Dave Lamb
Encyclopedia
Dave Lamb is a British actor and voice-over artist
best known for his work on Come Dine with Me
as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC
game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
.
. His first notable appearances were in Indian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me being the only recurring white male in the cast. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s he also appeared in comedy programmes such as People Like Us
, Hippies, Armstrong and Miller, The Smoking Room
and Fun at the Funeral Parlour
as well as having a brief role in a couple of episodes of Eastenders
. He also made a brief appearance in DIY SOS
.
alongside Jan Ravens
and Jon Culshaw
, but he gained cult status through his sarcastic voice-overs on dinner party show Come Dine With Me
which began in 2005. In an interview he claimed that in the first series he did do quite a lot of ad-libbing
but that the show's writers now know how to write for his voice. He also stated that he would never take part in a celebrity edition as he wasn't famous enough to participate.
In 2008, Lamb provided a voice for Lionhead Studios
' Fable II and again in 2010 for Fable III
.
In 2011 for the Big Brother 2011
Come Dine With Me task, Lamb took over from usual narrator Marcus Bentley
for the feature, the first time that anyone other than Bentley had provided a voice-over for the show.
He also narrates Come Dine With Me (Ireland)
and Come Dine With Me South Africa and provides the voice-over on the CBeebies
animation series Big Barn Farm
. He narrated a special section of Blue Peter
on the 25th of October 2011. The section was a spoof of Come Dine With Me at a zoo where the guests were animals.
(broadcast October 2007) and then in early 2008 he played put-upon television writer Carl Morris in ITV's Moving Wallpaper
.
He also played a police officer in the Only Fools and Horses
prequel Rock & Chips, shown on BBC One on New Year's Day 2011.
Dave now co-presents a CBBC show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
and is a regular on Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
. In 2009, he appeared in Miranda
, in the episode in which Miranda pretends to go to Thailand.
and has also featured on radio recording three series of The Bigger Issues
as well as featuring on 15 Minute Musical
, The Alan Davies Show, ElvenQuest
, No Future in Eternity, The Big Town All Stars, The Very World of Milton Jones and The Way It Is. He has also recorded two series of a radio drama entitled London, Europe for Radio 4, which he also wrote.
and Eric Sykes
in 2003 in a production of Ray Cooney
's Caught In The Net at the Vaudeville Theatre
.
and is a regular at the Dripping Pan
, home of Lewes F.C.
. He is a shareholder of the club.
He attended The Broxbourne School in Hertfordshire, and studied philosophy and literature at the University of Warwick
.
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
best known for his work on Come Dine with Me
Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games is a television game show co-produced by Citrus Television & Lion Television for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the main Horrible Histories show. The first series began on 30 May 2011, the same day on which the first episode of Horrible Histories series three first aired...
.
Early work
Lamb's first noted credit was in the 1998 British sitcom How Do You Want Me?How Do You Want Me?
How Do You Want Me? is a British television sitcom, produced by Kensington Films & Television, written by Simon Nye, and directed by John Henderson....
. His first notable appearances were in Indian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me being the only recurring white male in the cast. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s he also appeared in comedy programmes such as People Like Us
People Like Us
People Like Us is a British comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer...
, Hippies, Armstrong and Miller, The Smoking Room
The Smoking Room
The Smoking Room is a British television sitcom written by Brian Dooley, who won a BAFTA for the series in 2005. The first series, consisting of eight episodes, was originally transmitted on BBC Three between 29 June and 17 August 2004. The Christmas Special was first transmitted on the same...
and Fun at the Funeral Parlour
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
Fun at the Funeral Parlour was a comedy series broadcast on BBC Choice for two series in 2001 and 2002. It was set in a Welsh funeral directors called Thomas, Thomas, Thomas and Thomas....
as well as having a brief role in a couple of episodes of Eastenders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. He also made a brief appearance in DIY SOS
DIY SOS
DIY SOS is a British DIY television series made for the BBC, presented by Nick Knowles. The first episode was broadcast on 7 October 1999 and the show is still aired today...
.
Voice-over work
Dave Lamb was one of the main voice-over artists on satirical cartoon 2DTV2DTV
2DTV is a British satirical animated television show that was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom, directed by Tim Searle.2DTV employs the same satirical style as Spitting Image, but using animation rather than puppets. The animation was produced on computer, frequently with animators working up...
alongside Jan Ravens
Jan Ravens
Janet "Jan" Ravens is an English actress and impressionist, famous for her voices on Spitting Image and Dead Ringers.-Early life:...
and Jon Culshaw
Jon Culshaw
Jonathan Peter Culshaw is an English impressionist and comedian. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk and St John Rigby College, in Orrell, Wigan....
, but he gained cult status through his sarcastic voice-overs on dinner party show Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
which began in 2005. In an interview he claimed that in the first series he did do quite a lot of ad-libbing
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
but that the show's writers now know how to write for his voice. He also stated that he would never take part in a celebrity edition as he wasn't famous enough to participate.
In 2008, Lamb provided a voice for Lionhead Studios
Lionhead Studios
Lionhead Studios is a British computer game development company led by industry veteran Peter Molyneux, and acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in April 2006. Lionhead started as a breakaway from the developer Bullfrog, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a...
