Hugh Dennis

Hugh Dennis

Dennis during a radio recording of
The Now Show, 2008
Birth name Peter Hugh Dennis
Born (1962-02-13) 13 February 1962[1]
Kettering, Northamptonshire, England
Medium Stand-up, Television, Radio
Nationality English
Alma mater University College School
St John's College, Cambridge
Years active 1980s – present
Genres Political satire, Improvisational comedy, Insult comedy
Subject(s) British politics, Family, Current events
Influences Steve Punt, Rowan Atkinson, Eddie Izzard
Spouse Miranda Carroll (1987–93)
Kate Abbot-Anderson (1996–present)
Children Freddie Dennis
Meg Dennis
Notable works and roles The Mary Whitehouse Experience
Mock the Week
Outnumbered
The Now Show
Not Going Out

Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, actor, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for being one half of Punt and Dennis with comedy partner Steve Punt, and playing Pete Brockman, the father in the BBC One sitcom Outnumbered. Since 2005, Dennis has been a regular panellist on the BBC Two satirical comedy show Mock the Week.

Early life

Dennis, the younger of two boys, was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire,[2] the son of schoolteacher Dorothy M. (Hinnels) and John D. Dennis.[3] His brother, also named John, is currently the British Ambassador to Angola.[3] He grew up in Mill Hill in North London as his father was appointed as parish priest of Mill Hill soon after his birth. His father later became the Bishop of Knaresborough and then of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich.[4] Dennis was educated at University College School in London. During his time at UCS, he played rugby with Will Self and was head boy in his final year.[5]

Subsequently, Dennis went on to read the Geography Tripos as an exhibitioner at St John's College, Cambridge. His dissertation was titled "The Spatial Distribution of Elementary Education in 19th-century Wakefield".[6] He also joined the Footlights, where he first met Punt and club president Nick Hancock and the trio collaborated on a number of projects besides the annual revue.[7]

After graduating with a first,[4] Dennis worked for Unilever for six years in the marketing department while performing comedy with Punt at venues including The Comedy Store on the weekends.[8][9] The duo then formed half of the team of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on BBC Radio 1. Dennis uses his middle name Hugh as his stage name because Equity already had a Peter Dennis when he first started.[10]

When the BBC commissioned the series for BBC Two, Dennis took a sabbatical as the rehearsal days changed to weekdays and eventually went into comedy full-time.[6] While in his final year of university, he was approached by a member of the intelligence services and was invited to London for interview at which time he decided he did not want to take the matter further.[6]

Radio and television career

While an impressionist, Dennis did voices for Spitting Image[11] and appeared with Punt as resident support comics on two TV series hosted on the BBC by Jasper Carrott.[12][13] Dennis also appeared twice as a contestant on the topical panel show Have I Got News for You, including one opposite former schoolmate Self.

Punt and Dennis' radio career includes over a decade of performing Punt and Dennis, It's Been a Bad Week, The Party Line and the satirical radio comedy show, The Now Show. On The Now Show , Dennis is in a line-up including Punt, Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Marcus Brigstocke. He is friends with Chris Morris and has had cameos on Brass Eye as well as doing the narration for the CBBC show Sam and Mark's Guide To Dodging Disasters.

In December 2009, Dennis joined Oz Clarke in presenting the 60-minute Christmas special Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas broadcast on BBC Two.[14] In December 2010 the pair returned for a four-part series called Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar, which puts them in a competition to create a bar featuring only local British food and drinks.[15]

Dennis has starred in a number of sitcoms, including My Hero in which he played obnoxious GP Piers Crispin. From 2007 to 2014, he starred in Outnumbered, a semi-improvised sitcom based around family life[16] and won a BAFTA nomination in the comedy category for the 2009 Christmas special.[17]

Besides his regular television work, Dennis is a panellist on Mock the Week and has appeared in every episode since its inception. He is a regular guest on various BBC-broadcast comedy panel game shows such as They Think It's All Over, Would I Lie To You?, QI and has guest hosted Have I Got News for You. In 2011, Dennis hosted the short-lived improvisational comedy series Fast and Loose.

Beginning on 16 February 2012, Dennis and Julia Bradbury hosted a four-part BBC One documentary series The Great British Countryside'.[6]

Personal life

Dennis lives in London. He separated from his second wife, Catherine ("Kate") Abbot-Anderson (m 1996) in 2015.[18] They have a son, Freddie (born 1997) and a daughter Meg (born 1999).[4][19] His first marriage to Miranda Carroll ended in divorce in 1993.

