Marcus Berkmann (born 14 July 1960) is a journalist and author.

Life

Berkmann was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

and

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

. His younger brother is the DJ Justin Berkmann. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contributing to computer and gaming magazines such as '' Your Sinclair''. In the 1990s he had stints as television critic for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' and the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' and has written a monthly pop music column for '' The Spectator'' since 1987. With his schoolfriend Harry Thompson, he scripted the BBC Radio comedy '' Lenin of the Rovers''. He came to prominence with his book, ''

Rain Men Marcus Berkmann (born 14 July 1960) is a journalist and author. Life Berkmann was educated at Highgate School and Worcester College, Oxford. His younger brother is the DJ Justin Berkmann. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contribut ...

'' (1995), which humorously chronicles the formation and adventures of his own

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

touring team, the Captain Scott Invitation XI. Berkmann has continued to write newspaper and cricket magazine columns, such as the ''Last Man In'' column on the back page of '' Wisden Cricket Monthly'', while producing a number of critically well-received humorous books. In ''Brain Men'' (1999), he applied his sardonic observations to the world of pub quizzes, and takes the same approach to ''Fatherhood'' (2005). Later in 2005, he released the book '' Zimmer Men'', as a sort of sequel to ''Rain Men'', describing his next team, and his transition into middle age with cricket. He is also credited as one of the writing team of the BBC Three comedy show '' Monkey Dust'', and compiles the "Dumb Britain" column in ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' magazine. In 2009, he set up the quiz company Brain Men with Stephen Arkell and Chris Pollikett. His book ''A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis'' was serialised by BBC Radio 4 in its '' Book of the Week'' slot during 2012. In the same year, he replaced

Fred Housego Fred Housego (born 25 October 1944, Dundee, Scotland) is a former London taxi driver who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz ''Mastermind'' in 1980. He did not give up his taxi licence when ...

as Marcel Berlins' partner on '' Round Britain Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. A fan of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' since its first British screening by the BBC in 1969, his book on the franchise, ''Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek'', aimed at the general reader, was published in March 2016.

Bibliography

* * ''Other People: Portraits From The 90s'' with

D. J. Taylor David John Taylor (born 1960) is a British critic, novelist and biographer. After attending school in Norwich, he read Modern History at St John's College, Oxford, and has received the 2003 Whitbread Biography Award for his biography of Geo ...

(Bloomsbury, 1990) * ''Rain Men: The Madness of Cricket'' (Little, Brown, 1995) * ''Brain Men: A Passion to Compete'' (Little, Brown, 1999) * ''Fatherhood: The Truth'' (Vermilion, 2005) * ''Zimmer Men: The Trials and Tribulations of the Ageing Cricketer'' (Little, Brown, 2005) * ''The Prince of Wales (Highgate) Quiz Book'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 2006)
"iPod dilemma"
'' The Spectator'' 308/9397 (4 October 2008) : 53 * ''Ashes to Ashes'' (Little, Brown, 2009) * ''A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis'' (Little, Brown, 2012) * ''Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek'' (Little, Brown, 2016) * ''Berkmann's Cricketing Miscellany'' (Little, Brown, 2019)

References

External links

Marcus Berkmann index
at ''The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years'' website, listing reviews and articles written by Marcus for '' Your Sinclair''
Brainmen website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkmann, Marcus 1960 births Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Cricket historians and writers Daily Mail journalists Living people People educated at Highgate School Private Eye contributors The Spectator people Writers from London