Alan Davies

Alan Roger Davies (born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter.

He graduated in Drama & Theatre Studies from the University of Kent in 1988, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in 2003.

Davies began performing comedy in 1988 at the Whitstable Labour Club.

During a period from the mid-1990s to 2002, Davies advertised for Abbey National.

In 1991, he was named Time Out's Best Young Comic.

He continued touring and performing in the UK and Australia, winning the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Comedy in 1994.

In 1994 and 1995, Davies hosted Alan's Big One for three series on Radio 1 before appearing in Channel 4's spoof travel show One for the Road (made by Channel X in 1994/5).

That show was released on video and audio cassette in 1995 as Alan Davies Live at the Lyric recorded at the Lyric Theatre as part of the Perrier Pick of the Fringe season in October 1994.

He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek (1997–2016) and as the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since its premiere in 2003, outlasting its original host Stephen Fry.

Davies was born in Loughton, Essex, and spent his childhood years in Chingford.

When Davies was six, his mother died from leukaemia and he was raised by his father.

He was sexually abused by his father from age 8 to 13, as described in his book Just Ignore Him.

Davies also wrote that his brother and sister were turned against him, which began his strong desire to please others.

This led him to shoplift for schoolmates and play the joker at home.

Davies attended Staples Road School in Loughton and was privately educated at the private Bancroft's School in Woodford Green, where he gained eight O-Levels.

He then moved on to Loughton College of Further Education where he gained four more O-Levels and two A-Levels (Communications & Theatre Studies).

From 1997 to 2016, he played the title role in Jonathan Creek, a trick-deviser for a stage magician, with a side interest in solving crimes.

Jonathan Creek won a BAFTA for Best Drama and brought Davies to mainstream attention.

The series ran semi-regularly between 1997 and 2004; the series on New Year's Day 2009 with a special episode titled "The Grinning Man", which was broadcast on the BBC.

A version of his show "Urban Trauma", which ran in the West End at the Duchess Theatre and toured the UK and Australia, was shown on BBC One in 1998.

Davies co-wrote and starred in his own radio sitcom, The Alan Davies Show, in 1998.

Cassettes of the show were produced and released by the BBC, with episodes broadcast on the digital radio station BBC7.

He played Russell Boyd in the BBC comedy A Many Splintered Thing, also in 1998 and 2000.

In 2001, Davies played Robert Gossage in Bob and Rose, a comedy drama about a gay man falling for a woman.

He won the Best Actor award at the Monte Carlo TV Festival for his performance.

He also played Jack the dog in the radio sitcom About a Dog.

He argued the case for John Lennon as the greatest Briton of all time on the BBC's Great Britons series in 2002.

In 2003, Davies appeared as a Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car on Top Gear with a time of 1:54 in wet conditions.

He returned in Series 8 with 1:50.3 in dry conditions.

Davies took on a less comedic role in 2004, starring as Henry Farmer, a maverick barrister, in ITV Sunday night drama The Brief, for two series.

In 2007, Davies starred in the second episode of ITV's You Don't Know You're Born and on The Unbelievable Truth.

Subsequent drama roles include Superintendent Mallard in Agatha Christie's Marple (ITV, 2008), as well as appearances in The Good Housekeeping Guide (BBC One, 2006), Roman Road (ITV 2004) and Hotel Babylon (BBC One, 2008).

He has appeared in an episode of the BBC science programme Horizon in which Professor Marcus du Sautoy attempted to introduce him to elements of mathematical thought which was broadcast on BBC Two on 31 March 2009.

He went on to appear in Horizon for a second time in November 2009, this time leading the episode — du Sautoy also returned as a guest speaker.

Further specials were aired in 2010 ("The Judas Tree") and 2013 ("The Clue of the Savant's Thumb").

In 2012, Davies planned a new tour called "Life is Pain".

The title for this show came from a story he heard about a six-year-old girl being told off by her mother and responding "Life is pain".

Davies said "This really made me laugh".

The tour was broadcast on Dave.

In 2016, he pursued a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, which he completed in September 2018.