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Alex Lowe (born 15 January 1968) is an English actor, comedian and voice artist. He is the creator and performer of the character Barry from Watford on Steve Wright's BBC Radio 2 show and
Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career bega ...
's shows, as well as also being the creator and performer behind the character Clinton Baptiste, originally seen in ''
Phoenix Nights ''Phoenix Nights'' is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series '' That Pet ...
'', as whom he has since toured.


Barry from Watford

Lowe began calling the Iain Lee radio show on the
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
talk radio station LBC 97.3 in May 2005, as Barry from Watford. It was during Lowe's first call that Barry's wife Margaret (later to be played by
Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007) ...
in Barry's stage show) would be introduced. Barry became popular amongst LBC listeners, who requested that his calls be repeated on future shows. 'Barry "The" Saint-Michael' has been a popular caller on Iain Lee's radio show, which later moved to the radio station Absolute Radio and
Talkradio TalkRadio (previously styled as talkRADIO) is a talk radio station broadcasting nationally in the United Kingdom, which was relaunched on 21 March 2016. Based in London and owned by Wireless Group, a subsidiary of News Corp., it is the sist ...
. Since 2006, Alex has also put on live performances called 'Let's Talk To Barry', a 50-minute show telling about life in Watford, which also features audio clips from
Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007) ...
and Iain Lee. In October 2008 Barry called into Harry Shearer's
Le Show ''Le Show'' is a weekly syndicated public radio show hosted by satirist Harry Shearer. The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy. Shearer, an impressionist known for his voice work on ''The Simpsons'', w ...
radio show to discuss the American Presidential election, he was credited as 'Barry Martin', which Shearer later corrected to 'Barry Saint-Martin'. He called again on 4 January 2009 to discuss the recent holiday celebrations, and corrected his name to be 'Barry Barry Saint-Michael'. In January 2010 Lowe's "Barry from Watford" podcast released on iTunes by Absolute Radio spent two weeks in the Podcast top ten. In October 2012 he co-wrote "BARRY" with Fraser Steele; a pilot sitcom featuring his BARRY FROM WATFORD character for
Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...
, broadcast on 4 March 2013. Barry currently has his own show on the new subscription radio comedy channel Fubar Radio which was launched on 20 February 2014. He also run
'Barry from Watford's Bingo Bonanza'
at th
100 Club
Barry from Watford's weekly podcast with Angelos Epithemiou, "The Angelos and Barry Show" was launched in October 2014. On 24 October 2014 he appeared on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night in sketches as his Barry character, together with
Dan Renton Skinner Daniel Renton Skinner (born 25 January 1973) is an English actor and comedy writer, working in stage, film and television. Skinner often performs as the character Angelos Epithemiou and is also one half of the Brian and Roger podcast. Early li ...
(as character Angelos Epithemiou). The duo walked the streets being comically rude to members of the public to raise awareness of testicular cancer. In June 2015 he records his BBC Radio 4 series as Barry from Watford, Barry's Lunch Club. From 14 August 2017, the character of Barry appears alongside
Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
on the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
show ''
Cheap Cheap Cheap ''Cheap Cheap Cheap'' was a British television game show produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4, presented and created by Noel Edmonds. Billed as "a game show that thinks it's a sitcom", the show takes place in a fictional general store ...
'' where contestants have to choose the cheapest item from a selection of three.


