Kevin Brian Bishop (born 18 June 1980) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins in ''

Muppet Treasure Island ''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American musical swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson. It is the fifth theatrical film in ''The Muppets'' franchise. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson, ...

'', Stupid Brian in ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'', and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 revival of ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'', and as star of ''

The Kevin Bishop Show ''The Kevin Bishop Show'' is a sketch comedy written by and starring English comedian Kevin Bishop, part of the '' Star Stories'' team. The show was commissioned by Channel 4 for a six-part series starting on 25 July 2008 at 10 p.m. A pilot was ...

'', which he co-wrote with Lee Hupfield.

Life and career

Bishop's first role was in ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running program ...

''. His second role, at age 16, was as Ben Quayle in ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel ...

''. He played Stupid Brian in three episodes of ''

''. He starred in ''

'' as Jim Hawkins. In 2002, he played Dick in the pantomime, ''Dick Whittington''. In 2005, he portrayed the late comedian

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

onstage in '' Pete and Dud: Come Again'', a drama charting Moore's turbulent relationship with

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

, which debuted at the Assembly Rooms as part of the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

before transferring to The Venue in London's West End in March 2006. In August 2007 he appeared as the title character in

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 ...

's satirical spoof documentary "

Being Tom Cruise "The Church of Scientology Presents: Being Tom Cruise, Why Scientology Isn't In Any Way Mental" is a satirical spoof documentary from the series ''Star Stories'', parodying the life of Tom Cruise and his relationship with the Church of Scientolo ...

", a spin-off of '' Star Stories''. In September 2014, Bishop appeared in the one-man show ''Fully Committed'' at the

Menier Chocolate Factory The Menier Chocolate Factory is a 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory at 53 Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borou ...

, in which he played forty characters. In 2013, Bishop appeared in the American comedy series '' Super Fun Night'', written by and starring Australian comedic actress

Rebel Wilson Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson (born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds; 2 March 1980) is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Tou ...

. The show ran for one season. In August 2016, Bishop starred in the revival of classic 1970s BBC sitcom ''

''. He played the role of Fletch, grandson of

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

's original main character, locked up for cyber-crime. Originally a one-off, the show was commissioned to full series in October 2016. The first series was broadcast in October 2017 on a 6-week run 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, ...

as well as the full series being released at the same time on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

. In 2016, Bishop played

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...

in a one-off BBC Two comedy series entitled ''Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back''. In 2017, Bishop became the speaking voice for 2-D, fictional lead singer of British

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guit ...

Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
BBC InterviewInterview with Kevin Bishop
myparkmag.co.uk
Interview
EcranLarge.com, 6 July 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Kevin 1980 births English male child actors English male comedians English comedy writers English male film actors English male musical theatre actors English male stage actors English male television actors English television writers Living people People from Orpington Male actors from London Musicians from Kent Male actors from Kent British male television writers