In July 2008, Dennis received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Northampton.[20]

Dennis took part in the 2007 L'Étape du Tour, cycling an open stage of the Tour de France for amateurs which was held in the mountains 2 weeks before the main event. This was discussed in the fifth series of Mock the Week and also QI series six, episode 5 'France'. He started in 2,400th place of 8,000 entrants, finishing in 3,400th from 4,000 who completed it, five hours behind the winner. In October 2011, Dennis completed the Great South Run in Portsmouth for the Alzheimers Society.

Dennis was the subject of the BBC One programme Who Do You Think You Are? (broadcast on 12 September 2012) in which he tries to find out more about his two grandfathers and their backgrounds.[21] His paternal great-grandfather was a miner at Kiveton Park Colliery near Sheffield whose younger son, Dennis' grandfather, served as an officer during World War I and was coincidentally trained at Dennis' alma mater St John's College. His maternal grandfather also served in France during the Great War and was in the Suffolk Regiment. Dennis has one brother, John David Dennis, who is a career diplomat, currently serving as the British Ambassador to Angola.[22] Hugh Dennis is a supporter of Arsenal F.C..[23]

Filmography

Year Show Role Notes
1989–1991 Spitting Image Various characters Voice only
1991–1992 The Mary Whitehouse Experience Various characters Co-creator/writer
1992 Me, You and Him Harry Dunstan Co-creator
A Word in Your Era Prince John 1 episode
Springing Lenin Peter TV Short
1994 The Easter Stories Gardener 1 episode
1994-1995 The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show Various characters 12 episodes
1996 The Detectives Seth 1 episode
1997 Brass Eye Dr Balb Kubrox 1 episode
2000 Doctors Nick Browning 1 episode
Jack Dee's Happy Hour Jed Cake Voice only; 8 episodes
2000–2006 My Hero Dr Piers Crispin
2002 TV to Go Various characters Series 2
2005– Mock the Week Himself, regular panellist
2007–2014, 2016 Outnumbered Pete Brockman Series Regular
2009 QI Himself, guest panellist 2 episodes
2009 New Tricks Tony Granville 1 episode
Hotel Babylon Jim Doody 1 episode
2011 Fast and Loose Himself Host
2013 Agatha Christie's Marple Major Philphott "Endless Night"[24]
2014– Over to Bill[25] Bill Onion
2014– Not Going Out Toby Also portrayed Captain Morris in 1 episode
2015 Ballot Monkeys Martin Frost
2016 Insert Name Here Guest panellist
Drunk History (UK TV series) Napoleon/Richard III 2 episodes
2016 Fleabag Bank Manager 3 episodes
2017 Taskmaster Contestant 8 Episodes

References

  1. ↑ {England and Wales Birth Index 1916–2005}
  2. ↑ Sheridan, Peter (19 February 2011). "Hugh Dennis was so boring I divorced him: Ex-wife reveals the ups and downs of being married to Outnumbered star". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Hugh Dennis: My family values". The Guardian. 16 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Hugh Dennis on working with the kids of Outnumbered". Daily Record. 26 December 2009.
  5. ↑ Have I Got News for You. Season 13. Episode 2. 25 April 1997. BBC Two.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Hugh Dennis: I'm a happy rambler". Radio Times. 16 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "In a taxi with...Hugh Dennis". Daily Mail. 10 July 2010.
  8. ↑ "Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts". BBC. 6 December 2010.
  9. ↑ "In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". The Independent. 3 July 1994.
  10. ↑ Hardwick, Viv (7 April 2007). "A headline act". The Northern Echo (Newsquest North East): p. 26.
  11. ↑ Deans, Jason (17 May 2004). "Spitting Image plans TV comeback". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  12. ↑ Rampton, James (3 July 1994). "Show people: In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". The Independent. London.
  13. ↑ "Impressions are back in fashion: The great pretenders". guardian.co.uk. 30 September 2003.
  14. ↑ "Oz And Hugh Drink To Christmas". BBC. 20 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  15. ↑ The BBC (21 December 2010). "Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar". BBC. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  16. ↑ "Outnumbered Press Pack". BBC. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  17. ↑ "BAFTA Awards 2009". Bafta.org. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  18. ↑ The mail online 7th July 2016
  19. ↑ Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005
  20. ↑ Hugh Dennis welcomed to The University of Northampton Northampton.ac.uk
  21. ↑ "Hugh Dennis" Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 5 of 10, Series 9. Broadcast 12 September 2102.
  22. ↑ UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office: News 19 September 2013.
  23. ↑ http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-06-16/hugh-dennis-on-being-a-complete-idiot-around-hugh-laurie
  24. ↑ "Filming begins on ITV's Agatha Christie Marple adaptation, Endless Night". ITV. 17 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Can Comedy Playhouse save the British sitcom?". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-05-02.

External links

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