-574: The Twelfth Doctor's era up until Twice Upon a Time . This has allowed Big Finish to explore more recent characters and areas from Doctor Who , as seen in Paternoster Gang ; Jenny, The Doctor's Daughter ; and Tales from New Earth . Developments in the 2005 revival TV series also impacted the availability of certain characters. For example, Big Finish was no longer allowed to use the character of Davros , following his return to
3535-547: The most powerful people in TV comedy by Radio Times . In 2005, he took his first role in a television drama, a supporting part as a Venetian duke in the BBC historical serial Casanova , written by Russell T Davies . Also in 2005, he did voice work in the ITV children's program King Arthur's Disasters alongside Rik Mayall . Since 2006, Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al , devised as part of
3636-738: The 15th of September 2022. Other spin-offs include the Gallifrey series (with Lalla Ward as Romana , Louise Jameson as Leela and John Leeson as K-9 ); the Dalek Empire series; the UNIT series; the Iris Wildthyme series starring Katy Manning ; the Sarah Jane Smith series and the I, Davros series. Big Finish have also produced a series of Doctor Who plays based on alternative scenarios (for example, what if
3737-576: The 1970s storyline The Talons of Weng-Chiang ; Counter-Measures , featuring a group of scientists featured in 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks ; Vienna , focusing on an assassin named Vienna Salvatori (played by former Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actress Chase Masterson ) who was introduced in the Seventh Doctor audio drama The Shadow Heart ; UNIT, originally focused around the UNIT during
3838-464: The 2015 Red House Children's Book Awards . Walliams' seventh children's book, Awful Auntie , was released on 25 September 2014. This was the story of a girl named Stella whose Auntie has moved into her house with her owl, Wagner. It is the first (and currently only) of Walliams' books to not include Raj the newsagent, due to the book being set in the 1930s before Raj was born. In September 2015 he released Grandpa's Great Escape . The story follows
3939-534: The 22-mile (35 km) stretch of sea, equivalent to 700 lengths of an Olympic-size swimming pool . This was wrongly reported as one of the top 50 recorded times for an unaided Channel crossing; in reality Walliams placed 167th at the time of crossing in only the CSA listings, excluding the CSPF listings. He raised over £1 million in donations. Under the supervision of his trainer, he trained for nine months to prepare for
4040-971: The Ambassadors of Death ). Two TV spin-offs from the Doctor Who universe have been continued in audio form by Big Finish: Torchwood and Class which has featured the return of several characters from the original cast: Gwen Cooper ( Eve Myles ), Owen Harper ( Burn Gorman ), Toshiko Sato ( Naoko Mori ), Ianto Jones ( Gareth David-Lloyd ), Rhys Williams ( Kai Owen ), Andy Davidson ( Tom Price ), Suzie Costello ( Indira Varma ), Captain John Hart ( James Marsters ) and Bilis Manger ( Murray Melvin ) have all reprised their roles in Torchwood . Characters from Doctor Who have also appeared in Torchwood audios, including Yvonne Hartman ( Tracy-Ann Oberman ) and Jo Grant. Big Finish have also created several new characters of Torchwood in their continuation of
4141-645: The Australian game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation . On 10 April 2012, Lucas's own BBC One show The Matt Lucas Awards began. It was a send-up of an awards program, with a panel of comedians giving their nominations for awards for a series of prizes concerning trivial topics. Lucas also starred in the dark comedy Small Apartments released in February 2013 alongside James Caan, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, and Juno Temple with other cameo performances by notable actors. On 21 February 2013, Lucas appeared on
David Walliams - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-647: The BBC series Doctor Who for its tenth series , reprising the character Nardole , which he had previously played in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials, " The Husbands of River Song " and " The Return of Doctor Mysterio " respectively. On 16 February 2017, Lucas was awarded an Honorary Degree "Doctor of Letters" by the University of Bristol, where he had studied for two years in the 1990s but had left before completing his degree course. On 3 October 2017, Lucas released his autobiography titled Little Me , published by Canongate Books in hardback. The paperback edition
