Dave Spikey

Multi award-winning Dave Spikey is one of the most sought-after comedy talents in the UK today. With a career spanning two decades, he has numerous TV appearances to his name as a stand-up comedian, presenter and actor – and behind the screens, as an acclaimed comedy writer.

Dave’s journey into this business we call show began in 1990. After winning the ‘North West Comedian of the Year’ Award, he became a regular on the club circuit and once famously supported Jack Dee, Max Boyce, Cannon & Ball and Eddie Izzard all in the space of one week. Early in his career he followed in the footsteps of Jeremy Beadle and Ted Robbins presenting ITV’s legendary game show Chain Letters – whilst continuing to hold down his day job as Chief Biomedical Scientist in Haematology at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

In 1996, TV comedy history was made when Dave met fellow Boltonian Peter Kay. Sharing a similar style and approach to comedy and writing, they went on to form a formidable partnership; collaborating on Mad for the A6; a Granada special, and then on The Services for Ch 4’s Comedy Lab. Shortly after they co-wrote Ch 4’s hit series That Peter Kay Thing, which was awarded ‘Best New TV Comedy’ at the prestigious British Comedy Awards in 2000.

Inspired by this success Dave finally took the plunge and gave up the day job. Within twelve months he’d fulfilled his dream of writing a comedy series by co-writing and co-starring in Ch 4’s critically acclaimed Phoenix Nights alongside writing partners Peter Kay and Neil Fitzmaurice. Together they wrote and starred in two series of the cult TV show with Dave playing ‘the compere without compare’, Jerry St Clair. A modern comedy masterpiece, and recognised as one of the greatest sitcoms of current times, Phoenix Nights broadcast in the same year as The Office, and sparked a north-south divide not witnessed since the Blur v Oasis rivalry in the 90’s; culminating with the 2002 British Comedy Awards when the two classic sitcoms went head to head.

In this truly stellar year, Dave received his second British Comedy Award with Phoenix Nights scooping the ‘People’s Choice Award’ and Dave further earning 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 & Comedy Drama’ Award at the RTS Programme Awards, and was nominated for a prestigious Bafta Award, and ‘Best Comedy’ in the Broadcast Awards.

Following this phenomenal success, Dave’s profile rocketed and in 2003 he embarked on his debut national tour – ironically entitled the ‘Overnight Success Tour’. Garnering rave reviews and performing to sell-out audiences, Dave quickly established his reputation as a first class live performer picking up a ‘Performance of the Year’ Award (Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards) and ‘Best Comedy Performance’ Award (Leicester Mercury Awards). The hit show was recorded by Universal and released on DVD in 2003 quickly achieving the ‘Gold Retail Performance’ Award selling in excess of 75,000 copies.

Truly cementing his place as one of Britain’s most cherished comedy talents, in 2004, Dave appeared as a guest on the legendary Parkinson, alongside megastar Paul McCartney. He also performed before Her Majesty at The Royal Variety Performance in a star-studded line-up including Dame Shirley Bassey; allowing him to fulfil two lifelong ambitions within one momentous week!

Dave meets The Queen

In 2005, Dave joined a host of luminaries including Jonathan Ross and Lee Evans at London’s Apollo Theatre in Comic Aid; a televised gala also released on DVD, in aid of the Asian Tsunami. He embarked on his second nationwide tour later that year with a brand new show ‘Living the Dream’, to further critical acclaim and sell out audiences with extra dates added due to overwhelming public demand. This show was also released on DVD and is also now available as a box set featuring both of the live shows.

