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Andrew Collins is an English writer and broadcaster. He is the creator and writer of the Radio 4 sitcom ''Mr Blue Sky''. His TV writing work includes ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'' and the sitcoms ''
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 an ...
'' (which he co-wrote with
Simon Day Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show '' The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning ...
) and ''
Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006, and has 12 series making it the second longest running British sitcom (in series) behind the longest running sitcom worldwide, Last of the Summer Wine. It sta ...
'' (which he initially co-wrote with
Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom ''Not Going Out'', being a team captain on the ...
). Collins has also worked as a music, television and film critic.


Personal life

Collins was briefly a member of the Labour Party between the late 1980s and early 1990s, leaving after Labour's defeat in the 1992 General Election. In 2007, he was made patron of Thomas's Fund, a
Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
-based music therapy charity for children with life-limiting illnesses.


Career

Collins started his career as a music journalist, writing for the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'', '' Vox'', '' Select'' and '' Q'' (where was editor, 1995–97). He also wrote for and edited film magazine ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' in 1995. He formed a double-act with fellow music journalist
Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...
, presenting the
Sony Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
-winning
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
show ''
Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade ''Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade'' was a radio programme that aired from May 1994 to June 1997. There were 74 hour-long episodes and it was broadcast on BBC Radio 1. It starred Andrew Collins and Stuart Maconie, with regular comedy input from ...
'', after forging their style on a daily comedy strand on
Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...
's BBC Radio 1
drivetime DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. is an American used car retailer and finance company. It is based in Tempe, Arizona, and sells and finances cars to customers around the nation. The company was formerly known as Ugly Duckling and was renamed Driv ...
show, and ''Collins & Maconie's Movie Club'' on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. In 1998, Collins published his first book, ''Still Suitable for Miners'', an authorised biography of the singer-songwriter
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
. The book has been regularly updated, first in 2002, then again in 2007, 2013 and 2018. Collins often appeared on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
and
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
list shows, including the popular '' I Love the '80s'' programme. He stated on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
's ''The Most Annoying TV Programmes We Love to Hate'' that he had appeared on 37 such list shows, and that this would be his last one. He subsequently appeared on ''
Heroes Unmasked ''Heroes Unmasked'' is a behind-the-scenes documentary television series of the American television series ''Heroes'', made by the BBC and narrated by Anthony Head in series 1–2, and in series 3 by former ''Heroes'' actor Santiago Cabrera. Th ...
'' on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
. He devoted a full chapter to the experience of appearing as a talking head on such shows in his third volume of autobiography, ''That's Me in the Corner'', and continues to appear on similar shows (most recently, ''The Comedy years'' on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in May 2019). He has written three volumes of autobiography, humorous accounts of "growing up normal" in 1970s Northampton, struggling with art school in London in the 1980s, and forging a media career in the 1980s and 1990s: ''Where Did It All Go Right?'' (2003) (a ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' and Smith's bestseller), ''Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'' (2004) and ''That's Me in the Corner'' (which draws its title from a line from the
R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
song ''
Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 as the first single from the group's seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). Built on a mandolin riff, the song was an unlikely hit for the group ...
'') published in May 2007. He produced a regular (generally weekly) podcast, the '' Collings & Herrin Podcast'', with comedian
Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leadin ...
, which began in February 2008 and ran for four years and was named "Podcast of the Week" in ''The Times'' in July 2008. Some episodes were recorded in front of a live audience. A hiatus from June 2011 to 4 November 2011 was due to what Herring joked was "Collins' duplicitous careerism". Herring announced that the November 2011 podcast would most likely be the last, as Collins had lost enthusiasm for it. Collins presented solo shows on
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
as well as presenting shows with Richard Herring before and during their podcast series. Collins then presented a Saturday morning radio show with
Josie Long Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17. In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...
on
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
between July and December 2011. Herring felt that he had been unceremoniously replaced by Long, which contributed to the end of their collaborations. In 2010 Collins made a brief foray into
standup comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
, performing a show at the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
called ''Secret Dancing... and other urban survival techniques''. This was recorded and released on DVD. He co-wrote the first series of the sitcom ''
Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006, and has 12 series making it the second longest running British sitcom (in series) behind the longest running sitcom worldwide, Last of the Summer Wine. It sta ...
'' 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, p ...
with
Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom ''Not Going Out'', being a team captain on the ...
, and co-wrote various episodes for the second, third and fourth series. The fifth was the first series he did not work on. The first series won the Rose D'Or for Best Comedy, and he and Mack won the RTS Breakthrough award. He worked on the team-written sitcom ''
Gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFadde ...
'' for
Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...
in 2012,"Collins IMDb entry"
/ref> and re-teamed with
Simon Day Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show '' The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning ...
(with whom he'd co-written ''
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 an ...
'' for
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
and
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
in 2003) to co-write ''Colin'', an episode of the anthology series ''Common Ground'' on
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 HBO ...
in 2013. In recent years, Collins has moved into script editing. He was script editor on sitcoms ''
The Persuasionists ''The Persuasionists'' is a sitcom broadcast on BBC Two set in the world of advertising starring Iain Lee, Simon Farnaby, Adam Buxton, Jarred Christmas and Daisy Haggard, and featuring Natalie Gumede (amongst others). It was the sitcom wri ...
'' on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, ''
Little Crackers ''Little Crackers'' is a British Christmas comedy-drama that was broadcast on Sky1. It consists of a series of short films featuring stars of British and Irish comedy, including Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate, Chris O'Dowd, Kathy Burke, Victoria Wo ...
'' (specifically
Shappi Khorsandi Shaparak Khorsandi ( fa, شاپرک خرسندی, born 8 June 1973), formerly known as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family le ...
's) on
Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
, the broadcast pilot of '' Man Down'' on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
(2013), two series of ''
Badults ''Badults'' is a British sitcom series created and starring the members of Pappy's, along with Emer Kenny, Jack Docherty and Katherine Ryan in the Leading actor, lead roles. Written collectively by Pappy's, the first series piloted on 23 July 201 ...
'' on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
(2013-2014), and the second series of '' Drifters'' for E4. In 2014, he acted as a script consultant on ''
The Inbetweeners 2 ''The Inbetweeners 2'', is a 2014 teen coming of age adventure sex comedy film and sequel to ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' (2011), which is based on the E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners''. It was written and directed by series creators Damon Beesley ...
''. Collins is currently the film editor for ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
''. He wrote and filmed a weekly TV review column, ''Telly Addict'', for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' website, from May 2011 to April 2016. It returned in June 2016 on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, now hosted and produced by
UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
. He took over the weekly radio show ''Saturday Night at the Movies'' on classical music station Classic FM in March 2015 (from presenter and composer
Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...
).


