John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd (born 30 September 1951) is an English television and radio comedy producer and writer. His television work includes ''
Not the Nine O'Clock News'', ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'', ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British satire, satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productio ...
'', ''
Blackadder
''Blackadder'' is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robins ...
'' and ''
QI''. He is currently the presenter of
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's ...
's ''
The Museum of Curiosity
''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as th ...
''.
Early life
Lloyd was born in
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...
, England. His father, H. L. "Harpy" Lloyd, was an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
captain with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
. As a child Lloyd lived in several different places, owing to his father's job. This led him to attend school properly only at the age of 9. He was educated at
West Hill Park School in
Titchfield
Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titc ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, a place where he claims bullying was "endemic",
and later at
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...
.
He read Law at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, and was a member of the
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University.
History
Footlights' inaugural ...
. He became friends with fellow student
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
, with whom he later worked and shared a
flat.
Lloyd is the great nephew of the soldier
John Hardress Lloyd.
Career
Lloyd worked as a radio producer at the
BBC between 1974 and 1978 creating ''
The News Quiz
''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
History
''The News Quiz'' was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently, it was chaired by Barry Took from 1979 to 1981, Simon Hoggart f ...
'', ''
The News Huddlines'', ''
To The Manor Born'' (with Peter Spence) and ''
Quote... Unquote'' (with
Nigel Rees). He wrote ''
Hordes of the Things'' (as J. H. W. Lloyd) with
Andrew Marshall, co-authored two episodes of ''
Doctor Snuggles
''Doctor Snuggles'' is an animated children's television series created by Jeffrey O'Kelly, based on original artwork by Nick Price, about a friendly and optimistic inventor who has unusual adventures with his friends. The show featured fanta ...
'' with Douglas Adams, and co-wrote the fifth and sixth episodes of the first radio series of ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'' with Adams (Adams wrote all the previous and subsequent episodes solo, as well as the television adaptation). He pitched a story for ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
'', ''The Doomsday Contract'', while Adams was script editor of the series, which was never made at the time but eventually became an audio play adapted by
Nev Fountain and produced by
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include '' Doctor Who'', th ...
. He also produced series three and four of ''
The Burkiss Way'' on Radio 4.
Lloyd then worked as a television comedy producer at both the
BBC and
ITV. As well as being associate producer of ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'', he created ''
Not the Nine O'Clock News'' (co-produced with Sean Hardie) and produced ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British satire, satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productio ...
''. He also produced all four ''
Blackadder
''Blackadder'' is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robins ...
'' series.
Lloyd was originally to have been the host of BBC topical news quiz ''
Have I Got News for You'', with the programme initially intended to be called ''John Lloyd's Newsround''. A pilot episode of the show was recorded under this name in mid-1990, with Lloyd hosting alongside team captains
Ian Hislop
Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...
and
Paul Merton
Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter.
Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and somet ...
. Lloyd subsequently decided to pull out of hosting the programme full-time and the pilot episode was never broadcast. Lloyd was replaced by
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian, and broadcaster. He was the original presenter of the satirical panel game '' Have I Got News for You,'' the host of British panel show '' Would I Lie ...
as host and the show was renamed ''Have I Got News for You'' in time for its debut on BBC2 later that year.
His first new TV series for 14 years, ''
QI'' starring
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
(
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
from 2016) and
Alan Davies
Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only per ...
, began on 11 September 2003 at 10pm 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 a ...
for a run of 12 episodes. In its eighth series, which started on
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, ...
in September 2010, Lloyd appeared as a panellist in one of the episodes. Lloyd has presented the radio series ''
The Museum of Curiosity
''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as th ...
'' (2011), which he co-created with producers
Richard Turner and
Dan Schreiber and former co-host
Bill Bailey
Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows '' Never Mind th ...
. In December 2011, Lloyd appeared as captain of the winning
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, team on the ''
Christmas University Challenge''.
Lloyd was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE) in the 2011
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
for services to broadcasting. Lloyd was also awarded an honorary degree from
Southampton Solent University
Solent University (formerly Southampton Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and th ...
.
In August 2014, Lloyd was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''
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 ...
'' opposing
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
...
in the run-up to September's
referendum on that issue.
Lloyd's book ''1,411 Quite Interesting Facts to Knock You Sideways'', a collaboration with
John Mitchinson and
James Harkin, was published in 2014 by
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 ...
