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Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Encyclopedia
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is a British
comedian
, actor
and television presenter.
, Northumberland
, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius Thompson-McCausland
. He was educated at Durham School
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he read English and was a member of the college choir. In 1992, while at Cambridge
, he met Ben Miller
, where both were in the Cambridge Footlights, and they formed the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller
. Armstrong decided not to pursue a career as a professional bass singer, and developed a career in acting. Whilst waiting for acting roles Armstrong worked in a string of North London
bars and restaurants.
in 2007.
He appeared on the BBC Radio 4's The Very World of Milton Jones
, broadcast between 1998 and 2001, and between early 2000 and early 2001, starred as a misanthropic, animal-hating vet in the BBC One
sitcom Beast
and he has also been the star of a series of TV commercials for Pimm's
.
In 1999, he starred as Prince Charming
in ITV
's Christmas
pantomime
alongside Ben Miller, and with Samantha Janus
, Paul Merton
, Harry Hill
, Frank Skinner
and Ronnie Corbett
. Armstrong was the narrator of the cartoon series The Big Knights which first appeared on the BBC1 over the Christmas Season of 1999-2000.
On BBC Radio 4
, he has played the part of John Weak in the office sitcom Weak at the Top
by Guy Browning
. Armstrong also played Martin Baine-Jones, alongside Ben Miller's Craig Children, for the Times Online's "Timeghost" podcast, as they discussed the cultural zeitgeist.
Between September and November 2010, Armstrong took The Armstrong and Miller Show on tour in the UK, completing 62 dates. This was the second time The Armstrong and Miller Show had gone out on the road, the first tour being in autumn 2001.
The Armstrong and Miller hardback book was released in October 2010.
which also featured team captains David Mitchell
and Johnny Vaughan
. The first show aired on 1 September 2006 on Channel 4
in the UK.
He presented the short-lived ITV1 comedy quiz series Don't Call Me Stupid, in which mismatched celebrities taught each other a subject they are passionate about, before facing a studio quiz on their new topic. The series features pairings including Brian Sewell
with Phil Tufnell
, George Galloway
with Lady Victoria Hervey
, James Whitaker
with Bez, Germaine Greer
with Shane Lynch
, and Michael Howard
with Wayne Sleep
.
He is a frequent guest host on the BBC's satirical panel game Have I Got News for You
, having appeared 19 times. His most recent appearance as host was on 21 October 2011. Armstrong has, to date, made the most appearances of any guest, whether as host or panellist. Armstrong says that in 2003 he was offered the job of replacing Angus Deayton
as full-time host of Have I Got News for You but the BBC later changed their minds and withdrew the offer after deciding to continue with the guest presenter format instead.
In 2008, he was the presenter and narrator for When Were We Funniest?
and was the only person to feature in all twelve episodes.
Armstrong was a leading contender to take over as host of Countdown
when Des O'Connor
left in 2008, although when he hosted Have I Got News for You on 24 October 2008, he said he hadn't yet accepted the job, despite team captains Ian Hislop
and Paul Merton
making jokes about his "new role". He turned the job down, telling The Independent
that he did not want to be "pigeonholed" as a presenter, preferring to focus on acting and comedy.
He is the presenter of the BBC
game show
Pointless
. He also presented a documentary, Alexander Armstrong's Very British Holiday, about the history of the "great British summer holiday" and his attempts to explore its modern version for the BBC on 8 November 2009.
On 30 May 2011 he hosted the pilot of a new panel show, "Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
", on the Dave channel, alongside Dave Lamb
, Katy Brand
, Griff Rhys Jones
and Robert Webb
.
In July 2011 Armstrong became a co-presenter on BBC One's "The Great British Weather".
In August 2011 he began presenting a game show on BBC One titled Epic Win
.
on all three series of ITV1
drama Life Begins
.
He appeared in Steve Coogan's Saxondale
(Series 1 Episode 2) in 2006, as a famous motoring presenter (played like Jeremy Clarkson). Armstrong also appeared as David Cameron
in the satirical fictional documentary The Trial of Tony Blair
, played a middle aged man who leaves his wife during a mid-life crisis in Maggie Mae and a sex-addicted guest in Hotel Babylon
in 2007. He voices Mr Smith
, an alien computer, in The Sarah Jane Adventures
and in the Doctor Who
episodes "The Stolen Earth
" and "Journey's End
". He will also appear in the 2011 Christmas special "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
".