4343-563: The BBC website. He took part in 19 episodes of "classic" TV panel shows. From 5 to 12 September 2011 Walliams swam the length of the River Thames (140 miles [230 km]) and raised more than £2 million for Sport Relief. Once he had got out of the river Walliams said "I think a bath is the only water I will be seeing for a while." The swim resulted in him getting giardiasis and injuring an intervertebral disc . In late 2013, Walliams had emergency back surgery to alleviate issues caused by
4444-905: The British sci-fi comic strip anthology magazine 2000 AD . These consisted of sixteen Judge Dredd stories with two additional plays featuring characters from the Strontium Dog strip. The Judge Dredd series drew heavily upon Big Finish's repertory company established through their Doctor Who series with many actors crossing over such as Toby Longworth (who voiced Dredd), Clare Buckfield , Nicholas Briggs , Mark Donovan and Teresa Gallagher who voiced Chief Judge Hershey . The series would also feature many special guest stars such as The League of Gentlemen ' s Mark Gatiss playing Judge Death , Doctor Who companion actress Nicola Bryant (who would also direct 99 Code Red! ) plus Blake's 7 star Stephen Greif as Efil Drago San. Writers for
4545-451: The CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet and he played a small role as the roommate of Kristen Wiig in the comedy Bridesmaids . On Christmas Day 2010, the BBC premiered Lucas and David Walliams' latest series, Come Fly with Me . Unlike their previous work, Little Britain , this new show concentrated solely on the airline industry, with Walliams and Lucas each portraying several characters. In
4646-514: The Doctor in the series ( Tom Baker , Peter Davison , Colin Baker , Sylvester McCoy , Paul McGann , Christopher Eccleston , and David Tennant ), as well as many of the regular supporting actors over the many years of the programme. The late Jon Pertwee 's voice is featured in the 40th-anniversary story Zagreus . His part in the story was pieced together from snippets of Pertwee's dialogue from
4747-600: The Doctor had never left Gallifrey, or had been a woman), collectively titled Doctor Who Unbound . This has allowed them to cast other actors in the role of the Doctor, including Sir Derek Jacobi , Arabella Weir and David Warner . In 2013, following the death of original Romana actress Mary Tamm , Big Finish introduced a previously unknown third incarnation of Romana, played by American actress Juliet Landau . Other spin-off series include Jago & Litefoot , featuring Henry Gordon Jago ( Christopher Benjamin ) and Professor George Litefoot ( Trevor Baxter ), characters from
4848-693: The Doctor. Further it was announced that a special set would be released featuring classic Doctors (in this case, the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors), with new series monsters ( The Weeping Angels , the Judoon , the Sycorax , and the Sontarans ). The latter story will also connect into the Time War . According to Big Finish's website in May 2018, their license was expanded to feature properties set during
4949-707: The NBC series Community as Toby, an English friend of Abed Nadir . In 2014, Lucas played Ray Thomas in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern . Lucas launched a new comedy series called Pompidou for BBC Two . The show began airing on 1 March 2015. In May 2016, Lucas reprised his role as "Tweedledee/Tweedledum" in Tim Burton's Alice Through the Looking Glass , sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Lucas joined
5050-448: The Radio 2 Breakfast Show . From 10 August to 30 November 2019, Lucas appeared in Les Misérables at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, playing the role of Monsieur Thénardier in a fully staged concert adaptation of the musical. On 20 December 2019, Lucas returned to the role at the Sondheim Theatre , after actor Gerard Carey contracted vocal damage through pneumonia and was forced to pull out. On 10 January 2020, Lucas himself
5151-791: The TV series in several releases. In March 2024, Big Finish made the stories from all three seasons available once more as digital downloads. This is the first time these have been available in more than a decade. Big Finish also produced and sold 5 seasons of The Tomorrow People audios until renewed licence negotiations failed in late 2007, the range was withdrawn in total in December 2008. Big Finish has released audio dramas based upon other works as well, including Dark Shadows , Sherlock Holmes , Stargate , Captain Scarlet , Terrahawks , The Avengers and The Picture of Dorian Gray . In 2016, Big Finish produced and released its first series of The Prisoner stories , written and directed by Nicholas Briggs and starring Mark Elstob in
