Toby Foster (born 13 August 1969) is a British

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

, promoter and festival producer. He went to the

Barnburgh Barnburgh is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village is adjacent to the village of Harlington - the parish contains both villages, and according to the 2001 census it had a ...

Junior School, followed by Lacewood Primary School, Dearneside Comprehensive and Wath Comprehensive in Rotherham. He is the current host of

BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital television and via BBC Sounds from studios on Shoreham Street in Sheffield. According to RAJAR, the station ...

's breakfast programme. Foster is also a stand-up comedian, who promotes and comperes at Sheffield's Last Laugh comedy club, and was a founder member of the M.E.N.@Work team at Manchester's Comedy Store. He now runs his own company, Don't Shoot Productions Ltd., which runs comedy nights all over the north of England, as well as The Last Laugh Comedy Festival each October in Sheffield. He comperes the highly successful Last Laugh Comedy Club at Sheffield City Hall most weekends. He is perhaps better known to a wider audience as Les, one half of double-act Les Alanos, with Alan played by

Steve Edge Steve Edge (born 2 November 1972) is an English actor, writer and former stand-up comedian. He is most famous for his work on ''Starlings'', ''Phoenix Nights'', '' The Cup'', '' The Visit'', ''Peep Show'', '' Benidorm'' and the satirical maga ...

, in

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

's sitcom

Phoenix Nights ''Phoenix Nights'' is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series ''That Pete ...

, which he starred in from 2000–2002. He has also appeared in

That Peter Kay Thing ''That Peter Kay Thing'' is a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in 2000. It was written by Peter Kay, Dave Spikey, Neil Fitzmaurice and Gareth Hughes, and was directed by Andrew Gillman. The series was narrated by Andrew Sachs ...

and

Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere ''Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere'' is a British sitcom starring and written by Peter Kay and Patrick McGuinness. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and began on 12 November 2004, running for six 30-minute episodes up until 17 December 2004. A spin- ...

. He is affectionately referred to as "One-Take" Toby by friend and co-star Peter Kay, because of his belief that he never gets his lines wrong. Foster also played a character in the

Christmas Special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptation ...

of '' Extras'', credited as "Northern Comic", and featured in the mock Celebrity Big Brother show. In 2008, he worked on the British comedy film "Snappers" which was shot on location in Torbay. The film also stars

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, Matt Milburn, Tim Healy,

Suranne Jones Sarah Anne Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. She rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in ''Coronation Street'' between 2000 to 2004. Upon leaving, she furthered h ...

, Matt Slack and John Bowe, amongst others. Originally due for release in October 2008, this has now been shelved for legal reasons.

Television

Foster appeared in Channel 4's

as Les Campbell. His character formed one half of the club's backing band, Les Alanos (whose name they explain comes from the two members – "Les, Alan: us"). As the resident drummer, he was looking for a way into the entertainment business. From playing at the Phoenix Club, to staging a play with Alan and the local youth group (based on The Karate Kid), Les strove to make it in the business. Foster went on to work with comedian

on several projects, including

and

. Foster made a cameo as "Northern Comic" in the 2007 Christmas Special of

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

series '' Extras''. His character appeared as a contestant in the reality show

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

, alongside Gervais' Andy Millman,

Lionel Blair Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...

Lisa Scott-Lee Lisa Scott-Lee (born 5 November 1975) is a Welsh singer and member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003 although her success was limited after the release ...

and

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

contestant,

Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a British singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British c ...

. Since 2019, Foster has provided the narration for Yesterday Channel's Bangers and Cash, a factual entertainment programme following a family-run classic car auction in

Thornton le Dale Thornton-le-Dale (also called Thornton Dale) is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about east of Pickering on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The area of the village encompasses 39. ...

, North Yorkshire.

BBC Radio Sheffield

His current breakfast show is called Toby Foster at Breakfast (formally Toby Foster Bigger at Breakfast). The show is aired from 06:00-10:00 every weekday. He started on the afternoon show from 2 until 5pm, taking over from

Tony Capstick Joseph Anthony Capstick (27 July 1944 – 23 October 2003) was an English comedian, actor, musician and broadcaster. Life and career First son of Joe Capstick, a wireless operator in the RAF, and his wife, June, née Duncan, he was born in Roth ...

on 2 April 2002. He then worked with

Antonia Brickell Antonia Brickell is an experienced digital broadcaster, communications specialist, podcaster, public speaking trainer and voice-over artist. With a 17-year career in radio as a British radio personality, she presented (and produced) programmes fo ...

on a joint breakfast show in September 2004. He has been nominated for three Sony Radio Academy Awards. In 2004 he was nominated for The Entertainment Award, in 2010 Best Interview Award and in 2012 he was nominated for Sony Speech Broadcaster of the Year. Toby was suspended from Radio Sheffield in December 2013 after using an offensive word on his Twitter feed but returned in January 2014 after making a polite apology to his colleagues and the public.

References

External links

''Toby Foster at Breakfast''
(BBC Radio Sheffield) {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Toby Comedians from Yorkshire Male actors from Yorkshire English male comedians 1969 births British radio personalities People educated at Wath Academy Living people