Tony Roche is an English television, radio and film comedy writer and producer, best known as a writer of the HBO comedy ''
Veep'', the BBC Television series ''
The Thick of It
''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of British government. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a smal ...
'' and its film spin-off ''
In the Loop''.
He is credited with inventing the word
omnishambles
Omnishambles is a neologism first used in the BBC political satire ''The Thick of It'' in 2009. The word is compounded from the Latin prefix ''omni-'', meaning "all", and the word ''shambles'', a term for a situation of total disorder. Origina ...
, which was named 2012 Word of the Year by the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
.
Stand-up and radio
After graduating from
Warwick University
, mottoeng = Mind moves matter
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £7.0 million (2021)
, budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...
with a degree in English, Roche became a
stand-up comedian using material from a magazine he had produced in his final year. He was spotted at one of his stand-up comedy shows and asked to write jokes and topical sketches for radio.
Roche's first radio assignment was writing for ''
The Alan Davies Show'' radio programme and for John Shuttleworth on
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' ...
. He created the series ''
World of Pub'' for BBC Radio, and later adapted it for television. He also worked on the radio series ''
The Sunday Format'',
Television
Working with the creator of ''The Sunday Format'',
John Morton, Roche co-created its television equivalent ''
Broken News
''Broken News'' is a comedy programme shown on BBC Two in late 2005. The show poked fun at the world of 24-hour rolling news channels. The title of the show is a play on the phrase "breaking news". It had six thirty-minute episodes. Having previo ...
''. After making his move to television, Roche joined the writing team for
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...
's ''
Gash'', a satirical TV comedy for
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 ...
. He later contributed to ''
The Thick of It
''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of British government. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a smal ...
'', Iannucci's political satire set in the fictional government Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship. The first series debuted 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 2005, and became a critical success. Roche wrote for all four series of the programme, as well as its spin-off film ''
'' for Channel 4.
'', a fictionalised account of the controversy surrounding the 1979 release of ''
.
'' to defend ''Life of Brian''. Roche's re-imagining of the event received criticism for its inaccuracies, including from former
John Cleese who was cited to have seen the script and commented that he was "disappointed by its content" because it was "not a fair reflection of the facts". Roche defended his reasons for writing the film as he did in an article in ''
'', stating: "The film isn’t an accurate re-telling of what happened. It doesn’t pay much attention to the facts. (Sorry.) Instead, it uses the story to discuss the nature of offence. Why did so many people get so offended?"
Roche was a writer and
.
.
Tony is currently working as an Executive Producer and Staff Writer for HBO's
.