SECTION 50
#17327826033305252-500: The TV show's offices in Cardiff to prevent any potential conflicts in continuity. The return of Sarah Jane Smith to the continuity of the TV series, and subsequent The Sarah Jane Adventures spin-off, resulted in the character's no longer being available to Big Finish (forcing the cancellation of an ongoing Sarah Jane Smith audio series). According to Briggs, permission from Russell T Davies , producer and creator of The Sarah Jane Adventures , had been secured that would have allowed
5353-402: The UK", with a literary style compared to that of Roald Dahl . Some of his books have been adapted into television films, which he has also appeared in, including Mr Stink (2012), Gangsta Granny (2013) and Billionaire Boy (2016). As of 2023, Walliams book sales stand at over 50 million copies sold worldwide. Walliams was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in
5454-441: The UK, raising over £1 million for Sport Relief. Walliams suffered a serious fall when tackling the Kirkstone Pass , a thousand-foot climb in the Lake District but was able to complete the ride. In March 2011 Walliams undertook 24 Hour Panel People , in which he took part in back-to-back recordings of various panel show formats over the course of 24 hours to raise money for Comic Relief . The recordings were streamed live on
5555-431: The United States by HBO, Little Britain USA , aired in 2008. The characters from Little Britain played by Walliams and Lucas appeared in a 2010 UK television advertising campaign for the Nationwide Building Society . In January 2005 Walliams and Lucas were named the most powerful people in TV comedy by Radio Times . Their later series was Come Fly with Me , a six-part series airing on BBC One. The first episode
5656-453: The Willows , a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel. He has appeared in Kath & Kim and Neighbours (the latter alongside David Walliams as Little Britain characters Lou and Andy ), as well as a cameo role, playing 'Chris' or 'Jammy' at the wedding fayre, in the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey . Lucas has co-written (with Walliams) and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO . Lucas
5757-448: The award for Best TV Judge for his work on Britain's Got Talent at the 2015 , 2018 , 2019 and 2020 National Television Awards . In 2022, he was a judge on the tenth season of Australia's Got Talent . Walliams began writing children's novels in 2008 after securing a contract with the publisher HarperCollins . His books have been translated into 53 languages, and he has been described as "the fastest-growing children's author in
5858-409: The character (and actress Elisabeth Sladen ) to return to Big Finish for a series of stories alongside Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, but Sladen's illness and death in April 2011 put an end to those plans. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who in 2013, Big Finish created a series in the style of The Companion Chronicles range titled Destiny of the Doctor narrated by companions throughout
5959-408: The comedy Dinner for Schmucks . Walliams played the strange mole-like alien Gibbis in the sixth series of Doctor Who , in the episode " The God Complex ", broadcast on BBC One in 2011. In April 2012 Walliams appeared in an episode of ITV's Perspectives programme entitled "David Walliams: The Genius of Dahl". Also in 2012, he narrated Are You Having a Laugh? TV and Disability on BBC Two , and
6060-405: The company to make a statement on the views expressed by a few individuals they have worked with. The company stated that it is committed to ensuring that those working for the company are protected from discrimination due to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, pregnancy or maternity leave, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. Until July 2006, Gary Russell served as producer of
6161-412: The company's website receive access to a complimentary download of the story. In September 2008, they released their first free downloadable play. UNIT: The Coup had previously been given away with an issue of Doctor Who Magazine . On February 8, 2017 they announced the Big Finish app. The Doctor Who audio plays have, to date, featured seven of the ten living actors to play the character of
SECTION 60
#17327826033306262-413: The fan-produced Doctor Who video "Devious". The actor John Hurt also recorded appearances as the War Doctor for Big Finish prior to his death in 2017. Destiny of the Doctor , produced in conjunction with AudioGO , who were rights holders to the 2005–present series, marked the first time Big Finish produced storylines featuring the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Doctors to mark the 50th anniversary of