''Mr Blue Sky''

Collins' first solo-written comedy, ''Mr Blue Sky'' 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' ...
, starred
Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in ''Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in '' Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based ...
and
Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for ''The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...
and aired in May and June 2011. It was recommissioned for a second series in 2012. It focused on Harvey Easter (Benton), an eternally optimistic man in his 40s and his more realistic wife Jax (played in series two by
Claire Skinner Claire Skinner (born 1965) is an English actress, known in the United Kingdom for her television career, particularly playing Sue Brockman from the BBC television series ''Outnumbered (British TV series), Outnumbered''. Early life Claire Skin ...
), and the rest of the family including son Robbie, daughter Charlie and grandmother Lou.
Jim Bob James Robert Morrison, known as Jim Bob, is a British musician and author. He was the singer of indie punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Biography Jim Bob played in various bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Jami ...
of indie duo
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style o ...
recorded a cover of "
Mr. Blue Sky "Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album '' Out of the Blue'' (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto fo ...
" by
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
for the theme tune. In the
Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in con ...
, radio critic
Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated at ...
said "this series charms" and praised Benton's "lovely" performance. The List gave it 3/5, calling it "warmly cosy". ''The Guardian'' found it "full of warm, nicely observed lines". After its second series aired in April and May 2012 (Moira Petty in ''The Stage'' praised Benton's performance as "an essay in finely nuanced felicity"), ''Mr Blue Sky'' was not recommissioned for a third series.


Books

*''Still Suitable for Miners: Billy Bragg: The Authorised Biography'' (1998, 2002, 2007, 2013, 2018 rev. ed.),
Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...
*''Friends Reunited: Remarkable Real Life Stories from the Nation's Favourite Website'' (2003),
Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...
(ed.) *''Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal in the 70s'' (2003),
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
*''Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now: My Difficult Student 80s'' (2004),
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
*''That's Me in the Corner: Adventures of an Ordinary Boy in a Celebrity World'' (2007)
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
*''Dads'' (2008), Contributor, (Edited by Sarah Brown and Gil McNeil)
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
*''Shouting at the Telly'' (2009), Contributor, (Edited by John Grindrod)
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
*''Modern Delight'' (2009), Contributor,
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
*''Grandparents: A Celebration'' (2009), Contributor, (Edited by Sarah Brown and Gil McNeil)
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
*''End of a Century: Nineties Album Reviews in Pictures'' (2015), Editor, SelfMadeHero *''Gogglebook: The Wit and Wisdom of Gogglebox'' (2015), Macmillan Books


References


External links


Saturday Night At The Movies on Classic FMNever Knowingly Underwhelmed
– Collins's blog
Telly Addict
– blog connected to Telly Addict TV review {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Andrew 1965 births Living people English television writers English non-fiction writers English radio personalities British radio DJs Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts English soap opera writers English podcasters Collins, Andrew People from Northampton People educated at Weston Favell Academy Alumni of the University of Northampton English male non-fiction writers British male television writers