Andrew Collins (broadcaster)
| Andrew Collins | |
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| Born | 4 March 1965 Northampton, England |
| Occupation | Journalist, scriptwriter, broadcaster |
| Nationality | British |
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wherediditallgorightblog.wordpress.com |
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Andrew Collins (born 4 March 1965) is the creator and writer of Radio 4 sitcom Mr Blue Sky.[1] His TV writing work includes EastEnders and the sitcoms Grass (which he co-wrote with Simon Day) and Not Going Out (which he initially co-wrote with Lee Mack).[2][3]
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Personal life
Collins was a member of the Labour Party between the late 1980s and early 1990s, leaving after Labour's defeat in the 1992 General Election.[4]
In 2007, he was made patron of Thomas's Fund,[5] a Northampton-based music therapy charity for children with life-limiting illnesses.
Career
Collins started his career as a music journalist, writing for the NME, Vox, Select and Q (where was editor, 1995–97). He also wrote for and edited film magazine Empire in 1995.[3] He formed a double-act with fellow music journalist Stuart Maconie, presenting the Sony Award-winning BBC Radio 1 show Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade, after forging their style on a daily comedy strand on Mark Goodier's BBC Radio 1 drivetime show, and Collins & Maconie's Movie Club on ITV.[3]
In 1998, Collins published his first book, Still Suitable for Miners, an authorised biography of the singer/songwriter Billy Bragg. The book was updated in 2002 and again in 2007.[6]
Collins often appeared on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 list shows, including the popular I Love the '80s programme. He stated on BBC Three's The Most Annoying TV Programmes We Love to Hate that he had appeared on 37 such list shows, and that this would be his last one.[7] He subsequently appeared on Heroes Unmasked on BBC Three. He devoted a full chapter to the experience of appearing as a talking head on such shows in his third volume of autobiography, That's Me in the Corner.
He has written three volumes of autobiography,[6] humorous accounts of "growing up [to be] normal" in 1970s Northampton, struggling with art school in London in the 1980s, and forging a media career in the 1980s and 1990s: Where Did It All Go Right? (2003) (a Sunday Times and Smith's bestseller), Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (2004) and That's Me in the Corner (which draws its title from a line from the R.E.M. song "Losing My Religion") published in May 2007.
He produced a regular (generally weekly) podcast, the Collings & Herrin with comedian Richard Herring, which began in February 2008 [8] and was named Podcast of the Week in the Times in July 2008.[9] It was on hiatus from June 2011 only restarting 4 November 2011. The lull was due to what Herring joked was "Collins' duplicitous careerism".[10] Herring announced that the November podcast would most likely be the last, as Collins had lost enthusiasm for it.[11]
Current work
Collins is the film editor for the Radio Times.[12]
He co-wrote the first three series of the sitcom Not Going Out [13] for BBC One with Lee Mack.
Collins currently presents a Saturday morning radio show with Josie Long on BBC 6 Music.[14]
Books
- Still Suitable for Miners: Billy Bragg: The Authorised Biography (2002, rev. ed.), ISBN 0-7535-0691-2
- Friends Reunited: Remarkable Real Life Stories from the Nation's Favourite Website (2003), ISBN 1-85227-039-X (ed.)
- Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal in the 70s (2003), ISBN 0-09-188667-8
- Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now: My Difficult Student 80s (2004), ISBN 0-09-189691-6
- That's Me in the Corner: Adventures of an Ordinary Boy in a Celebrity World (2007), ISBN 0-09-189786-6
- Shouting at the Telly (2009), Contributor (Editor John Grindrod) Faber and Faber ISBN 0571248020 ISBN 978-0571248025
References
- ^ "Mr Blue Sky" BBC website
- ^ [1] Agent's website, retrieved June 2011
- ^ a b c "Biography" Never Knowingly Underwhelmed, website
- ^ "Labour Conference Late News Just In" Never Knowingly Underwhelmed blog entry, September 2008
- ^ "Who's Who" Thomas's Fund website, retrieved 15 June 2009
- ^ a b "Books" Andrew Collins website
- ^ "Andrew Collins - Bio". BBC 6 Music. http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/andrew_collins/biog.shtml. Retrieved 17 May 2011.[dead link]
- ^ "Collings & Herrin archive" British Comedy Guide website, retrieved 13 June 2011
- ^ "Podcast of The Week" The Times newspaper, July 2008
- ^ "Richard Herring's "Warming Up" blog" Richard Herring's "Warming Up" blog, retrieved 22 July 2011
- ^ http://www.richardherring.com/newsletters/index.php?nlid=295
- ^ "Radio Times reviewers" Radio Times website, retrieved 18 June 2009
- ^ "Andrew Collins" IMDB, retrieved 15 June 2009
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012cp5r
External links
- Where Did It All Go Right? - His official website
- Never Knowingly Underwhelmed - His blog
- Collings and Herrin - His podcast (with Richard Herring)
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