 Though he has trod a less successful path than former cohorts like Rik Mayall
and Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer is arguably one of the more talented actors
to have emerged from the Comic Strip/Young Ones generation.
Born on 22 February 1953 in Fulham, after a miserable experience at Sussex
University he went to drama school, where he appeared in plays directed by
fellow student Stephen Poliakoff. At the same school was Peter Richardson, an
acquaintance from teenage years. The two began a writing partnership, along with
Pete Richens. By 1980, the two were regularly appearing at Soho's Comedy Store
as double act The Outer Limits. The act was an extension of work the two had
been performing since the mid-1970s, involving multiple characters and musical
comedy. Planer's character Neil, a chronically depressed hippy with folk
ambitions but little discernible talent, emerged from this period.
Spotted at the Comedy Store by off-duty BBC producer Paul Jackson, Planer
found himself selected (without Richardson) to appear on Boom Boom... Out Go the
Lights (BBC, tx. 14/10/1980), the first television showcase of what was now
becoming known as 'alternative comedy'. His appearance led directly to The Young
Ones (BBC, 1982 & 84), in which he successfully carved out space for his
Neil character alongside the more showy performances of Mayall and Edmondson.
Such was Neil's popularity that he even had an unlikely hit single, with his
engagingly duff 1984 cover of Traffic's 'Hole in My Shoe'. Meanwhile, he also
appeared in the considerably more mainstream ITV comedy Shine on, Harvey Moon
(1982-85), as devious spiv Lou Lewis, a role he reprised when the series
unexpectedly returned in 1995.
For the remainder of the 1980s, he balanced assorted alt-comedy projects -
including Filthy Rich and Catflap (BBC, 1987), The Comic Strip Presents...
(Channel 4, 1982-86; BBC, 1990-93; Channel 4, 1993, 2005) and Richardson's
spin-off features The Supergrass (1985) and Eat the Rich (1987) - with a variety
of very different assignments, including inoffensive ITV sitcom Roll over
Beethoven (1985), comic drama King and Castle (ITV, 1968-88) and Dennis Potter's
notorious Blackeyes (BBC, 1989).
In 1990, he introduced a new character, Nicholas Craig, a beautifully
observed parody of thespian self-importance, for the five-part BBC series
Nicholas Craig - The Naked Actor (1990), a series of lectures on stagecraft. The
character would make a number of further appearances over the next two years,
and was followed by a role in another theatrical satire, Simon Gray's Unnatural
Pursuits (BBC, tx. 7 & 9/12/1993). Meanwhile, he gave new voice to The Magic
Roundabout (Channel 4, 1992-93), as well as providing scripts for a series of
newly rediscovered episodes of the classic French animation.
Following an unsatisfying school sitcom, Bonjour la Classe (BBC, 1993), he
reappeared in sharp ITV comedy The Grimleys (1999-2001). In latter years, he has
increasingly embraced musical roles, with another opera update by Tony Britten,
Puccini's La Bohème (Channel 5, tx. 15/4/2001) and, on stage, former alternative
comedy comrade Ben Elton's We Will Rock You. In September 2005, his own first
stage play, On the Ceiling, opened in London.
Mark Duguid
Official Website:
nigelplaner.co.uk
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FILM & TV CREDITS
