Ben Elton

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Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is a British comedian and writer. He has written and produced for television, radio, films, novels, theatre and musicals, and has performed as a stand-up comedian and on screen. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, he used a style of left-wing political satire in his early stand-up comedy.

He co-wrote the TV sitcoms The Young Ones, Blackadder and Mr. Bean, and was the sole writer for other sitcoms such as Filthy, Rich & Catflap, The Thin Blue Line and Upstart Crow. As of 2025, he has published sixteen novels in dystopian, comedy, and crime genres, and an autobiography. He wrote the stage musicals The Beautiful Game (2000), We Will Rock You (2002), Tonight's the Night (2003), and Love Never Dies (2010).

Early life and education

Benjamin Charles Elton<ref name=am>Template:Cite web</ref> was born at University College Hospital in Fitzrovia, London,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the son of Mary (née Foster), an English teacher from Cheshire,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton. He is a nephew of the historian Sir Geoffrey Elton and a third cousin of singer Olivia Newton-John.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Elton's father is from a German-Jewish family and Elton's mother, who was raised in the Church of England, is of British background.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Elton grew up in Catford, South London, before moving with his family to Guildford, Surrey in 1968, where he became involved in amateur dramatics groups.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Reflecting on those times at an event in Guildford in 2013, Elton said: Template:BlockquoteRaised in a loving<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> non-religious home,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he is an atheist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Elton studied at Stillness Junior School and Godalming Grammar School in Surrey, before leaving home at age 16 to study theatre at South Warwickshire College in Stratford-upon-Avon,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where he took and passed A-levels in English, History and Theatre Studies. In 1977 he went to study drama at the University of Manchester, where he met Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, and in 1980 he graduated with upper second-class honours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Career

Television

Upon university graduation in 1980, Elton joined the BBC and became their youngest ever scriptwriter.<ref name=":1" />

His first television appearance came in 1981 as a stand-up performer on the BBC1 youth and music programme Oxford Road Show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1" /> His first TV success, at 23, came as co-writer of the television sitcom The Young Ones, in which he occasionally appeared.

In 1983/84 he wrote and appeared in Granada Television's sketch show Alfresco, which was also notable for early appearances by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane. In 1985, Elton produced his first solo script for the BBC with his comedy-drama series Happy Families, starring Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson. Elton appeared in the fifth episode as a liberal prison governor. Shortly afterwards, he reunited Rik Mayall and Edmondson with their Young Ones co-star Nigel Planer for the showbiz send-up sitcom Filthy, Rich & Catflap.

In 1985 Elton began his writing partnership with Richard Curtis. Together they wrote Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Forth, and a failed sitcom pilot for Madness. Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson, was a worldwide hit, winning four BAFTAs and an Emmy.

Elton and Curtis were inspired to write Blackadder Goes Forth upon finding World War I to be apt for a situation comedy. This series, which dealt with greater, darker themes than prior Blackadder episodes, was praised for Curtis's and Elton's scripts, in particular the final episode. Before writing the series, the pair read about the war and found that: Template:Blockquote

Elton and Curtis also wrote Atkinson's 1986 stage show The New Revue, and Mr. Bean's "exam" episode.

Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest live comedy acts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After a regular slot on Saturday Live – later moved and renamed Friday Night Live – which was seen as a UK version of the US's Saturday Night Live, he became the host of the programme.

In 1990 he starred in his own stand-up comedy and sketch series, Ben Elton: The Man from Auntie, which had a second series in 1994. (The title plays on The Man from UNCLE: "Auntie" is a nickname for the BBC.) In 1989 Elton won the Royal Television Society Writers' Award.

Elton wrote and produced The Thin Blue Line, a studio-based sitcom set in a police station, also starring Rowan Atkinson, which ran for two series in 1995 and 1996. A prime-time family show with traditional format and characters, it won the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims.

The Ben Elton Show (1998) followed a format similar to The Man from Auntie and featured Ronnie Corbett, a comedian of the old guard that the "alternative comedians" of the 1980s were the direct alternative to, as a regular guest. It was Elton's last high-profile network programme in the UK as a stand-up comedian.

Elton wrote the six-part sitcom Blessed, starring Ardal O'Hanlon as a record producer, first broadcast on BBC1 in 2005. No further series was commissioned.

In April 2007, Get a Grip, a new show, began on ITV1. Featuring comic sketches similar to those on The Ben Elton Show and staged studio discussion between Elton and 23-year-old Alexa Chung, the show's aim was to "contrast Elton's middle-aged viewpoint with Chung's younger perspective" (although Elton was responsible for the scripts).

