Brian Cant
Encyclopedia
Brian Cant is an English
actor
, television presenter and writer
.
, he currently lives in Buckinghamshire
and is married to writer and director Cherry Britton, sister of TV presenter Fern Britton
and actor Jasper Britton
. They have three children, daughter Rose, and twins Christabel and Peter. He has two sons from his first marriage, Nicholas and Richard
, who is also an actor. He is the son-in-law of the British actor Tony Britton
and brother-in-law of the television chef Phil Vickery
.
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease
, referring to this in an interview with BBC Breakfast
which was shown on 24 November 2010.
children's programmes from the 1960s to the 1980s, including Play School, Play Away
, Trumpton
, Chigley
, Camberwick Green
and Bric-A-Brac. He was performing in drama-based BBC TV Schools Programmes about the Romans when he heard that auditions were being held for a new children's pre-school programme which was to be shown on the new BBC 2 channel. At his audition he was asked by programme editor Joy Whitby to get in a cardboard box and pretend to 'row out to sea'. He pretended to fish from his 'boat' and caught a wellington boot
full of custard. He was cast as a presenter and first appeared on the third week in May 1964, and stayed with the programme for twenty-one years, becoming to many viewers 'Mr Play School'.
During the 1990s Cant starred as 'Brian' the farmer in the children's puppetry television programme Dappledown Farm
, as well as providing the voice for one of the characters, Harry the Heron.
Cant is the storyteller of the UK version of Jay Jay the Jet Plane
, and the narrator for the popular Canadian children's show Bruno.
Aside from his work on children's television, Cant is also an established actor. In the 1960s he appeared in two Doctor Who
stories, in 1965 as "Kert Gantry" in The Daleks' Master Plan
and in 1968 as "Tensa" in The Dominators
. He was one of the guest presenters used in the 1982 series of the game show It's a Knockout
after Eddie Waring
retired.
In 1998 Cant parodied his previous contributions as a narrator in 'The Organ Gang', a weekly segment in Lee and Herring
's This Morning With Richard Not Judy
, a BBC TV Sunday afternoon comedy show.
In 2001 Cant appeared in a music video on Orbital
's DVD The Altogether. The clip is similar to Play School, featuring Cant in his familiar presenter role.
In April 2007 Cant was named as the best-loved voice from UK children's television, in poll of over 1,200 people for Underground Ernie
magazine. Cant beat Bagpuss
and Ivor the Engine
narrator Oliver Postgate
into second place, with David Jason
(Dangermouse
) polling third.
He read the second half of Ann Jungman
's Vlad the Drac books for audiobook, replacing Anthony Daniels
.
In May 2008 Cant recorded a brand new audio series of children's stories for free download from 'The Great Little Traders Club'.
On 28 November 2010 Cant received the special award at the Children's BAFTAs
for his work in children's television.
On 5 April 2011, Cant appeared in the BBC1 daytime drama, Doctors. It was his third appearance in the show, all as different characters.
, Present Laughter, An Ideal Husband
, Habeas Corpus
, Gaslight
, Side by Side by Sondheim
, The Canterbury Tales
(in which he memorably ad-libbed a reference to his work on Play School), Oh Coward, There's No Place Like a Home
and many more, as well as thirty two pantomime
s, including an adaptation of "Aladdin" at the Wolverhampton Grand written by Ian Billings.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, television presenter and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Personal life
Born in IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, he currently lives in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and is married to writer and director Cherry Britton, sister of TV presenter Fern Britton
Fern Britton
Fern Britton is an English television presenter, known as the former main co-presenter on the ITV magazine programme This Morning alongside Phillip Schofield. She left the show on 17 July 2009, her 52nd birthday.- Early life :...
and actor Jasper Britton
Jasper Britton
Jasper Britton, in is an actor.Britton is the son of veteran actor Tony Britton, and Danish sculptor and member of the World War II Danish Resistance Eva Castle Britton...
. They have three children, daughter Rose, and twins Christabel and Peter. He has two sons from his first marriage, Nicholas and Richard
Richard Cant
Richard Cant is a British actor, best known for his roles in the hit ITV1 television series Midsomer Murders.He is the son of actress Mary Gibson and actor and children's television presenter Brian Cant...
, who is also an actor. He is the son-in-law of the British actor Tony Britton
Tony Britton
Anthony Edward Lowry "Tony" Britton is an English actor. He is the father of presenter Fern Britton, scriptwriter Cherry Britton and actor Jasper Britton.-Life and career:...
and brother-in-law of the television chef Phil Vickery
Phil Vickery (chef)
Philip Vickery is an English celebrity chef.-Biography:Vickery followed Gary Rhodes as Head Chef of the Castle Hotel, Taunton, which at the time held a Michelin Star. It lost its Michelin status under Vickery, but retained its 4 AA rosettes, while he gained the AA Chef of the Year...
.
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, referring to this in an interview with BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
which was shown on 24 November 2010.
Television
Cant is particularly well known for his work on many BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
children's programmes from the 1960s to the 1980s, including Play School, Play Away
Play Away
Play Away was a sister programme to Play School in the UK, aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984. While Play School had a more gentle, intimate feel, featuring just two presenters in a studio with the usual collection of toys and pets, Play Away was much more lively,...
