Childhood & Early Life
Alan, the second of the three children in his family, was born in Loughton, England on 6th March, 1966. His other siblings are an elder brother and a younger sister. Suffering from leukaemia, his mother passed away when he was only six-years-old. Davies’ father worked as an accountant.
He received primary education at the ‘Staples Road School’ but during his third year, Davies was shifted from Loughton to the ‘Bancroft’s School’ in Essex. He faced a lot of problems coping with his mother’s death, which turned into a brat, and got him involved in petty thefts and smoking.
After completing school with eight O-Levels in 1982, he went to the ‘Loughton College of Further Education’ to pursue Theatre and Media Studies. He graduated with 4 GCSE qualifications.
Continuing further studies in Drama at the ‘Kent University’, he received his degree in 1988.
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Career
Leaving Essex to pursue his dream of being on the centre-stage was a major turning point in his life. Months after graduating from University, he bagged his first job as a stand-up comedian, in 1988.
The immensely talented comedian gained quick popularity and was invited for a three month tour of Canada which included performances at various festivals and clubs. The gruelling schedule during the tour took its toll on the actor, and he planned his return to England.
In 1991, this actor was nominated as the ‘Best Young Comic’ by the ‘Time Out’ magazine. A year later, he appeared as a guest on the ‘Tonight with Jonathon Ross’ show.
Continuing to perform stand-ups across the continents, he won the ‘Critics Award for Comedy’ at the ‘Edinburgh Festival’ in 1994. The award-winning show was later released in audio and video formats. The show was recorded at the ‘Lyric Theatre’ and was included in the Perrier Picks at the ‘Edinburgh Awards’ as ‘Alan Davies Live at the Lyric’.
His popularity skyrocketed with the awards, and he was assigned to host the radio show ‘Alan’s Big One’. From 1994 to 1995, he also appeared in the ‘Altman International’ and ‘Channel 4’ production, ‘One for the Road’, a TV Series based on Simon Treat’s crazy adventures, as he sets out to travel the world.The character of Simon was portrayed by Davies.
Though this comedian was a popular figure in the stand-up arena, he got the attention of the industry big names through his role in the ‘BAFTA’ Award-winning BBC production, ‘Jonathan Creek’, a mystery and crime series, which was first showcased in 1997.
This actor played the title role, portrayed the character of a man, who devised magic tricks for a magician and displayed the flair to solve supernatural mysteries, by utilising his understanding of illusions.
In 1998, the BBC7 station broadcasted ‘The Alan Davies Show’, a sitcom which he scripted and starred in himself. The same year he also featured in the comedy series titled ‘A Many Splintered Thing’, in the role of Russell Boyd, an aspiring music composer.
His stand up show ‘Urban Trauma’ at the ‘Duchess Theatre’ was a huge hit. The sold out show, was adapted for television and even premiered on ‘BBC One’ in 1998.
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Starting from the late 1990s to 2002, Davies appeared in a radio sitcom ‘About a Dog’ and advertisements for the building society firm, ‘Abbey National’. In ‘About a Dog’, he plays the part of the canine Jack, and the show explored the conversations between the dog and his master, from the pet’s point of view.
In ‘Bob and Rose’, the 2001 television rom-com series, Alan played the part of Bob, a gay school teacher, entangled in a love triangle. His portrayal of the lead character fetched him the ‘Best Actor prize’ at the ‘Monte Carlo TV Festival’.
He undertook the fastest lap round in the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment of the popular automobile theme based show ‘Top Gear’, in 2003, and finished with a timing of 1:54 in wet conditions. He made his first appearance in the panel of the quiz game show ‘QI’ in the same year. He continues to appear as a permanent member of the panel in the on-going show.
Starting in 2004, he appeared in a more sombre role in the ‘ITV ‘production ‘The Brief’ as Henry Farmer, a criminal barrister struggling to balance his personal and professional life. He also appeared on the ‘Roman Road’ in the same year.
He was a part of the ‘ITV’ documentary ‘You Don’t Know You’re Born’, which features celebrities exploring their family lineage, in 2007. He was also the guest on the BBC radio comedy game show ‘The Unbelievable Truth’, where the participants had to present the truth on the particular subject, in the garb of lies and without getting detected.
In 2008, Davies appeared in the television adaptation of the book ‘Hotel Babylon’, which was aired on ‘BBC One’. In the ‘ITV’ series ‘Marple’, which was based on the works of the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie, this comedian essayed the role of Superintendent Mallard.
He appeared twice in 2009 alone, on the BBC documentary on science and philosophy, ‘Horizon’, once in the 31st March episode and later in the month of November. The same year his autobiography ‘My Favourite People and Me 1978-88’ was published by Penguin Books.
After starring in an episode of ‘Lewis’ in the month of May in 2010, he made a three part documentary titled ‘Alan Davies’ Teenage Revolution’, which was aired on ‘Channel 4’. The documentary draws inspiration from Alan’s teenage experiences, as mentioned in his autobiography, to analyse the changes in the socio-political and cultural scenarios of Britain in the eighties.
He guest starred in the discussion forum on the ‘ABC’ TV show ‘A Quiet Word With’, and judged the contestants on the ‘ITV’ talent hunt show ‘Show Me the Funny’, in 2011.
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In 2012, he organized a tour called ‘Life is Pain’ and performed at various locations across the UK. He shared the prize in ‘The Big Fat Quiz of the 90s’ with comedian Phill Jupitus in the same year.
Earlier in 2014, he was the moderator on the ‘Alan Davies Après-Ski’ chat show, which pondered over the highlights of the ‘Sochi Olympics’. Recently he was associated with ‘Channel 5’ to host the second season of ‘The Dog Rescuers’.
Currently, he is working on the second season of the ‘Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled’, the first season of which was aired in June 2014. The talk show depicts a roundtable discussion with several comedians, and is anchored by Davies. A title for the show is decided unanimously based on the summary of the discussion.