6363-427: The franchise. In February 2015, Big Finish announced that following a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide , they had been permitted to produce an audio series entitled UNIT: Extinction , starring Kate Stewart played by Jemma Redgrave . The debut of the character on audio marks the second time Big Finish have been actively permitted to utilise material introduced in the 2005 revival. In May 2015, Big Finish announced
6464-412: The hiatus years of Doctor Who , starring the Seventh Doctor ( Sylvester McCoy ) and Elizabeth Klein ( Tracey Childs , who first appeared in Colditz ) and later became focused on UNIT from the revived series, featuring Kate Stewart ( Jemma Redgrave and Osgood ( Ingrid Oliver ), as well as guest characters Jo Grant, River Song ( Alex Kingston ) and Doctor Chin Lee ( Pik-Sen Lim , who first appeared in
6565-480: The late 1990s, before a hardback short story anthology licence was granted to Big Finish, who took over the name and produced them until their licence to publish such stories was revoked in the spring of 2009. Big Finish currently continues to produce audio-only Short Trips productions. In 2016, Big Finish's licence to produce Doctor Who audios was extended to 20 June 2025. In 2019, Big Finish reached its 20th anniversary of producing Doctor Who audios and released
6666-496: The late 1990s, playing minor roles in sketches such as The Club , Walliams and Lucas played grotesque caricatures of various rock musicians in the series Rock Profile and in the spoof documentary series Sir Bernard's Stately Homes . They were also stars of the Paramount Comedy Channel show Mash and Peas , and it was in this guise that they appeared in the Fat Les video. Walliams and Lucas also had small roles in Plunkett and Maclaine as prisoners. The duo appeared together in
6767-457: The main part of the company's output ever since, although they have since diversified. Many of those initially involved in Big Finish had worked on the Audio Visuals fan series of unlicensed Doctor Who audio plays. The name of the company was taken from the episode "The Big Finish" of the 1989-1993 ITV series Press Gang . On 25 July 2019, Big Finish made a statement about equality and diversity in response to requests from fans wishing
6868-474: The more mainstream BBC One . Among the characters Walliams played were Emily Howard , a deluded " transvestite "; Ray McCooney , an insane Scottish hotel owner; and Sebastian Love , an aide de camp to the Prime Minister (portrayed by Anthony Head ) on whom Love has a huge crush. A successful live stage show of the series, Little Britain Live , was produced in 2006. A number of seasonal and charity specials followed, up to 2009. A spin-off series produced in
6969-465: The reboot of classic British children's television series Teletubbies . In October 2019, Walliams became the new National Television Awards (NTAs) host for 2020, taking over after Dermot O'Leary 's ten year presenting stint. Walliams and Matt Lucas first met at the National Youth Theatre . At their first meeting, Lucas did an impression of Jimmy Savile and Walliams an impression of Frankie Howerd . They would not meet again for another year. In
7070-424: The role of Nardole in the BBC series Doctor Who . He has also appeared in films, including Astro Boy (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Bridesmaids , Gnomeo & Juliet (both 2011), Small Apartments (2012), Paddington (2014), and Wonka (2023). Lucas presented the baking competition show The Great British Bake Off , alongside Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023. Matthew Richard Lucas
7171-606: The series from Miracle Day , most notably Tyler Steele (Jonny Green). Starting with January 2017, Big Finish also began releasing the "Torchwood One" series set before the events of Doomsday (Doctor Who) . Other writers for Big Finish include Rob Shearman and The League of Gentlemen 's Mark Gatiss , who have also written for the 2005 relaunch of the Doctor Who television series. Shearman's 2005 TV episode " Dalek " has been acknowledged as being based upon his Big Finish storyline Jubilee . Between 2002 and 2004, Big Finish released eighteen audio plays featuring characters from
7272-455: The series in 2008, although this restriction has since been lifted and Davros returned to Big Finish in The Curse of Davros (January 2012). Prior to the character's being featured in the new series, he had been used in several plays, portrayed by Terry Molloy , who played Davros in three TV serials in the 1980s. In a 2008 podcast, Nicholas Briggs explained that all scripts are sent through
