Actors - Graeme Garden

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Graeme Garden

	Actors - Graeme Garden

David Graeme Garden (born February 18, 1943 in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British comedy writer and performer. He also qualified as a medical doctor and is an accomplished actor, television director and author.

__TOC__

Education and comedy

He went to Repton public school and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, at the University of Cambridge where he joined the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the 1963 Footlights revue, Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Graeme Garden qualified in medicine at King's College Hospital in London, and some of the television series he has written for have a medical theme including Doctor in the House (1969), which he co-wrote with Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie co-wrote several of the episodes of the television comedy series Doctor in the House — co-writing most of the first season episodes of the series - and co-writing all of the second season episodes of the series. Later, he also wrote for Surgical Spirit (1994). He has also presented three series of the BBC's health magazine Bodymatters.

Graeme Garden was co-writer and perfomer in the classic BBC radio comedy show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (1965-1970 and 1973). Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again", and, because of this commitment, was unable to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in Plymouth. However, he kept on sending scripts for the radio show by mail - and rejoined the cast of ISIRTA upon his return to his medical studies in London.

On television Graeme Garden was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn. Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor (and also Bill Oddie who joined them during the second series). Then, Graeme Garden, with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, became a co-writer and performer in the comedy series The Goodies (1970-1982). Graeme Garden was the voice of the title character of "Bananaman", as well as "General Blight" and "Maurice of the Heavy Mob" in the children's animated television comedy series called Bananaman (1983), which also featured his fellow Goodies Tim and Bill, and which parodied comic book super-heroes.

In 1982 Garden and Oddie wrote, but did not perform in, a 6-part science fiction sitcom called Astronauts for Central and ITV. The show was set in an international space station in the near future.

Graeme Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (ISIHAC) in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes You'll Have Had Your Tea, a direct spin-off of ISIHAC, and has contributed to several books from the series including guides to the game Mornington Crescent. Garden is chair of the spoof radio game show Beat The Kids. Graeme Garden has also appeared on the UK version of the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which has a similar format. He was also a co-writer of the BBC Radio 4 comedy "Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off".

He has a successful stage career, and has acted in several National Theatre productions, as well as London's West End. He has also acted in several BBC Radio 4 comedy drama series, and television drama including Peak Practice and Holby City. He appeared in Bang-Bang-a-Boom!, a spin off audio drama based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who by Big Finish Productions. Graeme Garden appeared in the political sitcom, Yes, Minister in the role of Commander Forrest of the Special Branch in the episode The Death List; he also appeared as a Television Presenter in the Doctor in the House episode, Doctor on the Box.

Garden co-chairs Beat The Nation, a Channel 4 game show, with Tim Brooke-Taylor, with whom he has also worked in many other comedy shows.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Graeme Garden ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Graeme Garden; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay