Alexander Armstrong

Armstrong's maternal grandparents were economist Lucius Thompson-McCausland and Helen Laura McCausland (6 April 1903 – February 2000), granddaughter of Captain Conolly Thomas McCausland (13 May 1828 – 25 June 1902) and Hon. Laura St. John (12 June 1842 – 21 October 1919), daughter of The 15th Baron St John of Bletso.

The McCausland family held land at Drenagh in County Londonderry.

Armstrong was educated at Mowden Hall School in Stocksfield, Northumberland, and St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, where he was a chorister at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral from the ages of 11 to 13.

He attended Durham School and Trinity College, Cambridge, on music scholarships.

He played the piano – which has been seen in several The Armstrong and Miller Show sketches – and the cello, the latter of which he dropped in favour of the "much more masculine" oboe.

At Cambridge, Armstrong studied English, receiving a third-class degree, and sang bass baritone as a choral scholar with the college choir.

Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer.

He is the host of the BBC One game show Pointless, and is a weekday morning show presenter on Classic FM.

Armstrong is one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller.

His television credits include Armstrong and Miller, Beast, Life Begins, Hunderby and Danger Mouse.

He is also known as the voice of Mr Smith, Sarah Jane Smith's alien supercomputer in The Sarah Jane Adventures and the series 4 two-part finale of Doctor Who.

Armstrong is a bass-baritone singer and has released three studio albums.

Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, on 2 March 1970, the youngest of three children, to physician Henry Angus Armstrong and Emma Virginia Peronnet (née Thompson-McCausland).

The Armstrongs are a North East landowning family distantly related to The 1st Baron Armstrong.

Armstrong joined the Footlights in his final year as part of the writing team for the 1992 revue and was Spooks creator David Wolstencroft's comedy partner.

After graduating in 1992, Armstrong moved to London with friends to pursue a career in acting and comedy.

While waiting for acting roles, he worked in several north London bars and restaurants.

He was eventually introduced to Ben Miller, who had also moved to London, through Jez Butterworth.

In 1996, Armstrong and Miller performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and were nominated for the Perrier Award.

Armstrong and Miller co-starred in four series of Armstrong and Miller from 1997 to 2001, while also performing sketches in The Sunday Format.

The duo decided to take a break and split for several years to forge their own solo careers.

Armstrong appeared in BBC Radio 4's The Very World of Milton Jones, broadcast between 1998 and 2001.

He narrated the animated cartoon series The Big Knights in 1999; it first appeared on BBC1 that Christmas.

That same year he also starred as Prince Charming in ITV's Christmas pantomime, alongside Ben Miller, Samantha Janus, Paul Merton, Harry Hill, Frank Skinner and Ronnie Corbett.

Between early 2000 and early 2001, Armstrong starred as a misanthropic, animal-hating vet in the BBC One sitcom Beast, and he has also been the star of a series of TV commercials for Pimm's.

On BBC Radio 4, Armstrong played John Weak in the office sitcom Weak at the Top.

He also played Martin Baine-Jones for the Times Online's Timeghost podcast.

This was the second time The Armstrong and Miller Show had toured, the first tour being in autumn 2001.

On 1 September 2006, Armstrong was chairman of the short-lived Channel 4 panel show Best of the Worst which featured team captains David Mitchell and Johnny Vaughan.

Armstrong presented the short-lived ITV1 quiz series Don't Call Me Stupid, in which mismatched celebrities taught each other a subject they are passionate about before facing a studio quiz on their new topic.

He has been a frequent guest host on the BBC's satirical Have I Got News for You, having appeared 32 times; he has, to date, made the most appearances of any guest, whether as host or panelist.

Armstrong renewed his partnership with Miller for the award-winning The Armstrong and Miller Show in 2007.

In 2008, he was the presenter and narrator for When Were We Funniest? and was the only person to feature in all 12 episodes.

Armstrong in The Independent was reported to not want to be "pigeonholed" as a presenter, preferring to focus on acting and comedy.

Armstrong has been the presenter of the BBC One game show Pointless with former Cambridge University friend Richard Osman since it began in 2009.

He also presented a documentary, Alexander Armstrong's Very British Holiday, for the BBC on 8 November 2009 about the history of the "great British summer holiday" and his attempts to explore its modern version.

The Armstrong and Miller Book was released in October 2010.

Between September and November 2010, Armstrong took The Armstrong and Miller Show on tour in the UK, completing 62 dates.

On 30 May 2011, Armstrong hosted the pilot for a new panel show, Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask for Dave with Dave Lamb, Katy Brand, Griff Rhys Jones and Robert Webb.

After a positive response to the pilot, Dave commissioned the first series, which first aired on 6 February 2012.