7373-476: The series included David Bishop , Dave Stone and James Swallow . In July 2011, Big Finish obtained a licence to produce audiobooks and novels based on the BBC television series Blake's 7 . On 1 February 2012, the first collection of audiobooks, Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles , was released featuring original cast members from the television series. Eleven more followed. Since then five series of full cast audio dramas have been released. Earthsearch
7474-510: The show's history. In addition to this, Big Finish released a multi-doctor story featuring all surviving Doctors of the classic series and almost every companion in The Light at the End . Big Finish also published a series of short story anthologies taking place in the Doctor Who universe under the overall title of Short Trips . Three Short Trips collections were published by BBC Books in
7575-508: The spin-off Jago & Litefoot . The Chairman and co-executive producer of the company is Jason Haigh-Ellery. Big Finish Day is a fan convention featuring guest appearances by Big Finish actors. On 11 June 2011, Tenth Planet Events hosted the first Big Finish Day in Barking . On 11 February 2012, a second one was held. As of September 2015, there have been seven Big Finish Days, with more planned. In February 2008, Big Finish launched
7676-528: The story of Ben who is bored every time he is made to stay at his grandma's house as all she wants to do is to play board games and eat cabbage soup. Ben learns that she was once an international jewel thief and all her life she has wanted to steal the crown jewels. Ben is determined that they do it together. It won a Red House Children's Book Award and was adapted to be a 70-minute film for BBC One and shown on 26 December 2013. In September 2012 Walliams released his fifth children's book, Ratburger , telling
7777-548: The story of a young girl named Zoe whose life is a misery as she has an evil stepmother. It was made into a one-off drama for Sky One . Ratburger was followed in September 2013 by Walliams' sixth book, Demon Dentist , relating the tale of a young boy named Alfie with no family except his dad whose world goes upside-down when a new dentist arrives in town. The book won the top prize in the Younger Readers category at
7878-443: The swim. Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011). Lucas first came to prominence on the comedy panel show Shooting Stars , in which he portrayed scorekeeper George Dawes from 1995 to 2009. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed
7979-651: The swim. The training had to coincide with Walliams and Lucas's Little Britain Live tour , so he daily had to train for several hours before performing on stage in the evening. Walliams first swam from Lee-on-the-Solent near Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight in around two hours and also completed an eight-hour swim off the coast of Croatia before embarking on the cross-Channel attempt. Walliams has insisted that prior to his challenge he had never seriously taken part in any sport. The Bluetones ' lead singer Mark Morriss wrote
8080-441: The themes of Little Britain from Walliams' own life on an emotional level, such as the camp humour of cross-dressing and effeminacy . The story recounts a neglected 12-year-old boy called Dennis' search for a female role model, his friendship with the popular girl in school, and the ways in which relationships develop along gender lines. The story has a strong resonance with Anne Fine's 1989 book Bill's New Frock . This book
8181-670: The track going towards the Feed NHS campaign, which aims to provide meals for NHS workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK . The song reached No. 34 in the charts. Lucas also wrote a children's picture book based on "Thank You, Baked Potato", published by Egmont and all proceeds again go to Feed NHS. In 2020, Lucas, along with his Little Britain co-star David Walliams, apologised for their portrayal of characters using racial caricatures , "including an obese Caribbean woman called Desiree DeVere, portrayed in blackface , and
8282-636: The video for Charlotte Hatherley 's single "Bastardo". Later in the year, Walliams presented a documentary on James Bond , entitled David Walliams: My Life with James Bond . In 2007, he returned to non-comedy television, garnering positive reviews for his portrayal of a suave and dangerous manipulator in Stephen Poliakoff 's Capturing Mary . He portrayed comedian Frankie Howerd in the BBC Four television film Rather You Than Me . In 2010, Walliams appeared with Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in
