Nigel Planer
Nigel Planer | |
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Born | Nigel George Planer 22 February 1953 Westminster, London, England |
Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, musician, novelist, playwright |
Years active | 1977–present |
Spouses |
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Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. He played Neil in the
Early life
Nigel Planer was the son of George Planer, who was born around 1920 and grew up in
Career
Planer was a founding member of the
Television
Planer is best known for his role as Neil, the
In 2003, Planer played
Planer guest-starred in "The Pale Horse",[7] a 2010 episode of Agatha Christie's Marple. In 2011's The Hunt for Tony Blair, he played Peter Mandelson.
Leading roles on television include
Planer's guest appearances include programmes such as
Theatre
His first break in the theatre was understudying David Essex as Che Guevara in the original West End run of Evita.
In 1990, he replaced
Planer was in the original cast for the 1997 London revival of Chicago as Amos Hart. He was a member of the original West End cast of his co-star Ben Elton's Queen musical, We Will Rock You as Pop.
In 2006, he played the part of the narrator in
He took over the role of Wilbur, opposite Michael Ball, in the West End production of Hairspray on 2 February 2009.[8]
He also featured in Doctor Who: Live touring the UK, as Vorgenson The Inter-Galactic Showman, before appearing in Pantomime as
Planer went on to star as Grandpa Joe in the original production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened in London's West End in 2013[9] for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for best supporting actor in a musical.
From September 2018 to November 2018, Planer toured with
In 2020 he took on the role of Grandpa in the arena tour of David Walliams' Grandpa's Great Escape.
Film
Planer has appeared in films, including Flood, Virgin Territory, Bright Young Things, Hogfather, The Colour of Magic, The Wind in the Willows, The Land Girls, Clockwork Mice, Carry On Columbus, Brazil, The Supergrass, I Give It a Year, Burn, Burn, Burn, The List and Yellowbeard.
Music
Planer played Den Dennis, one of the four members of the 1980s spoof rock band Bad News, which made two albums produced by Brian May. The band performed at the Hammersmith Apollo as well as the Donington and Reading Rock Festivals.
As Neil from The Young Ones, Planer gained a number two hit single in 1984 with "Hole in My Shoe" (originally a hit for 1960s band Traffic) winning him a Brit Award. After that, an album was produced by Dave Stewart, entitled Neil's Heavy Concept Album. Planer also took Neil's stage act on the road in that year as Neil in the "Bad Karma in The UK" tour. This culminated in a month-long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a night at The Hammersmith Apollo, London. The Young Ones also appeared on Cliff Richard's 1986 charity rerecording of "Living Doll", which spent three weeks at number one in the UK. He has a silver and a gold disc and a Brit award from his musical career. In 2015 he started a new music project called Rainsmoke with Chris Wade and Roger Planer.
In 2021, Planer released several of his own musical projects. "Five Songs Left" and "Four Songs More", collaborations with Chris Wade, are Nick Drake-inspired folk songs that he wrote in 1971, when he was eighteen. He also released two singles written more recently, "City in the Summer", a jazz song about the hot summer of COVID-19, and "Love Strikes". He has written lyrics for "Commit No Nuisance", a music collaboration with Neil Avery ("Talk it Out", one of the songs from the album, aims to encourage male mental health awareness,) and for Swedish rocker Matts Lindblom.
Voice acting
Planer was the reader of the first unabridged
- The Colour of Magic (1)
- The Light Fantastic (2)
- Mort (4)
- Sourcery (5)
- Wyrd Sisters (6)
- Pyramids(7)
- Guards! Guards! (8)
- Moving Pictures (10)
- Reaper Man (11)
- Witches Abroad (12)
- Small Gods(13)
- Lords and Ladies (14)
- Men at Arms (15)
- Soul Music (16)
- Interesting Times (17)
- Maskerade (18)
- Feet of Clay (19)
- Hogfather (20)
- Jingo (21)
- The Last Continent (22)
- Carpe Jugulum (23)
Other voice roles include the narrator of book series in 1994. He narrated as a thirty-something Adrian Mole in the radio adaptation of Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years.
In 2018, he voiced the character of Henry Davenant Hythe in the Big Finish Productions original production, Jeremiah Bourne in Time, which he also wrote.
In the 1990's, he also narrated an audiobook version of "Roger & The Rottentrolls", by Tim Firth and Gordon Firth, before the television series premiered.
Writing
Planer has written books, stage plays, TV shows, radio plays and newspaper articles as well as 105 episodes of The New Magic Roundabout.