He also played a role in the 2008 BBC comedy drama Mutual Friends
as well as the role of Adam fforbes-Hamilton, the nephew of Audrey DeVere (née fforbes-Hamilton) in the 2007 Christmas Special of the classic BBC sitcom To the Manor Born
starring Penelope Keith
as Audrey, Peter Bowles
as her husband Richard and Angela Thorne
as Audrey's old school-friend Marjorie Frobisher, who, despite being "old enough to be his mother" (to quote Audrey), develops a schoolgirl-type romantic crush on Adam.
In 2006 (repeated in 2007), he was a guest on Private Passions
, the weekly music discussion programme hosted by Michael Berkeley
on BBC Radio 3
. He appeared as an advocate on Visionaries for BBC World News broadcast on 6 September 2008.
In April 2009, he played a school sports instructor on the Sky1 TV movie Skellig
, based on the prize-winning children's novel
, alongside Tim Roth
(in the title role), John Simm
and Kelly MacDonald
.
In October 2009, he played Clive Sinclair
in a docu-drama about Clive Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Research, and Chris Curry
, the co-founder of Acorn Computers
, called Micro Men
. He also had a role in the second series of Reggie Perrin.
From about 2002, Armstrong also appeared in a series of successful British television adverts for the drink Pimms.
With Miller, he has formed a production company called Toff Media.
Armstrong is currently appearing as a "difficult customer" in the Direct Line Insurance
television adverts, alongside Chris Addison
.
, his stag do activities included icing
cakes. He has three sons - Rex (born 2007), Patrick (born 2009) and Edward (2010). Just before Armstrong appeared on This Morning
on 24 June 2010, his wife went into labour
and later gave birth to their third son, Edward.
In August 2010, Armstrong was featured in an episode of the BBC One
genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, through which he discovered that he was a descendant of William the Conqueror. With his father's side of his family already well-known to him as the land-owning Armstrong family of Rothbury
and William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, the series traced his mother's side of the family, beginning with the McCauslands seated in Drenagh
in County Londonderry
, Northern Ireland
, through the Rouse-Boughton
family, to Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
, a descendant of William the Conqueror via Edward III
and the Beauforts
, Dukes of Somerset
.
Armstrong is an active supporter of the Countryside Alliance
, appearing in their advertisements and magazine to promote countryside shooting.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and television presenter.
Early life and career
Armstrong was born in RothburyRothbury
Rothbury is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is located on the River Coquet, northwest of Morpeth and north-northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius Thompson-McCausland
Lucius Thompson-McCausland
Lucius Perronet Thompson-McCausland was a British economist who took part in the Bretton Woods conference and was a Treasury adviser during the sterling crisis in the 1960s....
. He was educated at Durham School
Durham School
Durham School, headmaster Martin George , is an independent British day and boarding school for boys and girls in Durham....
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he read English and was a member of the college choir. In 1992, while at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, he met Ben Miller
Ben Miller
Bennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
, where both were in the Cambridge Footlights, and they formed the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller
Armstrong and Miller (comedians)
Armstrong and Miller are a British standup comedy double act consisting of the actor-comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller. They have performed in two eponymous television sketch shows, the satirical Timeghost podcast, and many individual television appearances.-Radio show:Armstrong and...
. Armstrong decided not to pursue a career as a professional bass singer, and developed a career in acting. Whilst waiting for acting roles Armstrong worked in a string of North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
bars and restaurants.
Comedy career
Armstrong has performed in several comedy roles. He co-starred in four series of Armstrong and Miller from 1997 to 2001. Armstrong renewed his partnership with Ben Miller for The Armstrong and Miller ShowThe Armstrong and Miller Show
The Armstrong and Miller Show is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton and The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson.The series followed four...
in 2007.
He appeared on the BBC Radio 4's The Very World of Milton Jones
The Very World of Milton Jones
The Very World of Milton Jones was a comedy show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1998 and 2001 starring English comedian Milton Jones. It ran for three series....
, broadcast between 1998 and 2001, and between early 2000 and early 2001, starred as a misanthropic, animal-hating vet in the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
sitcom Beast
Beast (TV series)
Beast is a BBC One sitcom based in a veterinary surgery. Two series of six episodes each were made, with the first broadcast in early 2000 and the second in early 2001...
and he has also been the star of a series of TV commercials for Pimm's
Pimm's
Pimm's is a brand of fruit cups, but may also be considered a liqueur. It was first produced in 1823 by James Pimm and owned by Diageo since 2006. Its most popular product is Pimm's No. 1 Cup.-History:...
.
In 1999, he starred as Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
alongside Ben Miller, and with Samantha Janus
Samantha Janus
Samantha Zoe Womack is an English actress, singer and director, both on television and stage. In recent years she has been best known for playing the role of Ronnie Branning in EastEnders, but made her name in the early 1990s as Mandy Wilkins in Game On, and also represented the United Kingdom in...