8383-399: The video is the lifejacket instruction. Since then the video has been reworked with a mixture of the previous version; however, Walliams still appears in the new version. Walliams hosted a classical music podcast for children called David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast . The show was produced by Classic FM and won a gold prize at the 2020 British Podcast Awards . Walliams co-hosted
8484-532: The year. In 2013, he played the part of Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre opposite Sheridan Smith as Titania. In July 2014, Walliams appeared on stage with Monty Python during their live show Monty Python Live (Mostly) held at the O 2 Arena , London. He was the special guest in their "Blackmail" sketch. In addition to his writing credits for his sketch shows and adaptions of his novels, he
8585-735: Was a BBC Radio 4 radio series written by James Follett which was later adapted as a science fiction novel. However, his prequel novel Earthsearch Mindwarp was adapted by Big Finish and broadcast by Digital radio station BBC 7 . Earthsearch Mindwarp stars a number of actors from the Doctor Who range — India Fisher , Nicholas Courtney and Colin Baker . Big Finish produced and sold three seasons of Sapphire & Steel audios on CD until their licence expired. As both actors declined to reprise their original TV roles, Susannah Harker played Sapphire (replacing Joanna Lumley ) and David Warner played Steel (replacing David McCallum ), although David Collings did reprise his role of Silver from
8686-761: Was a judge on the ITV1 talent show Britain's Got Talent with Amanda Holden , Alesha Dixon and Simon Cowell . In 2015, 2018 and 2019, he was recognised at the National Television Awards as Best Judge for his involvement in the series. In 2022, it was announced that Walliams would be joining Seven Network 's Australia's Got Talent as a judge for the show's tenth season alongside fellow Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon , and Australian actors Kate Ritchie and Shane Jacobson . In November 2022, after controversy erupted regarding leaked disparaging comments made by Walliams to contestants, it
8787-463: Was adapted into a film for Christmas 2014. In November 2009 came Mr Stink , again illustrated by Quentin Blake, about a 12-year-old girl who meets a tramp and helps look after him. She keeps him hidden from her family. The book consists of 26 illustrated chapters full of jokes. It is aimed at teenagers and children over 9. It was the last of Walliams books to be illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book
8888-529: Was awarded the Children's Award in the inaugural People's Book Prize in 2010, and was made into a 60-minute film, which premiered on BBC One on 23 December 2012. On 28 October 2010 Walliams published his third book Billionaire Boy , illustrated by Tony Ross , telling the story of Joe Spud, the richest 12-year-old in the country. Joe's father is a famous inventor, and his wealth means that Joe has everything he could ever want: his own bowling alley, cinema and
8989-599: Was born on 5 March 1974 in the Paddington area of west London , the son of Diana (née Williams; born 1945) and chauffeuring business owner John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996). His family is Jewish ; some of his mother's family fled Nazi Germany just before the Second World War . He was raised in a Reform Jewish household although his parents came from Orthodox Jewish families. He has had alopecia since childhood, having lost all his hair after being struck by
9090-491: Was forced to withdraw from the show following a back injury. In March 2020, he became the new co-host of the Channel 4 and Love Productions television show The Great British Bake Off , taking over from Sandi Toksvig . He departed from the programme in December 2022. On 3 April 2020, Lucas released a reworked version of his "Baked Potato Song" from Shooting Stars titled "Thank You Baked Potato", with all proceeds from
9191-788: Was published in November 2018. In 2020, the book Code Name Bananas, which was set in World War I I-era Britain was published, and was being announced on Walliams' Instagram. Walliams' next children's novel, Spaceboy , was published in September 2022. On 5 April 2023, the children's novel Robodog was published. The story is about Robodog, the newest recruit at the police dog school, as he sets out to save his city from some evil criminals trying to destroy it. Illustrated in colour by Tony Ross, Walliams' three The World's Worst Children short story collections, centered around 'five beastly boys and five gruesome girls', were published in May 2016, May 2017 and May 2018, respectively. The World's Worst Teachers