Moving forward as a solo writer, Dave wrote and co-starred in ITV’s primetime comedy drama Dead Man Weds. The six-part series, set in the offices of a sleepy rural newspaper starred Dave as a washed-up former Fleet St Journalist alongside an all star cast including Johnny Vegas, Tim Healy and Michael Brandon. Broadcast in 2005 in competition with US hit comedy Desperate Housewives, the series received tremendous critical acclaim, with the Sunday Mirror describing it as “laugh-out-loud brilliant and already on the way to becoming ITV’s finest sitcom”. Q magazine claimed it was “contemporary mainstream comedy at its best…just plain funny” and the Telegraph summed up the series as “an excuse for lots of good gags – and for Spikey to achieve the same tricky combination he did in Phoenix Nights: being simultaneously affectionate and unsparing about Northern working-class life.”

Dave went on to write and appear in Magnolia; a comedy drama for BBC 1 following the misfortunes of a motley team of ex-cons struggling to keep their painting and decorating business afloat, and starring Ralph Ineson and Mark Benton. Despite it being a one-off as part of the BBC’s Friday night output, the Mirror stated “this sparkling comedy has make-me-into-a-series written all over it…electric…wonderful humour…genuine laugh-out-loud moments” and the Independent concurred stating that it “felt much more like a sample of something larger…it would be a pity not to see more”.

Throughout 2005 & 2006 Dave was a regular on our screens starring as team captain alongside Jimmy Carr and Sean Lock on Ch 4’s hugely popular panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. The show earned a nomination for ‘Most Popular Quiz’ at the National TV Awards in 2006 but having enjoyed four series at the helm, Dave took the decision to move on this year to allow him to focus on other TV projects. In 2006, recognising his appeal as a warm, charismatic and versatile TV personality, Dave was selected to present the new series of classic game show Bullseye for Challenge. Despite his reservations at filling such 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”. This year he has appeared as a celebrity judge on BBC 1’s primetime Saturday night talent series When Will I Be Famous? and also joined Angus Deaton and David Mitchell on BBC 1’s new improvised panel show Would I Lie To You?.

Despite an increasingly busy schedule, Dave actively supports a number of worthy charities. He recently braved the infamous black chair as a contestant on BBC 1’s Celebrity Mastermind – achieving the highest score ever in the history of the show and raising valuable funds for his chosen charity, Animals Asia, in the meantime. He will be travelling to Asia later this year as part of his ongoing work with the charity, to rescue a bear named in his honour. A devout vegetarian and animal lover, he is also proud patron of ‘Pet Rehome’, and has staged a number of live events for their benefit; as well as providing a sanctuary at his home to all manner of rescue animals over the years.

Putting his humour to further good use, Dave is currently supporting cancer research, having donated his services to script and voice the current ‘smoke free’ national radio campaign alongside Rob Brydon. Closer to home, he recently voiced a series of audio signs for Bolton Council; his dulcet tones can be heard on talking signs around the town centre; using his unique humour as part of their initiative to combat crime. A local hero, he has since been honoured in his home town with his very own star
in Bolton’s ‘Walk of Fame’!.Dave Spikey on Stage

As a recognisable TV face, and an esteemed live performer, Dave remains highly sought after in the world of CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT.  With over 25 years experience in the NHS, he is particularly suited to events within the medical field but with the rare gift of being universal and appealing to all types of audiences, he’s the ideal choice for any corporate event. An accomplished awards host, he has hosted prestigious events including the Sodexo Awards , NW Critical Care Conference , Butlins Star Awards , Office Depot Awards , iSOFT , Southern Cross Awards , Manchester Theatre Awards, the North West Comedy Awards and the RTS Awards.

A prolific writer, Dave is constantly busy developing original ideas for TV. Footballers Lives is a comedy drama based around a Sunday football team. The legendary Shane Meadows directed a teaser and a script was commissioned. Another comedy drama entitled Sour Grapes was based around a group of friends who accidentally buy a french vineyard.

In 2008 -2009 Dave toured his immensely successful ‘The Best Medicine’ Tour in over 100 venues Nationwide and released the DVD of the tour and had his first book published , “He Took my Kidney , Then Broke my Heart”. His next Stand-Up tour “Words Don’t Come Easy” came out in 2011 followed by his Autobiography “My Life – Under The Microscope”.