, Paul Merton
Paul Merton
Paul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
, Harry Hill
Harry Hill
Harry Hill , is a Perrier Award–winning English comedian, author and television presenter. A former medical doctor , Hill began his career in comedy with the popular radio show Harry Hill's Fruit Corner.-Personal life:Hill was born in Woking,...
, Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
and Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
. Armstrong was the narrator of the cartoon series The Big Knights which first appeared on the BBC1 over the Christmas Season of 1999-2000.
On BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, he has played the part of John Weak in the office sitcom Weak at the Top
Weak at the Top
Weak at the Top is a situation comedy originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and 2006. It revolves around a businessman anti-hero, John Weak , whose main attributes are summed up in the words "randy, sexist, and drunk"...
by Guy Browning
Guy Browning
Guy Browning is a humorist and after-dinner speaker. He wrote the How To.. column in The Guardian from 1999-2009. Before that he wrote about office politics and social climbing...
. Armstrong also played Martin Baine-Jones, alongside Ben Miller's Craig Children, for the Times Online's "Timeghost" podcast, as they discussed the cultural zeitgeist.
Between September and November 2010, Armstrong took The Armstrong and Miller Show on tour in the UK, completing 62 dates. This was the second time The Armstrong and Miller Show had gone out on the road, the first tour being in autumn 2001.
The Armstrong and Miller hardback book was released in October 2010.
Television presenting
Armstrong was chairman of the short-lived comedy panel show Best of the WorstBest of the Worst (UK)
Best of the Worst was a British panel game, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2006. The show was created by Giles Pilbrow and Colin Swash....
which also featured team captains David Mitchell
David Mitchell (actor)
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
and Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan
Jonathan Randall Vaughan is an English broadcaster and journalist. Vaughan has become well known as a television and radio personality and has also built a reputation as a film critic. He co-presented Capital Breakfast alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011...
. The first show aired on 1 September 2006 on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK.
He presented the short-lived ITV1 comedy quiz series Don't Call Me Stupid, in which mismatched celebrities taught each other a subject they are passionate about, before facing a studio quiz on their new topic. The series features pairings including Brian Sewell
Brian Sewell
Brian Sewell is an English art critic and media personality. He writes for the London Evening Standard and is noted for artistic conservatism and his acerbic view of the Turner Prize and conceptual art...
with Phil Tufnell
Phil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell is a former English cricketer turned television personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, "Tuffers" as he was known played 42 Tests and 20 One Day International matches for England, as well as playing for Middlesex from 1986 to 2002...
, George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
with Lady Victoria Hervey
Lady Victoria Hervey
Lady Victoria Frederica Isabella Hervey is an English model, socialite, aristocrat and former "It girl".- Background :Lady Victoria is the elder daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol and his third wife Yvonne Marie Sutton. She is the older sister of the 8th Marquess of Bristol and of Lady...
, James Whitaker
James Whitaker
James Whitaker is a British journalist, specialising in the British royal family.-Biography:Formerly a pupil at Cheltenham College, Whitaker is best known as the Royal Editor of the Daily Mirror. He broke the story of the eating disorder of Diana, Princess of Wales...
with Bez, Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
with Shane Lynch
Shane Lynch
Shane Lynch is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and professional drift driver, best known for his distinctive body art, outlandish sense of style, and as a member of Boyzone...
, and Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
with Wayne Sleep
Wayne Sleep
Wayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...
.
He is a frequent guest host on the BBC's satirical panel game Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
, having appeared 19 times. His most recent appearance as host was on 21 October 2011. Armstrong has, to date, made the most appearances of any guest, whether as host or panellist. Armstrong says that in 2003 he was offered the job of replacing Angus Deayton
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. He is best known for his role as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy series One Foot in the Grave...
as full-time host of Have I Got News for You but the BBC later changed their minds and withdrew the offer after deciding to continue with the guest presenter format instead.
In 2008, he was the presenter and narrator for When Were We Funniest?
When Were We Funniest?
When Were We Funniest? is a G.O.L.D. documentary series broadcast in 2008.-Format:G.O.L.D. wanted to ask the public which decade of British television they thought was the funniest, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s or 2000s. Before the public voted G.O.L.D...
and was the only person to feature in all twelve episodes.
Armstrong was a leading contender to take over as host of Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
when Des O'Connor
Des O'Connor
Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...
left in 2008, although when he hosted Have I Got News for You on 24 October 2008, he said he hadn't yet accepted the job, despite team captains Ian Hislop
Ian Hislop
Ian David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist, comedian, writer, broadcaster and editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye...
and Paul Merton
Paul Merton
Paul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
making jokes about his "new role". He turned the job down, telling The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
that he did not want to be "pigeonholed" as a presenter, preferring to focus on acting and comedy.
