Alan Davies
- 56 years-old
- English
- Actor and stand-up comedian
Known for: QI (Regular Panellist), Jonathan Creek (Jonathan Creek), Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (Host / Presenter)
Born in Essex, comedian and actor Alan Davies began performing stand-up in the late 1980s. Successful throughout the early 1990s when he won multiple awards, he is now best known for playing the titular role in BBC One murder mystery comedy series Jonathan Creek from 1997; and as resident "fool" panellist on QI.
More information
- Born
- Sunday 6th March 1966
- Nationality
- English
Biography
Alan Davies was born in Loughton, Essex, and was brought up in Chingford, on the outskirts of London. After graduating in Drama & Theatre Studies from the University of Kent in 1988 (which would award him an honorary Doctorate in 2003, his first forays into comedy began that same year at the Whitstable Labour Club. He soon made a name for himself, winning the Time Out Best Young Comic in 1991, and the Edinburgh Festival Critics Awards for Comedy in 1994. That year's show was released on cassette the year later as Alan Davies Live At The Lyric, recorded at the Lyric Theatre. Later, a version of his stand-up comedy show 'Urban Trauma', which ran in the West End at the Duchess Theatre and toured the UK and Australia, was shown on BBC One in 1998.
In [y]1994[y] and 1995, Davies hosted Alan's Big One for three consecutive series on BBC Radio 1 and then appeared in Channel 4's spoof travel show One For The Road. This led to perhaps his first major role, as the title character in Jonathan Creek. Here he played a man tasked with the constant job of devising new tricks for a stage magician, with a side interest in solving crimes. This would run from 1997 to 2004, with a special episode broadcast on New Year's Day 2009.
In 1998, Davies co-wrote and starred in his own radio sitcom, The Alan Davies Show, and in 2001 he took on the role of Robert Gossage in Bob and Rose, a comedy drama about a gay man who falls for a woman. During this period he also featured in several advertisements for the bank Abbey National. He has undertaken a number of dramatic roles, including a much-loved cameo in the episode of ITV detective series Lewis, in which he played Marcus Richard, a scamming quizmaster at a tournament at an Oxford University college. Since 2014, he has hosted his own comedy chat show on Dave, entitled Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, and the programme The Dog Rescuers on Channel 5, which follows the work of the animal charity RSPCA.
Davies is best-known across the United Kingdom for his role as permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Two quiz game QI, outlasting hosts Stephen Fry (2003-2016) and Sandi Toksvig (2016-). He has appeared in almost every episode, apart from the 2011 Comic Relief special, and Episode 10 of Series D, 'Divination', in which a short, pre-recorded video was shown instead, as he was in Paris attending the 2006 Champions League final during the time of recording, watching his beloved favourite football team, Arsenal F.C. Indeed, in 2001 he even began hosting a podcast focused on the club, entitled "The Tuesday Club", which ran from 2011 to 2018.
In 2019 he played the role of university physics professor Henry Brooks in David Baddiel's play "God's Dice", which premiered at the Soho Theatre in London.