Television, radio and theatre

Lowe made his TV debut in 1981 in
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
's ''Theatre Box''. On stage he played Wharton in " Another Country" at the Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London. In 1983 he played Young Edmond Bertram in BBC 1's ''
Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...
''. His career has included diverse roles from serious drama to character comedy. He has worked as both writer and actor in many different areas of media. In 1990, Lowe appeared in The Hypochondriac at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won a First. In 1991, having trained at The Studio School in North London and Leicester School of Performing Arts, he played PC Corman in Minder alongside George Cole. Lowe has appeared in a variety of different television programmes, including, ''Three Men in A Boat'', ''
The Rise and Fall of Rome ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', ''
The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', known as ''Brilliant'' in the US, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John T ...
'', ''
Fun at the Funeral Parlour ''Fun at the Funeral Parlour'' was a comedy series broadcast on BBC Choice and BBC Three for two series in 2001 and 2002. It was set in a Welsh funeral directors called "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas and Thomas". It is set around the Swansea area of sou ...
'', The ''
Big Impression ''The Big Impression'', known as ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression'' for the first three series, is a British comedy sketch show. It features Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona impersonating personalities from entertainment and sport. Four serie ...
'' Christmas Special, and ''
Bremner, Bird and Fortune ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune'' is a satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune ("the Two Johns") with the satirical impressionist Ro ...
''. He appeared in four episodes of Simon Day's comedy series ''
Grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
'' as precocious child star Crispin Winterville's father Roland. He played Clinton Baptiste in ''
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights ''Phoenix Nights'' is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series '' That Pet ...
'' and Sparky in ''
That Peter Kay Thing ''That Peter Kay Thing'' is a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in 2000. It was written by Peter Kay, Dave Spikey, Neil Fitzmaurice and Gareth Hughes, and was directed by Andrew Gillman. The series was narrated by Andrew Sachs ...
''. He starred with Lee on ''
The 11 O'Clock Show ''The 11 O'Clock Show'' is a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4 which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran between 30 September 1998 and 8 December 2000, most notably hosted by Iain Lee a ...
'' on Channel Four in the late 1990s, usually appearing as a reporter. In 2007, he wrote and performed for ''
Ronni Ancona Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for '' The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in an ...
and Co.'' for
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and performed in ''
The Peter Serafinowicz Show ''The Peter Serafinowicz Show'' is a British sketch comedy show written by and starring Peter Serafinowicz. Its debut was on 4 October 2007 at 21:30 on BBC Two as part of the newly launched "Thursdays Are Funny" brand on the channel and Thursda ...
'' on BBC 2. In the cinema, Lowe played Paul in ''
Peter's Friends ''Peter's Friends'' is a 1992 British comedy film directed and produced by Kenneth Branagh, and written by Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman. The film follows six friends (Stephen Fry, Branagh, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton an ...
'', The Messenger in ''
Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' and Simon Merriel in ''
Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...
''. On radio, Lowe has appeared on '' Absolute Power'', '' 15 Minute Musical'', '' Not Today, Thank You'', '' The Laxian Key'' and ''
The Scarifyers ''The Scarifyers'' is an audio adventure and comic book series produced by Bafflegab Productions (formerly Cosmic Hobo Productions) and based on stories written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Set in 1936 and 1937, it originally followed the ...
''; he plays Brian in ''
Clare in the Community ''Clare in the Community'' is a British radio comedy series, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, starring Sally Phillips as Clare. It was adapted from the comic strip of the same name which appeared in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, written by Harry Venning ...
'' for
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
. Lowe has also appeared twice on Loose Ends on BBC Radio 4 with Iain Lee, Big Brother's Big Mouth and Sam Delaney's ''Stupid Telly'' (as Barry from Watford). From 2001 to 2003 he hosted Download This for
XFM London Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
on Sunday mornings from 10am to midday. On 12 October 2008, he reprised his role as ''Clinton Baptiste'' in
Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
's '' Britain's Got The Pop Factor ... And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice'', a spoof on talent show programmes. On 22 May 2009, he appeared on BBC Radio 2's '' Steve Wright In The Afternoon'' show, talking about his life. He also talked about being a lifestyle guru. He is now a regular weekly contributor to the programme. In April 2010 he recorded a comedy pilot for BBC Radio 2 '' The Alex Lowe Double Act'' with impressionist Alistair McGowan. It was broadcast on 15 May 2010. In 2011 and 2012 he wrote for BBC TV's ''
Watson and Oliver ''Watson & Oliver'' is a British sketch show starring Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver, known for their performances together at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show features a mixture of pre-recorded sketches and material performed in front of a studio ...
'' sketch show and appeared in Channel 4 sketch show '' The Anna and Katy Show'' as various characters. Alex plays Adam Rent on the Framley Examiner podcast on the Framley Examiner website. Since 2009, he has also appeared in several Big Finish Productions
audio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
. Recently he has appeared on the Christian O'Connell breakfast show on Absolute Radio. He portrays celebrities ranging from US President Barack Obama, Tom Cruise and more recently Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones. Through March to June 2014, he played the role of Jimmy in Fatal Attraction, at the
Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...
. In Feb 2015 he reprised his role as Clinton Baptiste for Peter Kay's '' Phoenix Nights Live'' at the Manchester Arena In 2015 Lowe appeared as a policeman in the BBC TV mini series ''
The Casual Vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a 2012 novel written by J. K. Rowling. The book was published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. A paperback edition was released on 23 July 2013. It was Rowling's first publication since ...
''. In March 2015 he appeared as The Doctor in ''Pompidou'' for BBC2. Since 2015 he has regularly appeared on ''
Sam Delaney's News Thing ''Sam Delaney's News Thing'' is television programme produced by RT UK and presented by British journalist and broadcaster Sam Delaney, that aired every Saturday night from November 2015 until June 2018. Notable guest appearances included Ke ...
'' as
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
. Lowe voices major character King Hunnybun in the
Nickelodeon UK Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network aimed at children aged under 13. On 1 September 1993, a localised version of the US channel launched in the United Kingdom and launched at a later date in Ireland. I ...
series '' Tinkershrimp & Dutch'', which premiered in January 2016. In December 2018, Lowe reprised the role of Clinton Baptiste for a 6 part podcast series "Clinton Baptiste's paranormal podcast". A second series has been announced for release in 2019. Lowe appears on ''
The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...
'' on Radio X as Clinton Baptiste, initially to promote the podcast series but since has become a semi-regular guest on the show Lowe has also recently started his own YouTube channel - with 1.2k subscribers - where the series Mystic Hunt takes place. Currently on episode 2 (as of January 2021), the series sees Lowe posing as Clinton Baptiste investigating paranormal activities.


References


External links

*
Clinton Baptiste

FUBAR Radio

Barry from Watford's Official Site

Barry from Watford's Official MySpace Page

Download Barry from Watford's LBC 97.3 calls

"Let's Talk To Barry" review

Barry's twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Alex Living people English male comedians English male stage actors English male television actors English male radio actors 1968 births