' Fable II and again in 2010 for Fable III
Fable III
Fable III is the third video game in the Fable series of action role-playing games . The game was developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. The story focuses on the player character's struggle to overthrow the King of Albion by...
.
In 2011 for the Big Brother 2011
Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Big Brother 2011 was the twelfth series of the British reality television series of Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the show's transfer from Channel 4. It launched on the night of Friday 9 September 2011 with an hour and a half long special launch show, the day...
Come Dine With Me task, Lamb took over from usual narrator Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley
Marcus Bentley is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Born in Gateshead, he was brought up in Stockton on Tees and attended East 15 Acting School in Essex....
for the feature, the first time that anyone other than Bentley had provided a voice-over for the show.
He also narrates Come Dine With Me (Ireland)
Come Dine With Me (Ireland)
Come Dine With Me is a TV3 television programme shown in Ireland, first broadcast in June 6,2011. The show has five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants. Each competitor then rates the host's performance with the winner winning a €1,000 cash...
and Come Dine With Me South Africa and provides the voice-over on the CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
animation series Big Barn Farm
Big Barn Farm
Big Barn Farm is a live-action television series commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC, narrated by Ben Fairman in series 1 and Dave Lamb in series 2. The programmes are about four young animals, the Farmyard Bunch - Petal the piglet, Gobo the ‘kid’ goat, Dash the young donkey and Digger...
. He narrated a special section of Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
on the 25th of October 2011. The section was a spoof of Come Dine With Me at a zoo where the guests were animals.
Recent TV appearances
Lamb has had two main-cast roles in television sitcoms, firstly as producer Des in The Life and Times of Vivienne VyleThe Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle is a British sitcom that was originally aired on BBC 2 in 2007. The programme was written and created by Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron...
(broadcast October 2007) and then in early 2008 he played put-upon television writer Carl Morris in ITV's Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper was a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–2009. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called Echo Beach, each episode of which aired directly after the Moving Wallpaper episode...
.
He also played a police officer in the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
prequel Rock & Chips, shown on BBC One on New Year's Day 2011.
Dave now co-presents a CBBC show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games is a television game show co-produced by Citrus Television & Lion Television for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the main Horrible Histories show. The first series began on 30 May 2011, the same day on which the first episode of Horrible Histories series three first aired...
and is a regular on Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask is a comedy panel show hosted by Alexander Armstrong. The pilot was shown on Dave on 30 May 2011. The guests on the pilot were Robert Webb, Katy Brand and Griff Rhys Jones. After a positive reaction to the pilot, Dave ordered a full series which will be filmed in...
. In 2009, he appeared in Miranda
Miranda (TV series)
Miranda is a BBC television series co-written by and starring comedienne Miranda Hart, which first aired on BBC Two on 9 November 2009. The situation comedy also features Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, James Holmes and Sally Phillips...
, in the episode in which Miranda pretends to go to Thailand.
Radio
Lamb was a member of radio comedy troupe The Cheese ShopThe Cheese Shop
The Cheese Shop were a troupe of six comedy writer-performers from the revue circuit of University of Warwick.Between 1997 and 1999, Gerard Foster, Dave Lamb, Gordon Southern, Tim Verrinder, Ben Ward and Richie Webb appeared in three series of their comedy sketch show The Cheese Shop Presents: The...
and has also featured on radio recording three series of The Bigger Issues
The Bigger Issues
The Bigger Issues was a half-hour comedy drama series about an over-ambitious and incompetent fringe theatre company for BBC Radio 4 and was written and performed by Dave Lamb, Jim North, Nick Walker, and Richie Webb. It ran for three series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced by Gareth Edwards....
as well as featuring on 15 Minute Musical
15 Minute Musical
15 Minute Musical is a comedy series on BBC Radio 4 written by Richie Webb, David Quantick and Dave Cohen. Each episode is in a different musical style with a story featuring current celebrities and politicians...
, The Alan Davies Show, ElvenQuest
ElvenQuest
ElvenQuest is a comic fantasy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto, and starring Stephen Mangan, Alistair McGowan, Darren Boyd, Kevin Eldon, Sophie Winkleman and Dave Lamb. The series takes place in the world of Lower Earth, a parody of Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings by...
, No Future in Eternity, The Big Town All Stars, The Very World of Milton Jones and The Way It Is. He has also recorded two series of a radio drama entitled London, Europe for Radio 4, which he also wrote.
Stage work
Lamb made his stage debut alongside Russ AbbotRuss Abbot
Russ Abbot is an English musician, comedian and actor who first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.Continuing...
and Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
in 2003 in a production of Ray Cooney
Ray Cooney
Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE is an English playwright and actor. His biggest success, Run for Your Wife, lasted nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 of his plays performed there....
's Caught In The Net at the Vaudeville Theatre
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
.
Personal life
Lamb lives in SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and is a regular at the Dripping Pan
The Dripping Pan
The Dripping Pan is a football stadium in Lewes, England. It has been home to Lewes F.C. since their incarnation in 1885. It had previously been used by Lewes Priory Cricket Club, though the ground itself had been used by the people of Lewes as a centre for recreation as far back as records exist,...
, home of Lewes F.C.
Lewes F.C.
Lewes Football Club is an English football team based in Lewes, East Sussex. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at the Dripping Pan.-History:...
. He is a shareholder of the club.
He attended The Broxbourne School in Hertfordshire, and studied philosophy and literature at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
.