Dave Spikey
Encyclopedia
Dave Spikey is an English
comedian
, actor
, writer
and film producer
, currently residing in Chorley
, Lancashire
.
Spikey spent his early career working as a biomedical scientist
in the haematology laboratory at Bolton General Hospital. It was during this period in the 1980s that Spikey scripted and performed in a number of amateur pantomime
s with a group of like-minded health workers called the Bolton Health Performers.
He is married to Kathleen "Kay" (née Kenyon; born 8 May 1952) whom he has known since school. Despite this, and the fact that they were both students at Bolton General, Kay working in the Blood Transfusion Department, it was a while before they got together romantically. They are both vegetarians.
show.
A turning point came one summer Sunday evening in 1993 when Spikey got a phone call to see if 'he could get to Blackpool
in half an hour'. Cannon and Ball
were appearing at The Opera House and they needed a compere immediately.
He was the last host of UK gameshow Chain Letters
in 1997, following on from Jeremy Beadle
, Andrew O'Connor, Allan Stewart, Ted Robbins
and Vince Henderson
. While working on the show, he once got trapped by the rotating Chain Letters revolving sign.
, and then co-wrote and starred in Phoenix Nights
, a hit comedy series on Channel Four in which he played Jerry St. Clair. Peter Kay has announced that a new series of Phoenix Nights is to be made, however it is unknown whether Spikey will return.
In 2003, Spikey released his first DVD
, The Overnight Success Tour. Towards the end of 2004, he wrote the ITV
comedy-drama Dead Man Weds
, in which he also co-starred, in 2005, with Johnny Vegas
. The series was shown on the more commercial ITV channel instead of Channel 4 and missed most of his usual audience. The style of the programme such as no laugh track and location filming rather than sets just didn't match the expected line-up of an ITV sitcom. Viewing figures were terrible and it was moved to a later time spot.
In 2005, Spikey became one of the regular team captains on the comedy panel game
, 8 Out of 10 Cats
, leaving before the 2007 series. That year also saw the release of his second live DVD, Living The Dream. He presented the darts
gameshow Bullseye
on Challenge for two series.
Spikey developed two new projects which were commissioned by the BBC, being Magnolia, a sitcom about painters and decorators, and Footballers Lives - a comedy about a pub football team, neither made it beyond pilots. He was also on the panel for talent show When Will I Be Famous?
.
With these setbacks Spikey returned to stand-up and live shows again and has been regularly releasing DVDs of his shows. Whilst maintaining his profile with appearances on TV.
Because of his time at hospital, Spikey's chosen subject on Celebrity Mastermind
in 2006 was Human Blood. He won this show.
His last appearance acting was in the 2009 film Charlie Noades RIP written by his Phoenix Nights Co-Writer Neil Fitzmaurice.
which is not the fictitious radio station made famous by That Peter Kay Thing and Phoenix Nights TV series. He also contributed the initial voice over for the Foxy Bingo adverts, but was soon replaced. Spikey's first book, He Took My Kidney, Then Broke My Heart, was published in October 2009 by Michael O'Mara Books
. His second book is Under The Microscope, published in 2010 by the same publishers.
Despite his age he likes to keep in shape and regularly plays 5 a-side football.
----
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...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, 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...
, 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....
and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, currently residing in Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
Spikey spent his early career working as a biomedical scientist
Biomedical scientist
A biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medicine...
in the haematology laboratory at Bolton General Hospital. It was during this period in the 1980s that Spikey scripted and performed in a number of amateur 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 with a group of like-minded health workers called the Bolton Health Performers.
He is married to Kathleen "Kay" (née Kenyon; born 8 May 1952) whom he has known since school. Despite this, and the fact that they were both students at Bolton General, Kay working in the Blood Transfusion Department, it was a while before they got together romantically. They are both vegetarians.
Early years
In 1992, Spikey was asked to form a double act with Rick Sykes, as purely a 'one-off' to support a popular musical duo called 'Intaglio'. Dave and Rick were known as Spikey and Sykey. The double act's most notable success came on Central TV's New FacesNew Faces
New Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
show.
A turning point came one summer Sunday evening in 1993 when Spikey got a phone call to see if 'he could get to Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
in half an hour'. Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire...
were appearing at The Opera House and they needed a compere immediately.
He was the last host of UK gameshow Chain Letters
Chain Letters
Chain Letters was a British television game show produced by Tyne Tees Television. The show was filmed at their City Road studios in Newcastle Upon Tyne and broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom between 7 September 1987 and 25 April 1997. Three contestants competed to win money by changing letters...
in 1997, following on from Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...
