137-507: 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
274-689: A backdoor pilot in the form of a television film titled Doctor Who . The series was relaunched in 2005 and was produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff . Since 2023, the show has been co-produced by Bad Wolf and BBC Studios Productions in Cardiff. Doctor Who has spawned numerous spin-offs as part of the Whoniverse , including comic books, films, novels and audio dramas, and the television series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K9 (2009–2010), Class (2016), Tales of
411-460: A time machine that travels by materialising into, and dematerialising out of, the time vortex. The TARDIS has a vast interior but appears smaller on the outside, and is equipped with a " chameleon circuit " intended to make the machine take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. Because of a malfunction, the Doctor's TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box . Across time and space,
548-565: A time travelling spaceship called the TARDIS , which externally appears as a British police box . While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes . The Doctor often travels with companions . Beginning with William Hartnell , fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; as of 2024 , Ncuti Gatwa leads the series as the Fifteenth Doctor . The transition from one actor to another
685-456: A "renewal", and the Second Doctor underwent a "change of appearance". The device has allowed for the recasting of the actor various times in the show's history, as well as the depiction of alternative Doctors either from the Doctor's relative past or future. The serials The Deadly Assassin (1976) and Mawdryn Undead (1983) established that a Time Lord can only regenerate 12 times, for
822-491: 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
959-402: A 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. Writer Anthony Coburn , story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series. On 31 July 1963, Whitaker commissioned Terry Nation to write a story under the title The Mutants . As originally written,
1096-401: 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
1233-496: A Nigerian television relay station in Jos . Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serial The Enemy of the World (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing. The remaining films were from another six-part serial, The Web of Fear (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 of The Web of Fear is still missing. The Doctor
1370-447: 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
1507-918: 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,
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#17328515290241644-619: 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
1781-534: A challenge to find missing Doctor Who episodes with the promise of a full-scale Dalek model as a reward. In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 of Galaxy 4 (1965) and part 2 of The Underwater Menace (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them. On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in
1918-450: A crisis of confidence because Donald [Wilson] was so adamant that we shouldn't make it. Had we had anything else ready we would have made that." Nation's script became the second Doctor Who serial – The Daleks (also known as The Mutants ). The serial introduced the eponymous aliens that would become the series' most popular monsters, dubbed "Dalekmania", and was responsible for the BBC's first merchandising boom. We had to rely on
2055-544: A disembodied brain falling to the floor in The Brain of Morbius and the Doctor apparently being drowned by a villain in The Deadly Assassin (both 1976). Mary Whitehouse's complaint about the latter incident prompted a change in BBC policy towards the series, with much tighter controls imposed on the production team, and the series' next producer, Graham Williams , was under a directive to take out "anything graphic in
2192-685: 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
2329-536: 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
2466-458: A hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor known as the War Doctor in the run-up to the show's 50th-anniversary special " The Day of the Doctor ". He is shown in mini-episode " The Night of the Doctor " retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between McGann's and Eccleston's Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of
2603-703: 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
2740-457: A level not seen since the height of "Dalekmania" a decade earlier. After seven years in the role, Baker was replaced by Peter Davison in 1981, and Colin Baker replaced Davison in 1984. In 1985, the channel's controller Michael Grade cancelled the upcoming twenty-third season, forcing the series into an eighteen-month hiatus. In 1986, the series was recommissioned on the condition that Baker left
2877-535: A more compassionate figure and was eventually revealed to be a Time Lord , whose race are from the planet Gallifrey , which the Doctor fled by stealing the TARDIS. Producers introduced the concept of regeneration to permit the recasting of the main character. This was prompted by the poor health of the original star, William Hartnell . The term "regeneration" was not conceived until the Doctor's third on-screen regeneration; Hartnell's Doctor merely described undergoing
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#17328515290243014-567: 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
3151-586: A poorer place without Doctor Who ". On 4 August 2013, a live programme titled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor was broadcast on BBC One, during which the actor who was going to play the Twelfth Doctor was revealed. The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast in the United States, Canada and Australia. Doctor Who originally ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, from 23 November 1963 until 6 December 1989. During
3288-724: 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
3425-469: 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
3562-621: 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
3699-643: 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 ,