He is the presenter of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Pointless
Pointless (TV series)
Pointless is a quiz show shown on BBC One, hosted by Alexander Armstrong, with Richard Osman as assistant. It has been broadcast since 24 August 2009....
. He also presented a documentary, Alexander Armstrong's Very British Holiday, about the history of the "great British summer holiday" and his attempts to explore its modern version for the BBC on 8 November 2009.
On 30 May 2011 he hosted the pilot of a new panel show, "Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask is a comedy panel show hosted by Alexander Armstrong. The pilot was shown on Dave on 30 May 2011. The guests on the pilot were Robert Webb, Katy Brand and Griff Rhys Jones. After a positive reaction to the pilot, Dave ordered a full series which will be filmed in...
", on the Dave channel, alongside Dave Lamb
Dave Lamb
Dave Lamb is a British actor and voice-over artist best known for his work on Come Dine with Me as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games.- Early work :Lamb's first...
, Katy Brand
Katy Brand
Katy Brand is an English actress, comedian and writer known for her ITV2 series Katy Brand's Big Ass Show and for Comedy Lab Slap on Channel 4....
, Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
and Robert Webb
Robert Webb
Robert Webb may refer to:*Robert Webb , English actor, comedian and writer*Robert Webb , University of Virginia professor*Robert Webb, the creator of polyhedra software Stella*Robert D. Webb, film maker*Robert Wallace Webb, geoscientist...
.
In July 2011 Armstrong became a co-presenter on BBC One's "The Great British Weather".
In August 2011 he began presenting a game show on BBC One titled Epic Win
Epic Win
Epic Win is a British game show which began airing on BBC One on 20 August 2011. Presented by Alexander Armstrong the programme sees contestants complete individual challenges such as trying to dress while bouncing a football or cycling while trying to inflate hot water bottles...
.
Dramas and sitcoms
Armstrong co-starred with Caroline QuentinCaroline Quentin
Caroline Jones known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress. Quentin became known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing Dorothy, and playing Maddy Magellan in Jonathan Creek for three years.-Early life:...
on all three series of ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
drama Life Begins
Life Begins
Life Begins is a British television drama first broadcast on ITV between February 2004 and October 2006, starring Caroline Quentin and Alexander Armstrong, Anne Reid and Frank Finlay.-History:...
.
He appeared in Steve Coogan's Saxondale
Saxondale
Saxondale is a British television situation comedy programme, starring Steve Coogan and co-written by Steve Coogan and Neil Maclennan. The series is directed by Matt Lipsey and produced by Ted Dowd. Coogan and Henry Normal served as executive producers...
(Series 1 Episode 2) in 2006, as a famous motoring presenter (played like Jeremy Clarkson). Armstrong also appeared as David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in the satirical fictional documentary The Trial of Tony Blair
The Trial of Tony Blair
The Trial of Tony Blair is a satirical drama, based around the notion that the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is to face charges of war crimes by an international tribunal, following his departure from 10 Downing Street...
, played a middle aged man who leaves his wife during a mid-life crisis in Maggie Mae and a sex-addicted guest in Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon was a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One...
in 2007. He voices Mr Smith
Mr Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Mr Smith is a fictional extraterrestrial computer voiced by Alexander Armstrong which appears in the British children's science fiction television series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with further minor appearances in the final two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who...
, an alien computer, in The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
and in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episodes "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
" and "Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...
". He will also appear in the 2011 Christmas special "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Due to be first broadcast at Christmas 2011, it is the seventh Christmas special since the show’s revival in 2005....
".
He also played a role in the 2008 BBC comedy drama Mutual Friends
Mutual Friends
Mutual Friends is a British comedy drama television series broadcast in six episodes on BBC One in 2008. The series starred Marc Warren, Alexander Armstrong, Keeley Hawes, Sarah Alexander, Claire Rushbrook, Emily Joyce, Naomi Bentley and Joshua Sarphie as a group of old friends whose lives are...
as well as the role of Adam fforbes-Hamilton, the nephew of Audrey DeVere (née fforbes-Hamilton) in the 2007 Christmas Special of the classic BBC sitcom To the Manor Born
To the Manor Born
To the Manor Born is a British sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special edition appeared in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the 1981 finale was written by Christopher...
starring Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
as Audrey, Peter Bowles
Peter Bowles
-Early life:Bowles was born in London, England, the son of Sarah Jane and Herbert Reginald Bowles. His father was a chauffeur and butler at a stately home in Warwickshire; but, upon the outbreak of World War II, he was seconded to work as an engineer at Rolls-Royce and moved the family to Nottingham...
as her husband Richard and Angela Thorne
Angela Thorne
Angela Thorne is an English actress who is best known for her roles in To the Manor Born and Anyone for Denis?-Early life:Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, , in 1939...
as Audrey's old school-friend Marjorie Frobisher, who, despite being "old enough to be his mother" (to quote Audrey), develops a schoolgirl-type romantic crush on Adam.
