Nigel Planer – författare

'Beautifully written, deliciously evocative, funny and touching'STEPHEN FRY 'A thermometer up the Khyber Pass of Comedy, expertly administered'RICHARD E GRANTAged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born . . . Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot-éclair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.'Nigel's true-life adventures would make Neil from The Young Ones crap his loons'BEN ELTON'YOUNG ONCE is delicious . . .The very funny life of an icon of British comedy, brilliantly portrayed'JO BRAND

Aged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born . . . Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot-éclair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.

From a cheerful widow in Chicago to a Killing Fields tour guide in Cambodia, from a teacher in Cuba to a Minister of Information in India, people are invariably more interesting and multi-faceted than they at first appear - if you are prepared to give them time and listen to their stories.Years of listening and travelling have been condensed into Nigel Planer's new poetry collection, which - as well as having an enormous cast list of people from all around the world - has poems which are personal, emotional, raw, and sometimes plain silly.

'Beautifully written, deliciously evocative, funny and touching'STEPHEN FRY 'A thermometer up the Khyber Pass of Comedy, expertly administered'RICHARD E GRANTAged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born . . . Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot-éclair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.'Nigel's true-life adventures would make Neil from The Young Ones crap his loons'BEN ELTON'YOUNG ONCE is delicious . . .The very funny life of an icon of British comedy, brilliantly portrayed'JO BRAND

Aged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born . . . Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot- clair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.

High up on the wooden scaffolding tower of the Sistine Chapel, two fresco plasterers get on with the day’s work preparing the ceiling for their boss Michelangelo who has not bothered to turn up for work again. As they do so, they bemoan the uselessness of the great master. Pope Julius and Cardinal Alidosi visit the chapel to inspect the progress of their commission. They are never very impressed, and the Pope is more concerned about getting Michelangelo to do his funeral monument at a knock-down price. ‘On the Ceiling’ is not about great artists; it is about those people whose names don’t go down in history: the ones who do the essential drudge work, their frustration at their lack of genius and their pride in their own technical expertise. In this version of events, low elements combine to make high art. Starring Phil Daniels as Lapo, Bryan Dick as Loti, Gary Waldhorn as Pope Julius and Roger Lloyd Pack as Cardinal Alidosi. Directed by Mary Peate. ‘On the Ceiling’ was originally broadcast as the ‘Afternoon Play’ on 7 February 2009 and repeated on 11 December 2010.

At the heart of this explosive BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama are two morally opposed characters, both in love with the same woman, who has just - tragically - died. Originally broadcast as the ''Afternoon Play'' on 22 March 2011, The Magnificent Andrea is the first original radio play by Nigel Planer (''The Young Ones'', ''Hairspray''), in which two wonderful characters, Barry (Roger Allam) and Nigel (Nigel Planer), collide and wrestle over the memory of their shared inspirational warrior woman - and of course, her home. Andrea''s former husband, boozy columnist Barry, is at the tail end of a career marked by low achievement in pugnacious, snide journalism. By contrast, Nigel - recent partner until her sudden death - is an alternative but ultra-orthodox, politically-correct naturopath. We join Barry after a typically hearty breakfast on his way from Chelsea to attend the funeral in South London, where he confronts his squeaky-clean nemesis Nigel. The lugubrious Barry is appalled at the ceremony, and it is while milling outside that the basically decent Nigel makes the mistake of inviting Barry back to the house - Barry''s house - for the reception. There the fireworks really start... ''The Magnificent Andrea'' also stars Sally Orrock, Brian Bowles, Jane Whittenshaw, Sam Dale, Joanna Monro and Stuart McLoughlin.

Nigel Planer has been writing poetry for over fifty years. Now he has corralled many of his poems into one volume, Making Other Plans - as in 'poetry is what happens when you're busy making other plans.' This collection forms a poetic memoir, richly articulating humorous and serious observations on life, love, ageing, society and the human condition, recounted with emotional tenderness and warranted vexation.

As Jeremiah Bourne is swept from his crumbling home in Blackfriars in 2019 to the same house in 1910, he suddenly faces two questions: how did he get here, and how can he return to his own time?On his quest for answers, he encounters a cast of comic characters and situations: a coven of free-thinking spiritualists, a futuristic residents’ association, warring street gangs, eugenic scientists, aggressive domestic servants and a nudist magistrate. As events unfold, Jeremiah begins to wonder whether there could be a link between his time-travelling and his mother’s mysterious disappearance many years ago. Now he must work out who he can trust to help him look for her.Nigel Planer’s electrifying novel takes a new and exciting look at the possibility of time travel as it catapults you into a thrilling journey across London and through time.

As Jeremiah Bourne is swept from his crumbling home in Blackfriars in 2019 to the same house in 1910, he suddenly faces two questions: how did he get here, and how can he return to his own time?On his quest for answers, he encounters a cast of comic characters and situations: a coven of free-thinking spiritualists, a futuristic residents’ association, warring street gangs, eugenic scientists, aggressive domestic servants and a nudist magistrate. As events unfold, Jeremiah begins to wonder whether there could be a link between his time-travelling and his mother’s mysterious disappearance many years ago. Now he must work out who he can trust to help him look for her.Nigel Planer’s electrifying novel takes a new and exciting look at the possibility of time travel as it catapults you into a thrilling journey across London and through time.