.
Personal life
Lloyd married Sarah Wallace in 1989, with whom he has three children, one of whom is Harry Lloyd (christened Hardress Llewellyn Lloyd), frontman and singer-songwriter of the band Waiting For Smith.
Influences
In a 2016 interview with the
spiritual ''Beshara Magazine'', Lloyd talked about the process of
self-knowledge, and explained his interest in the Indian
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Nisargadatta Maharaj (born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli; 17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981) was an Indian guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Lingayat Shaivis ...
's book ''I Am That'' and in
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
mysticism, particularly the works of the writer, thinker and Sufi teacher
Idries Shah.
On BBC radio's
Desert Island Discs', he chose ''The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are'', by
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
.
Awards
Books
* ''Not! The Nine O'Clock News''
* ''Not 1982'' (Calendar)
* ''Not 1983'' (Calendar)
* ''Not the Royal Wedding''
* ''Not the General Election''
* ''
The Meaning of Liff
''The Meaning of Liff'' (UK Edition: , US Edition: ) is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983 and the United States in 1984.
Content
The book is a " ...
'' (1983, with
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
)
* ''The Deeper Meaning of Liff'' (1990, with Douglas Adams)
* ''The Appallingly Disrespectful Spitting Image Book''
* ''Spitting Image''
* ''Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917'' (2000, with
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...
and
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...
)
* ''
The Book of General Ignorance
''The Book of General Ignorance'' is the first in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game '' QI'', written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson, '' (2006, with
John Mitchinson and the QI Elves)
* ''
The Book of Animal Ignorance
''The Book of Animal Ignorance'' is the second title in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game '' QI'', written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson. It is a trivia book, consisting largely of ...
'' (2007, with John Mitchinson and the QI Elves)
* ''The QI Annual E''
ditor(2007, with various authors)
* ''
Advanced Banter'' (2008, with John Mitchinson and the QI Elves)
* ''The QI Annual F''
o-editor(2008, with John Mitchinson
o-editorand various authors)
* ''The QI Annual G''
ditor(2009, with various authors)
* ''
The QI Book of the Dead'' (2009, with John Mitchinson and the QI Elves)
* ''If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People? Smart Quotes for Dumb Times'' (2009, with John Mitchinson)
* ''
The Second Book of General Ignorance
''The Second Book of General Ignorance'' is the fifth in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game '' QI'', written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson. It is the second book ...
'' (2010, with John Mitchinson and the QI Elves)
* ''
1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off'' (2012, with John Mitchinson,
James Harkin and the QI Elves)
* ''Afterliff'' (2013, with
Jon Canter
Jon Canter is an English television comedy writer for Lenny Henry and other leading comedians. Canter was born and brought up in the Jewish community of Golders Green, North London and studied law at the University of Cambridge, where he became P ...
)
* ''1,339 QI Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop'' (2013, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin and the QI Elves)
* ''1,411 QI Facts To Knock You Sideways'' (2014, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin and the QI Elves)
* ''1,234 QI Facts to Leave You Speechless'' (2015, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin and the QI Elves)
* ''The Third Book of General Ignorance'' (2015, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin,
Andrew Hunter Murray and the QI Elves)
* ''1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted'' (2016, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin,
Anne Miller and the QI Elves)
* ''1,423 QI Facts to Bowl You Over'' (2017, with John Mitchinson, James Harkin, Anne Miller and the QI Elves)
* ''2,024 QI Facts To Stop You in Your Tracks'' (2018, with James Harkin, Anne Miller and the QI Elves)
* ''Funny You Should Ask... Your Questions Answered by the QI Elves'' (2020, with the QI Elves)
* ''Funny You Should Ask... Again'' (2021, with the QI Elves)
References
External links
*
*
*
The People Behind QIThe Idler Archives — Conversations: John Lloyd(with John Mitchinson) discussin
John Lloyd ''
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...
'', BBC.
Meet The Writers Monocle 24 talking to
Georgina Godwin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, John
1951 births
Academics of Solent University
Advertising directors
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
BBC radio producers
BBC television producers
British male television writers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
English male writers
English radio presenters
English radio producers
English radio writers
English television directors
English television producers
English television writers
Living people
People educated at The King's School, Canterbury
People from Dover, Kent