Paul Powell is a British comedy writer and producer, best known for his work on Miranda, Al Murray's Happy Hour and Smack The Pony.

Career

Powell attended St Edmund Hall,[1] Oxford where he studied English Literature and performed in the Oxford Revue alongside film director Richard Bracewell.

He started his career in 1991 by writing sketches for the Radio 4 series "Week Ending" before joining the writing team for Spitting Image, where he collaborated with Georgia Pritchett, Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley.

In 1995, he worked with Dan Gaster, writing and performing in two series of the Radio 4 sketch show "We Know Everything."[2]

With Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Ben Silburn, he wrote and performed in "Stuff The Week,"[3] a late night topical comedy show for ITV.

His television work includes Miranda, Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask, Al Murray’s Happy Hour, Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Would I Lie To You, Smith & Jones,[4] The One Griff,[5] TV To Go,[6] The Guest List, Top Gear, Text Santa,[7] Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor and co-writing two episodes of Life Of Riley.[8]

"Saying Goodbye" -- which he wrote for Smack The Pony -- was named "Best Comedy Moment" 2003 by BBC One[9] and the 39th greatest comedy sketch by Channel 4.

His radio work includes The Griff Rhys Jones Show, It's Your Round, The Now Show, Robin and Wendy’s Wet Weekends, Dead Ringers, The Lee Mack Show, Loose Ends and The Christmas Nativity[10] for Radio 1.

Writing work for live shows includes the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute in Hyde Park, the Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace and The Sound Of Change Live Concert at Twickenham Stadium 2013. He was on the creative team for the Miranda Hart My, What I Like To Call, Live Show.

He has made several appearances at the Greenbelt Festival[11] and contributed to Third Way magazine.[12]

Powell is a non-executive director of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society,[13] a co-opted committee member of The Wine Society[14] and a creative director of Black Dog Television,[15] which he founded with Dan Gaster and Will Ing.

He co-wrote the best-selling Top Gear: Alternative Highway Code.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Hall Writer's Directory". St Edmund Hall Oxford. St Edmund Hall Oxford.
  2. ^ "We Know Everything Episode Guide". Ep Guides. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. ^ BFI
  4. ^ "Unseen Smith & Jones sitcom gets an airing". Chortle. Chortle. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  5. ^ "The One". Radio Times. Radio Times. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ "TV To Go". BBC Comedy. BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Text Santa". Radio Times. Radio Times. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. ^ "BBC One - Life of Riley".
  9. ^ "BBC Press Office Best Comedy Moment". BBC Press Office. BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Unholy row over Radio 1's comic Nativity". 23 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25.
  11. ^ "Paul Powell Contributor Page". Greenbelt. Greenbelt. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  12. ^ "ThirdWay Paul Powell Contribution". Google Books. October 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. ^ "ALCS Board- Paul Powell". ALCS. ALCS. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  14. ^ "The Wine Society AGM 2015". The Wine Society. The Wine Society. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Black Dog TV". Black Dog TV. Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  16. ^ "Top Gear: The Alternative Highway Code". Random House. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
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