Mark Evans is a Welsh comedy writer, director and actor.

Early life

Evans was raised in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and read Classics at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He joined 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 ...

, where he became president, and met writing partner

James Bachman James Hamilton Bachman (born 24 February 1972) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He has written for and acted in many British television and radio programmes, including ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'', ''Saxondale'', ''Bleak Expectati ...

and also

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

. After an unsuccessful stint as a stand-up comedian, he decided to switch to screenwriting.

Career

Television

Evans' big break came when he was asked to write for

Jack Docherty John Docherty (born 1962) is a Scottish writer, actor, presenter and producer. Career He first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers which he formed with George Watson's College schoolfriends ...

's eponymous show ''

The Jack Docherty Show ''The Jack Docherty Show'' was a weeknightly comedy chat show which first aired on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom between 30 March 1997 and 23 June 1999. Presented by comedian Jack Docherty, the programme was one of the first to air on the chan ...

''. His most notable work was for

Mitchell and Webb Mitchell and Webb are a British comedy double act, composed of David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They are best known for starring in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show'' and their radio and TV sketch shows '' That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' and '' ...

's radio show ''

That Mitchell and Webb Sound ''That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' is a comedy sketch show on BBC Radio 4 which started on 28 August 2003. A second series was broadcast in 2005 with a third starting on 24 May 2007. The series became adapted for television as '' That Mitchell and ...

'' and its award-winning television adaptation ''

That Mitchell and Webb Look ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'' is a British sketch comedy television show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that ran from 2006 to 2010. Many of its characters and sketches were first featured in the duo's radio show ''That Mitchell and W ...

''. Some of his other credits include ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), an ...

'' (2002–2003), ''

Popetown ''Popetown'' is a French-British adult animated sitcom, billed by its producers as "''Father Ted'' meets ''South Park''". The series was internationally controversial, and was not screened by BBC Three, the channel which commissioned it. Outli ...

'' (2005) and ''

The Late Edition ''The Late Edition'' is a British television programme broadcast on BBC Four. It takes the form of a weekly topical chat show in the vein of ''The Daily Show'', presented by comedian Marcus Brigstocke. Each episode typically features comical ne ...

'' (2006). He has also appeared in ''

'' as various minor characters, ''

Saxondale ''Saxondale'' is an English television situation comedy programme, starring Steve Coogan and co-written by Coogan and Neil Maclennan. The series is directed by Matt Lipsey and produced by Ted Dowd. Coogan and Henry Normal served as executive pr ...

'', the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

programme ''

Sorry, I've Got No Head ''Sorry, I've Got No Head'' was a CBBC children's sketch comedy television series. The programme's cast originally consisted of William Andrews, David Armand, James Bachman, Marcus Brigstocke, Anna Crilly, Justin Edwards, Mark Evans, Mel G ...

'' and various commercials.

Radio

He wrote the popular

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' ...

comedy series ''

Bleak Expectations ''Bleak Expectations'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series that premiered in August 2007. It is a pastiche of the works of Charles Dickens – such as ''Bleak House'' and '' Great Expectations'', from which it derives its name – as well as adventu ...

'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. It was adapted into a four episode TV series in late 2011, ''

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff ''The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff'' is a four-part comedy series produced by BBC, which premiered on BBC Two on 19 December 2011. It is a parody of the works of Charles Dickens, drawing its title from ''Bleak House'' and ''The Old Curiosity Shop''. ...

''. On 6 May 2008, he and long-time writing partner

recorded the pilot of their

comedy ''Zoom'', starring

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

Carla Mendonca Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include: * Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United * Carla Abe ...

, and

Jon Glover Jonathan Philip Glover (born 26 December 1952) is an English actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including '' Play School'', '' Survivors'', the Management consultant in '' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', '' Casual ...

, with a special guest appearance by

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

as himself.

Books

In November 2012, Constable & Robinson published Evans' novel based on ''Bleak Expectations''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Mark Welsh male television actors Alumni of the University of Cambridge Living people 1973 births Welsh comedy writers Welsh male radio actors