Ian Martin (born 1953) is an English comedy writer. [1] Martin was a writer for the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It . [2] He was famously hired as "swearing consultant" [3] [4] [5] in 2005 by the show's creator, Armando Iannucci, [6] for Series 1 of the political satire and went on to become a full member of the writing team. [7] He won an Emmy for his writing across five series of Veep and was BAFTA nominated for co-writing The Death of Stalin . [8] [9]
Martin was born in London and has lived in Lancaster since 1988.[ citation needed ]
Ian Martin edits the satirical website martian.fm. [10] He is a weekly columnist for the Architects' Journal [11] and a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper. [12] Other credits include writing additional material for the 2009 Oscar-nominated film In the Loop, the 2007 Armando Iannucci-created series Time Trumpet [13] and several series of the radio show Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive .
He is the author of The Coalition Chronicles (2011), [14] a satirical and scatalogical account of a year in the parliamentary life of the Coalition government. [14] He was a leading contributor to The Missing DoSAC Files (2010). [15]
On 9 June 2014, Ian Martin gave a lecture at the Royal Academy in an evening event hosted by writer and broadcaster Patrick Wright as part of the 2014 Festival of Architecture. [7]
Martin was a writer and supervising producer for the HBO series Veep , [16] [17] [18] having written on five seasons [19] [20] [21] and having acted the role of Dave Wickford in Season 2. [22] In 2014 Armando Iannucci described Ian Martin in The Washington Post as being “very good at making the language of political debate suddenly become nonsensical.” [23]
Martin's radio play The Hartlepool Spy, concerning the Hartlepool monkey, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018, with a cast including Michael Palin, Vic Reeves, Toby Jones, Gina McKee and Monica Dolan. [24]
Martin is married with two children and four grandchildren, at least two of whom live in Seoul. [25] [ citation needed ]
In August 2015, Martin endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. He wrote in The Guardian : "To win over public opinion, Labour must reflect it. Is that right? I think that's right. I think that's why they're all doing this synchronised frowning at poor repellent-ebullient Jeremy Corbyn and pretending he's a weirdo." [26]
Christopher J. Morris is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his "uncompromising, moralistic drive".
Alan Bennett is an English playwright, author, actor and screenwriter. Over his entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for his film The Madness of King George (1994). In 2005 he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award.
Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has appeared in media including radio and television series, books, podcasts and a feature film.
Stephen John Coogan is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which he developed while working with Armando Iannucci on On the Hour and The Day Today. Partridge has featured in several television series and the 2013 film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 1999, he co-founded the production company Baby Cow Productions with Henry Normal. For his work he has garnered numerous accolades including four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award.
Armando Giovanni Iannucci 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 Oxford. Starting on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today.
Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series Z-Cars (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness. He also wrote the screenplay for the original version of The Italian Job (1969).
Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Jon Holmes is a British comedian, writer, presenter and broadcaster known for his work on such programmes as The Skewer,The Now Show, Listen Against, along with both music and spoken word radio. He has appeared on numerous television programmes.
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 small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012.
Jesse David Armstrong is a British screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-creating the British comedy shows Peep Show (2003–2015) and Fresh Meat (2011–2016) alongside his writing partner Sam Bain, and for creating the American comedy-drama series Succession (2018–2023).
Justin Matthew Edwards is an English actor and writer.
William James Smith is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer.
Veep is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom The Thick of It. The protagonist of Veep is Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice President of the United States. The series follows Meyer and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy but often instead become mired in day-to-day political games.
In the Loop is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is a spin-off from Iannucci's BBC Television series The Thick of It (2005–12), and satirises Anglo-American politics, in particular the invasion of Iraq. At the 82nd Academy Awards the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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 and its film spin-off In the Loop.
Simon John Blackwell is an English comedy writer and producer. He is best known for his work on The Thick of It, In The Loop and Veep, and for his collaborations with Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on Peep Show, Four Lions and The Old Guys. Blackwell is the creator of the comedy series Back, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as Breeders, starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard.
Sean Gray is a British comedy writer, producer and director. He is known for his work on the HBO series Veep, the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and the feature film The Day Shall Come. He is a two-time Emmy-winner and Golden Globe-nominee.
Kevin Loader is a British film and television producer. Since 1996, he and co-owner Roger Michell have run a London-based production company, Free Range Films, through which the pair have made several feature films directed by Michell, including The Mother, Enduring Love, Venus, Hyde Park on Hudson, and Le Week-end. Their most recent film is an adaptation by Michell of Daphne Du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel. The company is also developing and producing film and television projects with other directors. Loader was awarded the Bafta for Best Television Serial in 2015 for The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.
Kenneth Charles Loach is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialism are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty, homelessness, and labour rights.
Natalie Bailey is a screenwriter and director, known for her work on TV series in the UK, US and Australia.