9292-488: Was published on 27 June. In July 2020, tweets by author and activist Jack Monroe described Walliams' books as "like Little Britain for kids", with "horrific racism and classism and bodyshaming in a veneer of privileged deniability". HarperCollins issued a response, stating "David Walliams's books have a diverse readership which is reflected in their content". Also in July 2020, Williams' next book, The World's Worst Parents
9393-406: Was published, Walliams backed children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF , together with Roger Moore , Stephen Fry , Ewan McGregor , Joan Collins , Joanna Lumley , Michael Caine , Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna . The Midnight Gang was published in November 2016. Bad Dad was published in November 2017. Walliams sold £16.57 million worth of books in 2017. The Ice Monster
9494-491: Was published, and the book followed the same structure as all of the previous short story collection books. In September 2021 it was announced that one of the stories in The World's Worst Children would be removed after podcaster Georgie Ma made a complaint, saying Walliams' book was "normalising jokes on minorities from a young age." The story criticised by Ma earlier in the year is "about a Chinese boy called Brian Wong" who
9595-689: Was published. However, this book was illustrated by Adam Stower, Walliams' new illustrator, whereas all the other books in the series were illustrated by Tony Ross . The next and latest book of the series, The World's Worst Monsters was published on 6 July 2023. On 26 August 2008 Walliams made his stage debut at the Gate Theatre in Dublin opposite Michael Gambon in Harold Pinter 's No Man's Land , in front of an audience that included Pinter himself. The production transferred to London later in
9696-480: Was released on 7 June 2018. From 2 July to 25 August 2018, Lucas played Bill Snibson in a revival of Me and My Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre . In 2019, Lucas was the bank holiday cover host for the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He will also cover Paul O'Grady 's Sunday 5–7pm show during the summer; Fearne Cotton will be the main holiday cover host. In 2021, Lucas continues to sit in for Zoe Ball and host
9797-504: Was reported that Walliams had decided "to bow out after a ten-year run", and that he wished to leave the show "on a high after a wonderful time". He was replaced by Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli . In early 2008 Walliams signed a contract with HarperCollins to publish two children's books. The debut novel, The Boy in the Dress , illustrated by Quentin Blake , was released worldwide on 1 November 2008. It explores several of
9898-484: Was set to co-write an animated film titled Shadows with filmmaker Edgar Wright for DreamWorks Animation . It was never made however, due to the staff changes at DreamWorks animation which left the film in limbo. In 2018, Walliams also starred in the British Airways Safety video, which was conducted in conjunction with Comic Relief for the airlines in house charity. Walliams most notable occasion in
9999-644: Was the first celebrity to appear in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on E4 . On 9 April 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire , featuring Lucas as a regular performer, premièred on Comedy Central , the first major comedy series which Lucas had worked on since Little Britain . In 2010, Lucas played Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton 's Alice in Wonderland . Starting in February 2010, Lucas began hosting his own radio show, And The Winner Is , in which he handed out
10100-711: Was the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? and learned that many of his grandmother's cousins had been murdered in the Holocaust . His grandmother's cousin, Werner Goldschmidt, had lived with the family of diarist Anne Frank in Amsterdam in 1942. In 2021, 83 years after his grandmother left Berlin, Lucas obtained German citizenship . Lucas is an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club . From 2012 to 2015, Lucas lived with his Bridesmaids co-star Rebel Wilson in West Hollywood . Lucas also has
10201-506: Was the third most-watched programme of Christmas Day 2010, and the most watched comedy of the year. The duo have not worked or made any public appearances together since early 2011 (although they each make separate cameo appearances in Michael Winterbottom 's 2013 film The Look of Love ). Little Britain returned to BBC Radio 4 on 31 October 2019, for a one-off special entitled Little Brexit . From 2012 to 2022, Walliams
#329670