, Andrew O'Connor, Allan Stewart, Ted Robbins
Ted Robbins
Ted Robbins is an English comedian, actor, broadcaster, radio DJ, radio personality, voice-over artist and television personalityRobbins currently presents a morning show on BBC Radio Lancashire from 9am - 11am on weekdays....
and Vince Henderson
Vince Henderson
Vincent P. "Vince" Henderson in Liverpool is an English television presenter, actor, and street performer. He is best known for hosting the Sky Sports Saturday morning show Soccer AM, and ITV's game show Chain Letters...
. While working on the show, he once got trapped by the rotating Chain Letters revolving sign.
Success
Spikey won the Best Newcomer award at the British Comedy AwardsBritish Comedy Awards
The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...
, and then co-wrote and starred in Phoenix Nights
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights was a BAFTA-nominated English sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Farnworth, Greater Manchester. The show was written by Neil Fitzmaurice, Peter Kay and Dave Spikey, produced by Goodnight Vienna Productions and Ovation...
, a hit comedy series on Channel Four in which he played Jerry St. Clair. Peter Kay has announced that a new series of Phoenix Nights is to be made, however it is unknown whether Spikey will return.
In 2003, Spikey released his first DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, The Overnight Success Tour. Towards the end of 2004, he wrote the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
comedy-drama Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds is a 6-part comedy series shown on ITV on British TV in January and early February 2005 .The series was written by Dave Spikey who played the part of Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights...
, in which he also co-starred, in 2005, with Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
. The series was shown on the more commercial ITV channel instead of Channel 4 and missed most of his usual audience. The style of the programme such as no laugh track and location filming rather than sets just didn't match the expected line-up of an ITV sitcom. Viewing figures were terrible and it was moved to a later time spot.
In 2005, Spikey became one of the regular team captains on the comedy panel game
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
, 8 Out of 10 Cats
8 Out of 10 Cats
8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
, leaving before the 2007 series. That year also saw the release of his second live DVD, Living The Dream. He presented the darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
gameshow Bullseye
Bullseye (UK game show)
Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981 and Central from 1982 until 1995, and hosted by Jim Bowen. The show originally aired on Monday nights from 1981, it was then moved to Sunday nights from 1982 to 1993 where it was watched by...
on Challenge for two series.
Spikey developed two new projects which were commissioned by the BBC, being Magnolia, a sitcom about painters and decorators, and Footballers Lives - a comedy about a pub football team, neither made it beyond pilots. He was also on the panel for talent show When Will I Be Famous?
When Will I Be Famous?
When Will I Be Famous? was a British variety television show hosted by Graham Norton which first aired on BBC One on Saturday 3 February 2007.-Format:The show was presented live and centered around various entertainment acts by -often unknown- performers...
.
With these setbacks Spikey returned to stand-up and live shows again and has been regularly releasing DVDs of his shows. Whilst maintaining his profile with appearances on TV.
Because of his time at hospital, Spikey's chosen subject on Celebrity Mastermind
Celebrity Mastermind
Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master...
in 2006 was Human Blood. He won this show.
His last appearance acting was in the 2009 film Charlie Noades RIP written by his Phoenix Nights Co-Writer Neil Fitzmaurice.
Other interests
Dave Spikey is patron of the non-profit radio station Chorley FMChorley FM
Chorley FM is a radio station based in Chorley, Lancashire, England. The station was created by volunteers back in 2001 to broadcast a special two week licence in conjunction with the Midsummer Festival which was located on Botany Bay near the M61.-History:...
which is not the fictitious radio station made famous by That Peter Kay Thing and Phoenix Nights TV series. He also contributed the initial voice over for the Foxy Bingo adverts, but was soon replaced. Spikey's first book, He Took My Kidney, Then Broke My Heart, was published in October 2009 by Michael O'Mara Books
Michael O'Mara Books
Michael O'Mara Books is a small, family-run, privately owned publishing house in the United Kingdom. Established in London in 1985, it has established a strong history of publishing biographies...
. His second book is Under The Microscope, published in 2010 by the same publishers.
Despite his age he likes to keep in shape and regularly plays 5 a-side football.
Stand-Up DVDs
| Title | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight Success Tour - Live | 17 November 2003 | Live at Leeds City Varieties Leeds City Varieties The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.It was built in 1865 as an adjunct to the White Swan Inn in Swan Street and the original interior is largely unaltered. Along with Hoxton Hall and Wilton's Music Hall , it is a rare surviving example of the... |
| Living the Dream - Live | 7 November 2005 | Live at Oldham Colliseum |
| The Best Medicine Tour - Live | 9 November 2009 |
External links
- The Comedy Club's Comedian Biog for Dave Spikey
- Profile on Comedy Zone
- Official Website
- DaveSpikey.co.uk, Live shows
- UK Gameshows Site
- Unofficial Fan Site
- Fan Site
- Dave Spikey at the Internet Movie Database
- Challenge's Bullseye site
- When Liberation Frequency met Dave Spikey
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