Books
- Neil’s Book of the Dead 1984 (with Terence Blacker)
- I an actor: Nicholas Craig 1988 (with Christopher Douglas)
- A Good Enough Dad 1992
- Let’s Get Divorced 1994 (with Terence Blacker)
- Therapy and How to Avoid it 1996 (with Robert Llewellyn)
- Unlike The Buddha 1997
- The Right Man 2000
- Faking It 2003
- Jeremiah Bourne in Time 2023
Plays
- On the Ceiling 2008
- Death of Long Pig 2009
- The Magnificent Andrea 2011
- Game of Love and Chai 2018
- Vulcan 7 2018 (with Adrian Edmondson)
- She Devil! (Workshop production) 2019
- All Above Board 2021
Credits
His television comedy and satire work includes:
- Boom Boom...Out Go The Lights (1981, TV Special) as Self
- Shine on Harvey Moon (1982–1995, TV Series) as Lou Lewis
- The Young Ones(1982–1984, TV Series) as Neil / E.T. Fairfax / Famine / Dino / Fly #2
- Yellowbeard (1983) as Mansell
- The Comic Strip Presents… (1983–2012, TV Series)
- Roll Over Beethoven (1985, TV Series) as Nigel Cochrane
- Brazil (1985) as Charlie – Dept. of Works
- King and Castle (1986–1988, TV Series) as David Castle
- Filthy Rich & Catflap (1987, TV Series) as Ralph Filthy
- Eat the Rich (1987) as DHSS Manager
- Blackadder the Third (1987) as Lord Smedley, fop
- Blackeyes (1989, TV Mini-Series, by Dennis Potter) as Jeff
- French & Saunders(1990, TV Series) as Andy
- Frankenstein's Baby (1990, TV Series) as Paul Hocking
- Nicholas Craig – The Naked Actor (1990–1992, TV Series) as Nicholas Craig
- Nicholas Craig's Interview Masterclass (1990, TV Series) as Nicholas Craig
- Oh, No! Not THEM! (1990, TV Movie) as Neil
- Nicholas Craig's Masterpiece Theatre (1992) as Nicholas Craig
- The Nicholas Craig Masterclass (1992) as Nicholas Craig
- Carry On Columbus (1992) as The Wazir
- The Magic Roundabout (1992, English adaptation and narrator on previously unseen episodes)
- Bonjour la Classe (1993, TV Series) as Laurence Didcott
- Inspector Hopkins
- Let's Get Divorced (1994)
- Wake Up! With Libby And Jonathan (1994, TV Special short) as Jonathan Hughes
- Clockwork Mice (1995) as Parkey
- Diana & Me (1997) as Taxi Driver
- The Grimleys (1997–2001, TV Series) as Baz Grimley
- Jonathan Creek (1997–2013, TV Series) as Franklin Tartikoff / Shelford
- The Land Girls (1998) as Gerald
- Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (2000–2007, TV Series) as Narrator (voice)
- Bright Young Things (2003) as Taxi Driver
- Wicked (2006–2008, West End Musical)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (2006) – Dr. Marmalade (voice)
- Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (2006, TV Movie) as Mr. Sideney
- Flood (2007) as Keith Hopkins
- Virgin Territory (2007) as Uncle Bruno
- Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (2008, TV Mini-Series) as Arch Astronomer
- Hairspray (2009)
- M.I.High(2009, TV Series) as Prime Minister
- Episodes (2012–2015, TV Series) as Sanford Shamiro
- I Give It a Year (2013) as Brian
- The List (2013) as Ted Rove
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (musical) (2013)
- Boomers (2014–2016, TV Series) as Mick
- Cockroaches (2015, TV Series) as Stevie
- Burn Burn Burn (2015) as Henry
- Grantchester (2016, TV Series) as Giles Montgomery
- Seven Days in Never (2017) (voice)
- Ratburger (2017, TV Movie) as Headmaster
- Loaded (2017, TV Series) as Mr. Young
- Death in Paradise (2018, TV Series) as Eugene Sutton
- Inside No. 9 (2018, TV Series) as Frank
- Marcella (2018, TV Series) as Reg Reynolds
- Vulcan 7 (2018)
- There She Goes (2018–2020, TV Series) as Gandalf
- Father Brown (2019, TV Series) as Ronnie Grunion
- Grandpa’s Great Escape Arena Tour (2019)
- Lockwood & Co. (2023, TV Series) as Sir John Fairfax
Discography
- Evita (Original London Cast Recording) 1978
- "Hole in My Shoe" (1984)
- Neil's Heavy Concept Album (1984)
- Rollover Beethoven. (Songs from the original TV series) 1985
- "Living Doll" (1986)
- Rough with the Smooth( 1986)
- Bad News (1987)
- Bad News Bootleg (1988)
- Bad News The Cash in Compilation (1992)
- The Last Night (1993)
- Chicago cast recording (1995)
- The Dreaded Lurgie (1998)
- Three Men in a Boat (1999)
- Adrian Mole the Cappuccino Years (2000)
- There was also a soundtrack to The Grimleys (2000), Planer's character appearing on the album.
- We Will Rock You (The Original London Cast Recording) (2002)
- Cabaret (2005)
- The Robe of Skulls (2008)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (The Original London Cast Recording) (2013)
- Five Songs Left (2020)
- City in the Summer (2020) – single
- Four Songs More (2021)
- Love Strikes (2021) – single
- Phoning Home From Away (2021) – single
- The Last Ten Yards (2021) – single
References
- ^ Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ Johnson, David (1 January 1981). "Something Funny is Happening in Stripland". Over21, page 36, republished at Shapersofthe80s. London. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ At Last the 1981 Show
- ^ "Edinburgh Napier University News: Young Ones star among honorary graduates". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ "French and Saunders: Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan". .frenchandsaunders.com. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Mark Lawson talks to ... Nicholas Craig". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Agatha Christie's Marple: The Pale Horse". ITV. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "Ball and Jones Extend Run in London Hairspray; Planer and Rushworth to Join Cast". Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ "Cast of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory". whatsonstage.com. Whats on Stage. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ "Vulcan 7 | 2018 UK Tour | Dates". Stagereview.co.uk. 10 June 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
External links
- Official Nigel Planer website
- Nigel Planer at IMDb
- The Times Article September 2006 article about Planer
- Nigel Planer discography at Discogs
- Nigel Planer discography at Discogs as Neil