3836-579: A single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling nature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. In 2017, Jodie Whittaker , as the Thirteenth Doctor , became the first woman to be cast in the lead role. The series is a significant part of popular culture in Britain and elsewhere; it has gained a cult following . It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching
3973-536: 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
4110-468: A small role in Country House by Blur Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman , C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson , depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor , part of a humanoid species called Time Lords . The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using
4247-443: 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
David Walliams - Misplaced Pages Continue
4384-504: A stop. No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form. Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from
4521-457: A total of 13 incarnations. This line became stuck in the public consciousness despite not often being repeated and was recognised by producers of the show as a plot obstacle for when the show finally had to regenerate the Doctor a thirteenth time. The episode " The Time of the Doctor " (2013) depicted the Doctor acquiring a new cycle of regenerations, starting from the Twelfth Doctor , due to
4658-455: 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
4795-674: 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
4932-542: 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
5069-498: 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
5206-538: Is like comparing Monopoly with the property market in London: both are fantasies, but one is meant to be taken seriously." During Jon Pertwee 's second season as the Doctor, in the serial Terror of the Autons (1971), images of murderous plastic dolls, daffodils killing unsuspecting victims, and blank-featured policemen marked the apex of the series' ability to frighten children. Other notable moments in that decade include
5343-482: Is the first woman to be cast as the character. The show introduced the Time Lords' ability to change sex on regeneration in earlier episodes, first in dialogue, then with Michelle Gomez 's version of The Master and T'Nia Miller 's version of The General. Upon Whittaker's final appearance as the character in " The Power of the Doctor " on 23 October 2022, she regenerated into a form portrayed by David Tennant , who
5480-422: Is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation , a plot device in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated, into a different body with mannerisms and behaviour, but the same memories, explaining each actor's distinct portrayal, as they all represent different stages in the life of the Doctor and, together, they form
5617-630: The Daily Telegraph in 2009, the revival of Doctor Who had consistently received high ratings, both in number of viewers and as measured by the Appreciation Index . In 2007, Caitlin Moran , television reviewer for The Times , wrote that Doctor Who is "quintessential to being British". According to Steven Moffat , the American film director Steven Spielberg has commented that "the world would be
David Walliams - Misplaced Pages Continue
5754-475: 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
5891-560: 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),
6028-548: The Daleks and Thals were the victims of an alien neutron bomb attack but Nation later dropped the aliens and made the Daleks the aggressors. When the script was presented to Wilson, it was immediately rejected as the programme was not permitted to contain any " bug-eyed monsters ". According to Lambert, "We didn't have a lot of choice—we only had the Dalek serial to go ... We had a bit of
6165-481: The Eleventh Doctor being the product of the Doctor's twelfth regeneration from his original set. Although the idea of casting a woman as the Doctor had been suggested by the show's writers several times, including by Newman in 1986 and Davies in 2008, until 2017, all official depictions were played by men. Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special and
6302-538: The First Doctor transforming into the Second . The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8 mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine show Blue Peter . With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now underway to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material. "Official" reconstructions have also been released by
6439-534: The Fox Network in 1996, as an international co-production between Fox, Universal Pictures , the BBC and BBC Worldwide . Starring Paul McGann as the Doctor, the film was successful in the UK (with 9.1 million viewers), but was less so in the United States and did not lead to a series. Licensed media such as novels and audio plays provided new stories , but as a television programme, Doctor Who remained dormant. In September 2003, BBC Television announced
6576-558: 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
6713-520: 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
6850-504: 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
6987-541: 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
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#17328515290247124-464: 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
7261-527: 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
7398-414: The 45-minute run time; notably, the episodes " Journey's End " from 2008 and " The Eleventh Hour " from 2010 were longer than an hour. 883 Doctor Who instalments have been televised since 1963, ranging between 25-minute episodes (the most common format for the classic era), 45/50-minute episodes (for Resurrection of the Daleks in the 1984 series, a single season in 1985, and the most common format for
7535-634: 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
7672-404: The BBC explored an independent production company to relaunch the series. Philip Segal , a British expatriate who worked for Columbia Pictures ' television arm in the United States, had approached the BBC as early as July 1989, while the 26th season was still in production. Segal's negotiations eventually led to a Doctor Who television film as a pilot for an American series, broadcast on
7809-699: The BBC on VHS, on MP3 CD-ROM , and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studio Cosgrove Hall , reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 of The Invasion (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006. The missing episodes of The Reign of Terror were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration with Big Finish , and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com. Subsequent animations made in 2013 include The Tenth Planet , The Ice Warriors (1967) and The Moonbase (1967). In April 2006, Blue Peter launched
7946-641: 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
8083-557: 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
8220-448: 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
8357-486: The Doctor's many incarnations often find events that pique their curiosity, and try to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only ingenuity and minimal resources, such as the versatile sonic screwdriver . The Doctor rarely travels alone and is often joined by one or more companions on these adventures; these companions are usually humans, owing to the Doctor's fascination with planet Earth , which also leads to frequent collaborations with
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#17328515290248494-625: The Doctors. The show later introduced another such unknown past Doctor with Jo Martin 's recurring portrayal of the Fugitive Doctor , beginning with " Fugitive of the Judoon " (2020). An example from the classic series comes from The Trial of a Time Lord (1986), in which Michael Jayston 's character the Valeyard is described as an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between
8631-680: 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
8768-448: 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
8905-438: The TARDIS (2023–2024), and the upcoming The War Between the Land and the Sea . It has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture . Doctor Who follows the adventures of the title character, a rogue Time Lord with somewhat unknown origins who goes by the name " the Doctor ". The Doctor fled Gallifrey , the planet of the Time Lords, in a stolen TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space"),
9042-555: The TARDIS' blue police box design in merchandising associated with Doctor Who . In 1998, the Metropolitan Police Authority filed an objection to the trademark claim; but in 2002, the Patent Office ruled in favour of the BBC. The 21st-century revival of the programme became the centrepiece of BBC One's Saturday schedule and "defined the channel". Many renowned actors have made guest-starring appearances in various stories including Kylie Minogue , Sir Ian McKellen , and Andrew Garfield among others. According to an article in
9179-402: 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
9316-441: 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
9453-431: 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
9590-453: 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
9727-448: 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
9864-452: The best known outside Doctor Who itself, due to the popularity of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy works. The serial format changed for the 2005 revival , with what was now called a series usually consisting of thirteen 45-minute, self-contained episodes (60 minutes with adverts, on overseas commercial channels) and an extended 60-minute episode broadcast on Christmas Day. This system
10001-631: The brain's frontal lobe . The phrase retains this association with Doctor Who , to the point that in 1991 the Museum of the Moving Image in London named its exhibition celebrating the programme Behind the Sofa . The electronic theme music too was perceived as eerie, novel, and frightening at the time. A 2012 article placed this childhood juxtaposition of fear and thrill "at the center of many people's relationship with
10138-408: 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
10275-401: The depiction of violence". John Nathan-Turner produced the series during the 1980s and said in the documentary More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS that he looked forward to Whitehouse's comments because the ratings of the series would increase soon after she had made them. Nathan-Turner also got into trouble with BBC executives over the violence he allowed to be depicted for season 22 of
10412-420: The first two Doctors: William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton . In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing). In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC, while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying "spare" film copies had been brought to
10549-435: The in-house production of a new series, after several years of attempts by BBC Worldwide to find backing for a feature film version. The 2005 revival of Doctor Who is a direct plot continuation of the original 1963–1989 series and the 1996 television film. The executive producers of the new incarnation of the series were Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies and BBC Cymru Wales head of drama Julie Gardner . From 2005,
10686-510: The international military task force UNIT when Earth is threatened. The Doctor is centuries old and, as a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate when there is mortal damage to their body. The Doctor's various incarnations have gained numerous recurring enemies during their travels, including the Daleks , their creator Davros , the Cybermen , and the renegade Time Lord the Master . Doctor Who
10823-663: 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
10960-577: 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
11097-406: The narrative of one story flowing into the next and each episode having its own title, although produced as distinct stories with their own production codes. Following The Gunfighters (1966), however, each serial was given its own title, and the individual parts were assigned episode numbers. Of the programme's many writers , Robert Holmes was the most prolific, while Douglas Adams became
11234-514: The new Doctor. Smith decided to leave the role of the Doctor in 2013, the 50th anniversary year. He was replaced by Peter Capaldi . In January 2016, Moffat announced that he would step down after the 2017 finale , to be replaced by Chris Chibnall in 2018. Jodie Whittaker , the first female Doctor, appeared in three series, the last of which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Both Whittaker and Chibnall announced that they would depart
11371-457: The original run, each weekly episode formed part of a story (or "serial")—usually of four to six parts in earlier years and three to four in later years. Some notable exceptions were: The Daleks' Master Plan , which aired twelve episodes (plus an earlier one-episode teaser, " Mission to the Unknown ", featuring none of the regular cast ); almost an entire season of seven-episode serials (season 7);
