Dave Spikey
as the
Narrator
Manchester

Dave Spikey is one of the most sought-after comedy talents in the UK with numerous TV appearances to his name as a stand-up comedian, presenter, actor and acclaimed comedy writer.

Early in his career he presented ITV's legendary game show Chain Letters, whilst continuing to hold down his day job as chief biomedical scientist at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

In 1997 Dave met fellow Boltonian Peter Kay and sharing a similar style and approach to comedy, they went on to form a formidable partnership. Together with Neil Fitzmaurice they wrote Mad for the A6, then contributed to The Services for Channel 4's Comedy Lab. Shortly after came Channel 4's hit series That Peter Kay Thing, awarded Best New TV Comedy at the British Comedy Awards in 2000.

Inspired by this success Dave finally took the plunge and gave up the day job! Within 12 months he'd fulfilled his dream of co-writing and co-starring in a TV comedy with Channel 4's modern masterpiece Phoenix Nights.

In this truly stellar year, Dave received his second British Comedy Award with Phoenix Nights and he himself earned a nomination for Best Comedy Newcomer for his inimitable portrayal of Jerry The Saint' St Clair. As Phoenix Nights mania continued to sweep the nation, it also won the Situation Comedy and Comedy Drama Award at the RTS Programme Awards, and was nominated for a prestigious BAFTA.

Following this phenomenal success, Dave embarked on his debut Overnight Success tour. Garnering rave reviews, this served to underline Dave's reputation as a first-class live performer, picking up a Performance of the Year (Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards) and Best Comedy Performance (Leicester Mercury Awards). The hit show was recorded by Universal and released on DVD, quickly receiving a gold disc.

In November 2005, Dave appeared as a guest on Parkinson and also performed before Her Majesty at The Royal Variety Performance , allowing him to fulfil two lifelong ambitions within one momentous week! He then embarked on his second nationwide tour with his brand new show Living the Dream.

As a solo writer, Dave wrote and co-starred in ITV's prime-time comedy Dead Man Weds. Set in the offices of a rural newspaper it starred Dave as a washed-up former Fleet Street journalist alongside an all-star cast including Johnny Vegas, Tim Healy and Michael Brandon. The Sunday Mirror described it as "laugh-out-loud brilliant and already on the way to becoming ITV's finest sitcom".

Dave went on to write and co-star in Magnolia for BBC1's Comedy Playhouse and, more recently, he starred as team captain on Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats. In 2006 Dave was selected to present the new series of classic game show Bullseye and, despite his reservations at filling Jim Bowen's legendary shoes, he proved to be a natural in the role, with The Times describing him as "perfect pitch...a worthy inheritor of the Bowen mantle".

2008-2009 has been devoted to touring his biggest and best show - the Best Medicine tour, which had played in over a hundred theatres by the time it finished in November this year. The DVD of the tour has just been released, as has Dave's hilarious first book, He Took My Kidney Then Broke My Heart, which went on sale October 1st.