Awards
- Edinburgh Comedy Awards 1994
- Best Comedy Show: Nominee
Credits
Year | Production | Role |
---|---|---|
2022 | Bristol Comedy Garden | Self |
2022 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 28
|
Guest |
2022 | Cheltenham Comedy Festival | Self |
2022 | QI - Comic Relief Special | Regular Panellist |
2022 | Comic Relief
|
Self |
2022 | Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable - Series 2
|
Guest |
2022 | Guessable? - Series 3 | Team Captain |
2022 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 27
|
Guest |
2022 | Taskmaster - Taskmaster's New Year Treat 2022 | Guest |
2021 | Taskmaster - Series 12 | Self |
2021 | Greenwich Comedy Festival | Self |
2021 | QI - Series S | Regular Panellist |
2021 | St Albans Comedy Garden | Self |
2021 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 6 | Host / Presenter |
2021 | Brighton Comedy Garden | Self |
2021 | There's Something About Movies - Series 4
|
Guest |
2021 | Guessable? - Series 2 | Team Captain |
2021 | Hypothetical - Series 3
|
Guest |
2021 | The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 23 | Guest |
2020 | Des O'Connor: The Ultimate Entertainer | Self |
2020 | Sandi Toksvig's Hygge - Series 1
|
Guest |
2020 | Guessable? - Series 1 | Team Captain |
2020 | Bristol Comedy Garden | Self |
2020 | QI - Series R | Regular Panellist |
2020 | QI - Sport Relief Special | Regular Panellist |
2019 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 26
|
Self |
2019 | QI - Series Q | Regular Panellist |
2019 | Livewire Festival | Self |
2019 | Brighton Comedy Garden | Self |
2019 | Imagine... Jo Brand: No Holds Barred | Self |
2018 | The Midnight Gang | Porter |
2018 | QI - Series P | Regular Panellist |
2018 | The Bromley Boys | Donald Roberts |
2018 | All Round To Mrs. Brown's - Series 2
|
Guest |
2018 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 20
|
Guest |
2018 | Funny Women: Jo Brand | Self |
2018 | Damned - Series 2 | Al Kavanagh |
2017 | QI - Series O | Regular Panellist |
2017 | The Last Leg - Series 10
|
Guest |
2017 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 5 | Host / Presenter |
2016 | Jonathan Creek - Daemons' Roost | Jonathan Creek |
2016 | The Graham Norton Story | Self |
2016 | QI - Series N | Regular Panellist |
2016 | The Jonathan Ross Show - Series 11 | Guest |
2016 | Damned - Series 1 | Al Kavanagh |
2016 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 4 | Host / Presenter |
2016 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 1 Highlights | Host / Presenter |
2015 | A Life On Screen - Stephen Fry | Self |
2015 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 3 | Host / Presenter |
2015 | QI - Series M | Regular Panellist |
2015 | Would I Lie To You? - Series 9
|
Guest |
2015 | Gilded Balloon 30th Anniversary Gala | Self |
2015 | Alan Davies: Work in Progress 2 | Self |
2015 | The Jonathan Ross Show - Series 8 | Guest |
2015 | The Last Leg - Series 5
|
Guest |
2015 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 2 | Host / Presenter |
2015 | Taskmaster | Self |
2014 | QI - Series L | Regular Panellist |
2014 | Tonight At The London Palladium - Series 1
|
Guest |
2014 | The Football's On - Series 2
|
Guest |
2014 | MacAulay And Co - Edinburgh 2014
|
Guest |
2014 | Alan Davies: Little Victories | Self |
2014 | The Football's On - Series 1
|
Guest |
2014 | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - Series 1 | Host / Presenter |
2014 | Damned - Pilot | Al Kavanagh |
2014 | Alan Davies - Life Is Pain | Writer |
2014 | Alan Davies - Life Is Pain | Host / Presenter |
2014 | Jonathan Creek - Series 5 | Jonathan Creek |
2014 | Alan Davies Après-Ski | Host / Presenter |
2014 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 14 | Guest |
2013 | 8 Out Of 10 Cats - Series 16
|
Guest |
2013 | The Matt Lucas Awards - Series 2
|
Guest |
2013 | Respect: A Felix Dexter Special | Self |
2013 | QI - Series K | Regular Panellist |
2013 | Jonathan Creek - The Clue Of The Savant's Thumb | Jonathan Creek |
2013 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 12 | Guest |
2012 | QI - Series J | Regular Panellist |
2012 | What's So Funny? - 2012 Specials
|
Guest |