, Trumpton
Trumpton
Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
, Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
, Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
and Bric-A-Brac. He was performing in drama-based BBC TV Schools Programmes about the Romans when he heard that auditions were being held for a new children's pre-school programme which was to be shown on the new BBC 2 channel. At his audition he was asked by programme editor Joy Whitby to get in a cardboard box and pretend to 'row out to sea'. He pretended to fish from his 'boat' and caught a wellington boot
Wellington boot
The Wellington boot, also known as rubber-boots, wellies, wellingtons, topboots, billy-boots, gumboots, gummies, barnboots, wellieboots, muckboots, sheepboots, shitkickers, or rainboots are a type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots...
full of custard. He was cast as a presenter and first appeared on the third week in May 1964, and stayed with the programme for twenty-one years, becoming to many viewers 'Mr Play School'.
During the 1990s Cant starred as 'Brian' the farmer in the children's puppetry television programme Dappledown Farm
Dappledown Farm
Dappledown Farm was a British children's television programme, starring Brian Cant and a series of puppets.-Puppet characters:Puppet characters in the show included: Dapple the Horse, Mabel the Cow, Stubble and Straw, the two mice, Columbus the Cockerel, Lucky Ducky, Colin the Coot, Millie the Moor...
, as well as providing the voice for one of the characters, Harry the Heron.
Cant is the storyteller of the UK version of Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American CGI children's television series based at the fictional Tarrytown Airport. It has about 60 episodes and it is aimed at ages 2-6. The characters are talking airplanes, a helicopter, some humans, and two talking ground vehicles...
, and the narrator for the popular Canadian children's show Bruno.
Aside from his work on children's television, Cant is also an established actor. In the 1960s he appeared in two Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
stories, in 1965 as "Kert Gantry" in The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan
The Daleks' Master Plan is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The twelve episodes were aired from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966...
and in 1968 as "Tensa" in The Dominators
The Dominators
The Dominators is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968.-Plot:...
. He was one of the guest presenters used in the 1982 series of the game show It's a Knockout
It's a Knockout
It's a Knockout was adapted from the French show Intervilles. It ran between from 7 August 1966 to 25 December 1988 on BBC1, 28 May 1990 on ITV, 3 August 1991 to 24 December 1994 on S4C and from 3 September 1999 to 6 January 2001 on Channel 5, produced by Richard Hearsey and Ronin Entertainment...
after Eddie Waring
Eddie Waring
Edward Marsden "Eddie" Waring was a British rugby league football coach, commentator and television presenter....
retired.
In 1998 Cant parodied his previous contributions as a narrator in 'The Organ Gang', a weekly segment in Lee and Herring
Lee and Herring
Lee and Herring were a British standup comedy double act consisting of the comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. They were probably most famous for their work on television, most notably Fist of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy but had been working together on stage and on radio...
's This Morning With Richard Not Judy
This Morning With Richard Not Judy
This Morning With Richard Not Judy or TMWRNJ was a BBC comedy television programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring. Two series were broadcast in 1998 and 1999 on BBC2...
, a BBC TV Sunday afternoon comedy show.
In 2001 Cant appeared in a music video on Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
's DVD The Altogether. The clip is similar to Play School, featuring Cant in his familiar presenter role.
In April 2007 Cant was named as the best-loved voice from UK children's television, in poll of over 1,200 people for Underground Ernie
Underground Ernie
Underground Ernie is a Computer-animated children's television series produced by Joella Productions in the UK and shown by the BBC on both CBeebies and BBC Two...
magazine. Cant beat Bagpuss
Bagpuss
Bagpuss is a 1974 UK children's television series, made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate through their company Smallfilms. The title character is "an old, saggy cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams"...
and Ivor the Engine
Ivor the Engine
Ivor the Engine is a British children's animation by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It is a children's television series relating the adventures of a small green locomotive who lived in the "top left-hand corner of Wales" and worked for The Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway...
narrator Oliver Postgate
Oliver Postgate
Oliver Postgate was an English animator, puppeteer and writer.He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes...
into second place, with David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
(Dangermouse
DangerMouse
Danger Mouse is a British animated television series which was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television. It features the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the...
) polling third.
He read the second half of Ann Jungman
Ann Jungman
Ann Jungman is an author of children's literature. She was born in Highgate, North London and studied Law at Exeter University before training as a primary school teacher.-Professional life:...
's Vlad the Drac books for audiobook, replacing Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:...
.
In May 2008 Cant recorded a brand new audio series of children's stories for free download from 'The Great Little Traders Club'.
On 28 November 2010 Cant received the special award at the Children's BAFTAs
British Academy Children's Awards
The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1969.-Video Game :*2011: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean-Writer :...
for his work in children's television.
On 5 April 2011, Cant appeared in the BBC1 daytime drama, Doctors. It was his third appearance in the show, all as different characters.
Theatre
Cant's theatre credits include Still Playing Away, The Railway ChildrenThe Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
, Present Laughter, An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
, Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus (play)
Habeas Corpus is a comedy stage play by the English author Alan Bennett. It was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in London on 10 May 1973, with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles....
, Gaslight
Gas Light (play)
Gas Light is a 1938 play by the British dramatist Patrick Hamilton. The play gave rise to the term gaslighting with the meaning "a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented to the victim with the intent of making him/her doubt his/her own memory and...
, Side by Side by Sondheim
Side By Side By Sondheim
Side by Side by Sondheim is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from Company.-History:...
, The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
(in which he memorably ad-libbed a reference to his work on Play School), Oh Coward, There's No Place Like a Home
There's No Place Like a Home
There's No Place Like A Home is a comedy play by Paul Elliott which tells the story of the residents of Stollberg Hall Retirement Home for Theatrical Performers...
and many more, as well as thirty two pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
s, including an adaptation of "Aladdin" at the Wolverhampton Grand written by Ian Billings.