11508-416: The programme for 26 seasons, broadcast on BBC One . Due to his increasingly poor health, William Hartnell , first actor to play the Doctor, was succeeded by Patrick Troughton in 1966. In 1970, Jon Pertwee replaced Troughton and the series began production in colour. In 1974, Tom Baker was cast as the Doctor. His eccentric personality became hugely popular, with viewing figures for the series returning to
11645-465: 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
11782-510: The revival era since 2005), two feature-length productions (1983's " The Five Doctors " and the 1996 television film ), twelve Christmas specials (most of approximately 60 minutes' duration, one of 72 minutes), and four additional specials ranging from 60 to 75 minutes in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Four mini-episodes, running about eight minutes each, were also produced for the 1993, 2005, and 2007 Children in Need charity appeals, while another mini-episode
11919-424: 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
12056-422: The role of the Doctor, which was recast to Sylvester McCoy in 1987. Falling viewing numbers, a decline in the public perception of the series and a less-prominent transmission slot saw production ended in 1989 by Peter Cregeen , the BBC's new head of series. Although it was effectively cancelled , the BBC repeatedly affirmed over several years that the series would return. While in-house production concluded,
12193-400: The room to watch the remainder of it. The Economist presented "hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" as a British cultural institution on a par with Bovril and tea-time . Paul Parsons, author of The Science of Doctor Who , explains the appeal of hiding behind the sofa as the activation of the fear response in the amygdala in conjunction with reassurances of safety from
12330-403: The series "never had a more implacable foe than Mary Whitehouse". A BBC audience research survey conducted in 1972 found that, by their own definition of violence ("any act[s] which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt or death to persons, animals or property, whether intentional or accidental"), Doctor Who was the most violent of the drama programmes the corporation produced at
12467-509: The series after a series of specials in 2022. Davies returned as showrunner from the 60th anniversary specials , twelve years after he had left the series previously. Bad Wolf co-produces the series in partnership with BBC Studios Productions . Bad Wolf's involvement sees Gardner return to the series alongside Davies and Jane Tranter , who recommissioned the series in 2005. The programme has been sold to many other countries worldwide ( see § Viewership ). It has been claimed that
12604-434: The series in 1985, which was publicly criticised by controller Michael Grade and given as one of his reasons for suspending the series for 18 months. The phrase "hiding behind the sofa " (or "watching from behind the sofa") entered British pop culture , signifying the stereotypical but apocryphal early-series behaviour of children who wanted to avoid seeing frightening parts of a television programme while remaining in
12741-456: The series switched from a multi-camera to a single-camera setup. Starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, Doctor Who returned with the episode "Rose" on BBC One on 26 March 2005, after a 16-year hiatus of in-house production. Eccleston left after one series and was replaced by David Tennant . Davies left the production team in 2009. Steven Moffat , a writer under Davies, was announced as his successor, along with Matt Smith as
12878-418: The series", and a 2011 online vote at Digital Spy deemed the series the "scariest TV show of all time". The image of the TARDIS has become firmly linked to the series in the public's consciousness; BBC scriptwriter Anthony Coburn , who lived in the resort of Herne Bay, Kent , was one of the people who conceived the idea of a police box as a time machine. In 1996, the BBC applied for a trademark to use
13015-521: The series. Fans of the series are sometimes referred to as Whovians . The series has been listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the "most successful" science-fiction series of all time, based on its overall broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales. The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an unsuccessful attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with
13152-513: The story because there was little we could do with the effects. Star Wars in a way was the turning point. Once Star Wars had happened, Doctor Who effectively was out of date from that moment on really, judged by that level of technological expertise. — Philip Hinchcliffe , producer of Doctor Who from 1974 to 1977, on why the "classic series" eventually fell behind other science fiction in production values and reputation, leading to its cancellation The BBC drama department produced
13289-528: 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
13426-536: 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
13563-443: 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
13700-596: 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
13837-436: The television screen onto 8 mm cine film and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception of Marco Polo (1964), " Mission to the Unknown " (1965) and The Massacre (1966) also exist. In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographer John Cura , who
13974-488: The ten-episode serial The War Games ; and The Trial of a Time Lord , which ran for fourteen episodes (albeit divided into three production codes and four narrative segments) during season 23 . Occasionally, serials were loosely connected by a story line, such as season 8 focusing on the Doctor battling a rogue Time Lord called the Master , season 16 's quest for the Key to Time , season 18 's journey through E-Space and
14111-539: The terms of a deal between BBC Worldwide and SMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of future series of the programme until and including Series 15. Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries was either destroyed or wiped . This included many early episodes of Doctor Who , those stories featuring