2012 | Alan Davies - Life is Pain | Self |
2012 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 11
|
Guest |
2012 | QI - Shakespeare Season Special | Regular Panellist |
2012 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 9
|
Guest |
2012 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 10 | Guest |
2012 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 8
|
Guest |
2011 | Ben Elton: Laughing At The 80s | Self |
2011 | Little Crackers - Little Crackers 2011 | Comedian |
2011 | Little Crackers - Little Crackers 2011 | Writer |
2011 | Little Crackers - Little Crackers 2011 | Self |
2011 | I've Never Seen Star Wars - Series 4
|
Guest |
2011 | QI - Making Of Special | Regular Panellist |
2011 | QI - Series I | Regular Panellist |
2011 | Jennifer Saunders: Laughing At The 90s | Self |
2011 | Show Me The Funny | Self |
2011 | Frank Skinner's Opinionated - Series 2
|
Guest |
2011 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 7
|
Guest |
2011 | It's Your Round - Series 1
|
Guest |
2011 | Comic's Choice | Guest |
2010 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 8
|
Guest |
2010 | Whites | Roland White |
2010 | QI - Series H | Regular Panellist |
2010 | The Graham Norton Show - Series 7 | Guest |
2010 | Jonathan Creek - The Judas Tree | Jonathan Creek |
2010 | Fighting Talk - Series 7
|
Host / Presenter |
2009 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 4
|
Guest |
2009 | QI - Series G | Regular Panellist |
2009 | Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Series 17 | Guest |
2009 | Jonathan Creek - The Grinning Man | Jonathan Creek |
2008 | QI - Series F | Regular Panellist |
2008 | Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging | Dad |
2008 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 2
|
Guest |
2008 | The Museum Of Curiosity - Gallery 1
|
Guest |
2007 | QI - Series E | Regular Panellist |
2007 | About A Dog - Series 2 | Jack |
2007 | The Unbelievable Truth - Series 1
|
Guest |
2007 | Clive Anderson's Chat Room - Series 3 | Guest |
2007 | Never Mind The Buzzcocks - Series 20
|
Guest |
2006 | QI - Series D | Regular Panellist |
2006 | TV Heaven, Telly Hell - Series 1
|
Guest |
2006 | Clive Anderson's Chat Room - Series 2 | Guest |
2005 | Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Series 9 | Guest |
2005 | QI - Series C | Regular Panellist |
2005 | What A Carve Up! | Mark Winshaw |
2005 | What A Carve Up!
|
Simon Pride Wetherby |
2004 | The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year | Guest |
2004 | Heresy - Series 1
|
Guest |
2004 | QI - Series B | Regular Panellist |
2004 | About A Dog - Series 1 | Jack |
2004 | Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Series 6 | Guest |
2004 | Bob Monkhouse: A BAFTA Tribute | Self |
2003 | Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Series 5 | Guest |
2003 | QI - Series A | Regular Panellist |
2003 | Jonathan Creek - Series 4 | Jonathan Creek |
2002 | Friday Night With Jonathan Ross - Series 3 | Guest |
2001 | Jonathan Creek - Satan's Chimney | Jonathan Creek |
2001 | Bob & Rose | Bob |
2000 | A Many Splintered Thing - Series 1 | Russel Boyd |
2000 | Stand Up With Alan Davies | Self |
1999 | Jonathan Creek - Series 3 | Jonathan Creek |
1999 | Laughter In The House: The Story Of British Sitcom
|
Self |
1998 | A Many Splintered Thing - Pilot | Russel Boyd |
1998 | Alan Davies - Urban Trauma | Writer |
1998 | Alan Davies - Urban Trauma | Self |
1998 | Get Real | Writer |
1998 | Get Real | Creator |
1998 | The Alan Davies Show | Writer |
1998 | The Alan Davies Show | Alan |
1998 | Jonathan Creek - Series 2 | Jonathan Creek |
1997 | Have I Got News For You - Series 14
|
Guest |
1997 | Room 101 - Series 3
|
Guest |
1997 | Jonathan Creek - Series 1 | Jonathan Creek |
1996 | Have I Got News For You - Series 12
|
Guest |
1996 | Have I Got News For You - Series 11
|
Guest |
1996 | Jo Brand Through The Cakehole - Series 2
|
Guest |
1995 | Have I Got News For You - Series 10
|
Guest |
1993 | The Full Monty
|
Ensemble Actor |
1993 | The Full Monty
|
Guest |
1992 | Stand Up - Series 3
|
Self |
0000 | QI - Pilot | Regular Panellist |
Alan Davies | Self |
Non-comedy TV and film credits may be found here:
Alan Davies on IMDb