In 2008, Elton accused the BBC of allowing jokes about vicars but not imams. "And I believe that part of it is due to the genuine fear that the authorities and the communities have about provoking the radical elements of Islam".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 10 October 2010, Elton headlined the first episode of Dave's One Night Stand.

Elton worked on Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth, a live one-hour comedy show which debuted on 8 February 2011 on the Nine Network in Australia.<ref>Quinn, Karl: Turning back the clock for old-style TV variety, The Age, 8 February 2011.</ref> Live from Planet Earth was axed by the Nine Network on Wednesday 23 February 2011 after three episodes, despite having six commissioned.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The show's final airing rated 200,000 viewers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2012, The Wright Way, a new sitcom for BBC1 was commissioned, written and produced by Elton and starring David Haig.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Filming for a full six-part series of the sitcom (earlier titled Slings and Arrows) was completed in late February 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It debuted in April 2013 to negative reviews.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016 Elton wrote the sitcom Upstart Crow, parodying the writing and family life of William Shakespeare, and starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare. This programme ran for a second series in 2017, and a third series in 2018. A Christmas Special was aired on 21 December 2020.<ref>List of Upstart Crow episodes</ref>

In June 2023, Elton presented Ben Elton: The Great Railway Disaster, a Channel 4 documentary about rail privatisation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elton returned to live British television on Channel 4 on 21 October 2022 as "Ringmaster"/host of a revival of Friday Night Live, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of Channel 4 and as part of their Truth and Dare season.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> On the day of the broadcast, Elton admitted that because of the fluid British political situation, "I honestly haven't written the first five minutes yet!"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio

Elton starred with Adrian Edmondson in a sitcom based on the song "Teenage Kicks" for BBC Radio 2. A television version of Teenage Kicks for ITV has been made; Elton appeared in the pilot but was replaced by Mark Arden when it went to series production.

Novels

Autobiography

Films

Elton appeared in amateur dramatic productions as a youth, notably as The Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver!<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

While in bit parts in his own TV series, he began professional film acting as CD in Stark, the Australian/BBC TV series adaptation of his novel, in 1993. This was directed by Nadia Tass and filmed in Australia.

Elton played Verges in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, also in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Writing and directing

Elton wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, under the title Maybe Baby (2000) starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson. It was a moderate UK success and distributed globally. The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival.

In 2015, Elton wrote a song for The Wiggles for the Wiggle Town DVD and CD: The Wonder of Wiggle Town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Three Summers, a romantic comedy film written and directed by Elton, and filmed in Western Australia, was released in 2017.<ref name="threesummers">Template:Cite news</ref>

Elton wrote All is True, released 2018, a speculative story of William Shakespeare's years in Stratford-upon-Avon after his retirement from the theatre and move from London. Along with the filmcraft and acting, returning to collaboration with Kenneth Branagh, All is True shows Elton giving a more serious and biographical perspective to some of the same characters who appear in Upstart Crow.

Musicals

Elton collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on The Beautiful Game in 2000, writing the book and lyrics (Lloyd Webber wrote the music). The Beautiful Game won the London Critics Circle Award for best new musical.

He went on to write compilation shows featuring popular songs from the catalogues of pop/rock artists. The first was the musical We Will Rock You with music by Queen. Despite unfavourable early reaction, this was successful in the West End and won the 2003 Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best New Musical.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has since opened in the US, Australia, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, and The Netherlands. Elton also directed the 10th Anniversary Arena tour, in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The musical ran for 12 years in London.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The character of Pop was originally played by Elton's The Young Ones, co-star, Nigel Planer.

His second compilation musical was Tonight's the Night, based on the songs of Rod Stewart, which opened in London's West End in November 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elton worked with Lloyd Webber on the musical Love Never Dies, which opened in London's West End in 2010. It was the sequel to Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (1986).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elton directed a new 20th anniversary tour of We Will Rock You, that opened in February 2022 and visited over 25 cities in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was scheduled to, make his theatre debut as the Rebel Leader (previously known as Pop) in a production of the show in 2023 at the London Coliseum from 2 June to 27 August. The 3 main cast members from the touring production will also be starring.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elton wrote and directed Twiggy The Musical, a jukebox musical based on the life of Twiggy, which had its world premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London in September 2023 (originally titled Close-Up: The Twiggy Musical) and will tour the UK from September 2025.

Plays

Elton has written five West End plays.