14248-418: The theme of entropy, and season 20 's Black Guardian trilogy. The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule. It initially alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, and with those in the future or outer space, focusing on science. This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom
14385-441: 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
14522-506: The time. The same report found that 3% of the surveyed audience believed the series was "very unsuitable" for family viewing. Responding to the findings of the survey in The Times newspaper, journalist Philip Howard maintained that, "to compare the violence of Dr Who , sired by a horse-laugh out of a nightmare, with the more realistic violence of other television series, where actors who look like human beings bleed paint that looks like blood,
14659-610: 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
14796-410: The transmission of the first episode was delayed by ten minutes due to extended news coverage of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy the previous day; in fact, it went out after a delay of eighty seconds. The BBC believed that coverage of the assassination, as well as a series of power blackouts across the country, had caused many viewers to miss this introduction to a new series, and it
14933-623: 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
15070-399: 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
15207-523: 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
15344-746: 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
15481-493: Was a science teacher and another a history teacher. However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme, and the history-oriented episodes, which were not popular with the production team, were dropped after The Highlanders (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales, with one exception: Black Orchid (1982), set in 1920s England. The early stories were serialised in nature, with
15618-459: 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
15755-524: 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
15892-585: 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
16029-515: Was broadcast again on 30 November 1963, just before episode two. The programme soon became a national institution in the United Kingdom, with a large following among the general viewing audience. The show received controversy over the suitability of the series for children. Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse repeatedly complained to the BBC over what she saw as the programme's violent, frightening and gory content. According to Radio Times ,
16166-561: Was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor and the first actor to play two incarnations, having previously played the Tenth Doctor . In the same year, Ncuti Gatwa was revealed to be portraying the Fifteenth Doctor , making him the first black actor to headline the series. In addition to those actors who have headlined the series, others have portrayed versions of the Doctor in guest roles. Notably, in 2013, John Hurt guest-starred as
16303-403: Was filmed in 1080i for HDTV and broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD . To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, a special 3D episode, " The Day of the Doctor ", was broadcast in 2013. In March 2013, it was announced that Tennant and Piper would be returning and that the episode would have a limited cinematic release worldwide. In June 2017, it was announced that due to
16440-486: 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
16577-468: Was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, including Doctor Who . These have been used in fan reconstructions of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies. One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial, The Tenth Planet (1966), which ends with
16714-488: Was initially shrouded in mystery. In the programme's early days, the character was an eccentric alien traveller of great intelligence who battled injustice while exploring time and space in an unreliable time machine , the " TARDIS " (an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which notably appears much larger on the inside than on the outside. The initially irascible and slightly sinister Doctor quickly mellowed into
16851-496: Was originally intended to appeal to a family audience as an educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history. The programme first appeared on the BBC Television Service at 17:16:20 GMT on 23 November 1963; this was eighty seconds later than the scheduled programme time, because of announcements concerning the previous day's assassination of John F. Kennedy . It
16988-500: Was produced in 2008 for a Doctor Who –themed edition of The Proms . The 1993 two-part story, entitled Dimensions in Time , was made in collaboration with the cast of the BBC soap-opera EastEnders and was filmed partly on the EastEnders set. A two-part mini-episode was also produced for the 2011 edition of Comic Relief . Starting with the 2009 special " Planet of the Dead ", the series
17125-783: 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
17262-484: 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
17399-406: 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
17536-486: 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
17673-672: 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
17810-476: 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
17947-500: 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
18084-474: 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
18221-434: Was shortened to twelve episodes and one Christmas special following the revival's eighth series , and ten episodes from the eleventh series . Each series includes standalone and multiple episodic stories, often linked with a loose story arc resolved in the series finale. As in the early "classic" era, each episode has its own title, whether stand-alone or part of a larger story. Occasionally, regular-series episodes will exceed
18358-631: 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
18495-694: 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
18632-497: 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
18769-438: Was to be a regular weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year. The head of drama Sydney Newman was mainly responsible for developing the programme, with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials) Donald Wilson and staff writer C. E. Webber ; in
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