John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer.
Bishop formerly played
football as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Winsford United F.C.,
Crewe Alexandra F.C.
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
,
Runcorn F.C.,
Rhyl F.C.,
Witton Albion F.C.,
Hyde United F.C.,
Southport F.C.,
Stalybridge Celtic F.C.,
Northwich Victoria F.C.,
Caernarfon Town F.C. and
Holywell Town F.C. His television debut came on ''
The Panel'', and he subsequently appeared in seasons 3 and 4 of the
E4 teen drama ''
Skins'' and the
Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...
film ''
Route Irish
The Baghdad Airport Road is a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) stretch of highway in Baghdad, Iraq linking the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area at the centre of Baghdad, to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It also links different parts of Bag ...
''. He has also hosted his own shows such as ''
John Bishop's Britain'' (2010–2011), ''John Bishop's Only Joking'' (2013), and ''
The John Bishop Show'' (2015, 2022).
He also has played the
companion Dan Lewis in ''
Doctor Who'' from 2021 to 2022.
Bishop had a regular Sunday slot on
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
radio station
Radio City called ''Bishop's Sunday Service''. He is also known for his charity work, most notably raising £4.2 million for
Sport Relief 2012.
Early life
John Joseph Bishop was born at Mill Road Hospital in the
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
suburb of
West Derby
West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382.
History West Derby
Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', Wes ...
on 30 November 1966,
the son of housewife Kathleen (née Hackett) and labourer Edward Bishop, a couple from nearby
Huyton
Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...
.
He has an older brother, footballer
Eddie
Eddie or Eddy may refer to:
Science and technology
*Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle
* Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
, and two older sisters, Kathy and Carol. He grew up mostly in the
Cheshire towns of
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...
and
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industr ...
, attending Murdishaw West Primary School and Brookvale Academy in the former.
He briefly studied English at
Newcastle Polytechnic,
[John Bishop Interview at Newcastle]
Chronicle Live. Retrieved 1 September 2014 and gained a
BA in Social Science from
Manchester Polytechnic
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
.
[Manchester Metropolitan University alumni]
. Retrieved 31 August 2014 He later became a medical representative for the pharmaceutical company
Syntex, where he worked until leaving in 2006 to pursue his comedy career full-time at the age of 40.
Career
Bishop performed stand-up comedy for the first time in Manchester in October 2000, and the following year, made it to the final of all the major new act competitions, including ''
So You Think You're Funny'', the ''Daily Telegraph'' Open Mic Awards, the BBC New Comedy Awards, and the City Life North West Comedian of The Year Award, which he won. In 2002, he was named best newcomer by
BBC Radio Merseyside, and in 2004, he won the North West Comedy Award for best stand-up. In 2009, Bishop appeared as the first act on ''
Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow
''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' is a British stand-up comedy television series hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre from different venues around the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first series was broadcast with six episodes in 2009. Each ...
'' in Manchester. That year, he appeared at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where his show ''Elvis Has Left the Building'' was nominated for an "Eddie" (
Edinburgh Comedy Award
The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...
).
In 2009, Bishop appeared in
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 series ''
Comedy Showcase
''Comedy Showcase'' is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier ''Comedy Playhouse''. The format was replaced in 2012 by 4Funnies.Khalsa, Balihar (8 No ...
'' and was a contestant on ''
Celebrity Mastermind''. He also appeared in the
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, cur ...
sitcom ''
Lunch Monkeys
''Lunch Monkeys'' is a British situation comedy, first shown on BBC Three in 2008.
Overview
''Lunch Monkeys'' by David Isaac is a BBC Three comedy series, produced by Channel X North, set in the administration department of fictional personal i ...
'' as fireman Terry. He has appeared five times on
5 Live's ''
Fighting Talk
''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 1100 and 1200 and is based on a similar format to the ESPN show '' Around ...
'' quiz show, claiming four victories on the programme. His material is drawn from his life's experiences, including fatherhood, cycling around the world, playing semi-professional football, and working as a nightclub doorman. Bishop's first television appearance was in 2007 on the
RTÉ topical-comedy show ''
The Panel'', where he was a regular panelist until 2008. He then went onto 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 ...
panel show ''
8 out of 10 Cats
''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan.
The show is based ...
'' before appearing on the
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. ...
...
''. In December 2009, Bishop started his own TV show on LFC TV called ''John Bishop Meets...'', where he interviewed former Liverpool football players.
In 2010, Bishop was a celebrity team captain on ''What Do Kids Know?'' with
. He has also appeared on BBC's ''
''. In series 3 and series 4 of ''
's father. In 2010, Bishop appeared in
. Bishop is a regular panelist on
''. On 11 July 2010, Bishop came runner-up in the second-ever game of ''How Many Peter Jones'?'' on ITV's ''
''. He has appeared as a panellist on
...