  • Gasping (1990) was first performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It starred Hugh Laurie and featured the voice of Stephen Fry.
  • Silly Cow (1991) again at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It was written for and starred Dawn French.
  • Popcorn (1996) was adapted for the stage and went on a UK tour. It also toured Australia in a production starring Marcus Graham and Nadine Garner in its Eastern-States seasons. Popcorn won the TMA Barclays Theatre Award for new play and the Olivier Award for comedy. The Paris production of Popcorn ran for a year and was nominated for seven Molière awards.
  • Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
  • The Upstart Crow, like the TV series Upstart Crow, a comic version of William Shakespeare's life and society, and sharing some of the same actors and characters, opened in London on 7 February 2020. Starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare and Gemma Whelan as Kate, the play was intended to run until 25 April 2020, but only ran up to mid-March, with the remainder cancelled as a result of restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The play reopened in the West End at the Apollo Theatre for a ten-week season from 23 September until 3 December 2022.

Stand-up comedy

In 1981 Elton was hired by The Comedy Store in London as compère.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

He made two albums of comedy, Motormouth (1987) and Motorvation (1988).

In 2005 Elton toured for the first time since 1997, touring the UK with Get a Grip. He toured Australia and New Zealand with the same show in 2006.

In September 2019, Elton embarked on a three-month UK stand-up tour, his first tour since 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The New Zealand leg of the tour was interrupted in February 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. He resumed it over a year later once trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel was launched.<ref name="stuffMay2021"> Template:Cite web </ref>

In 2022, his sell-out UK stand-up final show was held at the Palace Theatre Southend. It was filmed for broadcast on free to air, Channel 4.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His stand up tour "Authentic Stupidity" toured the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 2024 and 2025, touching on themes of AI and generational shifts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Recognition and awards

Personal honours

Elton received an honorary doctorate in 2004 from the University of Manchester.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Rose for lifetime achievement at the Rose d'Or festival,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was also made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, in recognition of his work with students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2016, Elton was bestowed with a Doctor of Arts honoris causa by Edith Cowan University in Perth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In June 2023 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for "significant service to the entertainment industry as a comedian, actor, writer and director".<ref name=am/>

Awards for works

Elton has won three BAFTAs for Best Comedy Series, for The Young Ones, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth. Popcorn and We Will Rock You each won an Olivier Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The Beautiful Game was awarded the Best Musical at the Critics' Circle Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Man From Auntie won him a Royal Television Society Writer's Award and The Thin Blue Line won a British Comedy Award as well as Jury Award at Reims.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 2022 revival of Channel 4's " Friday Night Live " won a Royal Television Society Award and BAFTA for Best Comedy Entertainment programme.

His books have won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award for Crime Fiction (Popcorn), the Swedish Kaliber Award (Popcorn), WH Smiths People's Choice Fiction Award (High Society) and Prix Polar International Crime Writer Award (Amitiès Mortelles for Past Mortem, French edition).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Elton first met Australian bass player Sophie Gare in 1986 while working in Melbourne. A year later in Edinburgh, a newly-single Elton rekindled their friendship and they became a couple.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The two married in 1994<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and have three children. They settled in North Fremantle, Perth Western Australia,<ref name="The West Australian"/> while maintaining a home in East Sussex, England.<ref name="The West Australian">Template:Cite web</ref> Elton holds dual British/Australian citizenship, the latter since 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014 he speculated on a future move back to London when their children have completed their schooling.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Elton has been nominated three times for the television series Room 101, first by broadcaster Anne Robinson in 2001,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> secondly by comedian Mark Steel,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and also by comedian Stewart Lee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political views

Elton champions left-wing politics. Prior to the 1987 general election, Elton supported Red Wedge by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elton was a Labour Party supporter and was one of the party's biggest private financial donors in 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He subsequently distanced himself from the party under Tony Blair, although in April 2015, he stated he was "back with Labour" for the general election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Responding to criticism for writing a musical with Conservative Party supporter Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton said, "If I were to refuse to talk to Tories, I would narrow my social and professional scope considerably. If you judge all your relationships on a person's voting intentions, I think you miss out on the varieties of life."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He added, "I would have loved a honeymoon period, but I've been irritating journos from the beginning. Originally I was knocked for being too left-wing, and now apparently I've sold out and I'm too right-wing, but all the time I've been being me, and that certainly isn't the person I recognise in anything that's written about me." He has denied being anti-establishment. He also said he was a socialist at a time when "the media was on the whole slavishly worshipping of Thatcher".<ref name=HB>Template:Cite web</ref> He said, "I believe in the politics of Clement Attlee. I'm a welfare state Labour voter."<ref name=HB/>

Elton parodied himself in the sketch "Benny Elton" for Harry Enfield and Chums in 1994, using the style of Benny Hill to send up Elton's "right on" socialist image as a politically correct spoilsport, chasing Page 3 models around a park to chastise them and tricking heterosexual couples into becoming homosexual.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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