Gareth Edwards (producer)

For other people with the same name, see Gareth Edwards (disambiguation).

Gareth Edwards (born 1965) is a radio and television producer and writer. He is the great-grandson of Hollywood pioneer Albert E. Smith, founder of Vitagraph Studios.

TV and radio career

He has worked on a number of radio and TV programmes including Comedy Firsts (ITV, 1995), The Big Town All Stars (BBC Radio 4, 1998), Spaced (Channel 4, 1999), The Bigger Issues (BBC Radio 4, 2000), Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections (BBC Radio 2, 2001), Dead Ringers (BBC Two, 2003, 2004), Posh Nosh (BBC Two, 2003), Vent (BBC Radio 4, 2006–09)

Edwards produced That Mitchell and Webb Sound (BBC Radio 4, 2003–09), which won a Sony Silver Award in 2004; he also produced the TV version of this, starring the same David Mitchell and Robert Webb, entitled That Mitchell and Webb Look (BBC Two, 2006–10), which won best comedy BAFTA in 2006. Edwards also produced The One Ronnie (BBC One, 2010), a one-off comedy television sketch show that aired on BBC One on Christmas Day 2010 to celebrate the 80th birthday of Ronnie Corbett and Still Open All Hours (BBC One Boxing Day 2013). He also produced the BBC2 sitcom Upstart Crow 2016.

He has also produced Bleak Expectations (BBC Radio 4, 2007–11),^[1][2] the cult radio show starring Anthony Head and the TV spin-off from this, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff (BBC Two, 2011).^[3] Gareth Edwards also produced the short-lived radio comedy series The Airport (BBC Radio 4, 1995), which was the first radio comedy series in Britain to feature self-representative experiences of black people.^[4]

Edwards executive-produced the second series of Tracey Ullman's Show (2017) which led to the spin-off series Tracey Breaks the News (2017–present).

Edwards was appointed acting head of radio comedy at the BBC from November 2008 to May 2009,^[5] though announced subsequently that he was returning to producing and writing.

Writing

Edwards wrote two series of Radio 4's situation comedy Artists, set in St Ives, Cornwall.

Edwards also writes children's books including The Big Animal Mix-Up (Hachette, 2011), The Big Jungle Mix-Up (Hachette, 2012), The Disgusting Sandwich (Scholastic, 2013), The Littlest Bird (Piccadilly, 2013), Never Ask A Dinosaur to Dinner (Scholastic, 2014), and Fabulous Pie (Scholastic, 2015), shortlisted for the FCBG award 2016.^[6][7]

Family

Edwards is married to Frances Wedgwood, daughter of Martin Wedgwood and the architectural historian Alexandra Wedgwood. They have four children.

References

1. "Sanjeev Kohli and Gareth Edwards: 7 on 7". BBC Writers Room. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
2. Mitchell, Ben (27 August 2006). "Masters of comedy". The Observer. London. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
3. Aird, Jon (3 October 2011). "The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff". London. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
4. Alison Donnell (ed.), Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture, Routledge, 2002.
5. McMahon, Kate. "BBC appoint Edwards acting head of radio comedy". Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
6. "Books by Gareth Edwards". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
7. "Children's Book Award". Federation of Children's Book Groups. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.