In 2006 (repeated in 2007), he was a guest on Private Passions
Private Passions
Private Passions is a weekly music discussion programme which has been running for over 10 years on BBC Radio 3, presented by the composer Michael Berkeley...
, the weekly music discussion programme hosted by Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley is a British composer and broadcaster on music.-Early life:His father was the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley...
on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. He appeared as an advocate on Visionaries for BBC World News broadcast on 6 September 2008.
In April 2009, he played a school sports instructor on the Sky1 TV movie Skellig
Skellig (film)
Skellig known in North America as Skellig: The Owl Man is a 2009 British fantasy, drama film directed by Annabel Jankel and starring Tim Roth and Bill Milner...
, based on the prize-winning children's novel
Skellig
Skellig is a novel by David Almond, for which Almond was awarded the Carnegie Medal in 1998 and also the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award. The book won the 2000 Michael L. Printz Honor from YALSA in the United States...
, alongside Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
(in the title role), John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
and Kelly MacDonald
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
.
In October 2009, he played Clive Sinclair
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
in a docu-drama about Clive Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Research, and Chris Curry
Chris Curry
Christopher Curry is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper.-Early life:...
, the co-founder of Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, and the Acorn Archimedes...
, called Micro Men
Micro Men
Micro Men is a one-off BBC drama television show set in the late 1970s and 1980s, about the rise of the British home computer market, particularly the rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair who developed the ZX Spectrum, and Chris Curry - the man behind the BBC Micro; played by Alexander Armstrong and...
. He also had a role in the second series of Reggie Perrin.
Other work
In 1997 (along with Ben Miller), Armstrong provided the voices for lead characters for the PC game 'Wings of Destiny' which was published by Psygnosis in 2000. They played British airmen and Nazi officers covering the two comic-book plots in the game.From about 2002, Armstrong also appeared in a series of successful British television adverts for the drink Pimms.
With Miller, he has formed a production company called Toff Media.
Armstrong is currently appearing as a "difficult customer" in the Direct Line Insurance
Direct Line
Direct Line is part of the RBS Insurance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that specialises in selling insurance and other financial services over the phone and internet....
television adverts, alongside Chris Addison
Chris Addison
Chris Addison is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4...
.
Personal life
On 27 August 2003, Armstrong married Hannah Bronwen Snow, an events organiser. According to Ben MillerBen Miller
Bennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
, his stag do activities included icing
Icing (food)
Icing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...
cakes. He has three sons - Rex (born 2007), Patrick (born 2009) and Edward (2010). Just before Armstrong appeared on This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
on 24 June 2010, his wife went into labour
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
and later gave birth to their third son, Edward.
In August 2010, Armstrong was featured in an episode of the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, through which he discovered that he was a descendant of William the Conqueror. With his father's side of his family already well-known to him as the land-owning Armstrong family of Rothbury
Rothbury
Rothbury is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is located on the River Coquet, northwest of Morpeth and north-northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne...
and William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, the series traced his mother's side of the family, beginning with the McCauslands seated in Drenagh
Drenagh
Drenagh is a 19th century house and garden in Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The property is located on the road to Coleraine....
in County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, through the Rouse-Boughton
Boughton Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for members of the Boughton and Rouse Boughton family.The Baronetcy of Boughton of Lawford was created in the Baronetage of England on 4 August 1641 for William Boughton of Lawford Hall, near Newbold upon Avon, Warwickshire...
family, to Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester , styled Lord Herbert of Ragland from 1628–1644, was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics and an inventor...
, a descendant of William the Conqueror via Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
and the Beauforts
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset
John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, KG was the first of the four illegitimate children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress Katherine Swynford, later his wife...
, Dukes of Somerset
Duke of Somerset
Duke of Somerset is a title in the peerage of England that has been created several times. Derived from Somerset, it is particularly associated with two families; the Beauforts who held the title from the creation of 1448 and the Seymours, from the creation of 1547 and in whose name the title is...
.
Armstrong is an active supporter of the Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
, appearing in their advertisements and magazine to promote countryside shooting.