Charlie Higson
Encyclopedia
Charles Murray Higson more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English
actor
, comedian
, author
and former singer. He has also written and produced for television
.
and at the University of East Anglia
(where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse
, David Cummings and Terry Edwards
. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons
of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials
' 2-Tone label. This was after he had formed the punk band The Right Hand Lovers, where he was known as "Switch". Higson then became a plasterer - including plastering the student house of Stephen Fry
and Hugh Laurie
- before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield
with Paul Whitehouse
and performing comedy. He came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two
sketch show The Fast Show
(1994–2000). He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes.
He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three
's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni
. He has starred in Tittybangbang
on BBC Three
and appeared as a panellist on QI
. He recently co-directed and starred in Bellamy's People
.
He published many novels through the early to mid 1990s which take a slightly dystopian look at everyday life and have a considerably more adult tone than his other work, with characters on the margins of society finding themselves spiraling out of control, leading him to be described by Time Out as 'The missing link between Dick Emery
and Brett Easton Ellis'.
In 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen a series of James Bond
novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the character's school-days at Eton
. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School
where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans
, current Director General of MI5
. The first novel, SilverFin
, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the U.S.
A second novel, Blood Fever
, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the US. The third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007. In this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on the 4 September 2008.
Higson is currently writing a zombie-horror series of books for children. The first book, The Enemy
, was released in the UK by Puffin Books in 2009 and in the US by Disney-Hyperion in 2010. Book 2, The Dead
, was released in the UK in September 2010. The third book in the series, The Fear
was published on 15 September 2011. Charlie is currently writing the fourth novel in the series that will be out next year.
At a school event at Abingdon School
on September 14, 2011, Charlie told children "Originally it was going to be three books and then my publisher, Puffin, said make it five and now we’re up to it being seven."
In 2011 it was confirmed that Higson would be appearing alongside the original cast (with the exception of Mark Williams) in an online-only version of The Fast Show sponsored by lager brand Fosters
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
, 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...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and former singer. He has also written and produced for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Biography
Higson was educated at Sevenoaks SchoolSevenoaks School
Sevenoaks School is an English coeducational independent school located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest lay school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1,000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of...
and at the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
(where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
, David Cummings and Terry Edwards
Terry Edwards
Terry Edwards is an English musician.Edwards gained a degree in music from the University of East Anglia in 1982, where he was also a founding member of The Higsons. He produced and played on the debut album by Yeah Jazz "Six Lane Ends"...
. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons
The Higsons
The Higsons were an English funk-punk band popular in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.-History:Founded in 1980 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, The Higsons' first recording was on the Norwich - A Fine City compilation album. The band signed to the 2 Tone Records label, along with bands...
of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
' 2-Tone label. This was after he had formed the punk band The Right Hand Lovers, where he was known as "Switch". Higson then became a plasterer - including plastering the student house of Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
- before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
with Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
and performing comedy. He came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
sketch show The Fast Show
The Fast Show
The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
(1994–2000). He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes.
He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk is a British television series, produced by Working Title Films for BBC One. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Randall and Hopkirk and stars Vic Reeves as Hopkirk and Bob Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie, and Tom Baker as Wyvern.- Background :Two series...
from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...
. He has starred in Tittybangbang
Tittybangbang
Tittybangbang is a female-led television sketch comedy, performed by Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen, which ran between 2005 and 2007 on BBC Three. The show was largely written by Bob Mortimer and Jill Parker and produced by their company Pett Productions.-History:Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark...
on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
and appeared as a panellist on QI
QI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
. He recently co-directed and starred in Bellamy's People
Bellamy's People
Bellamy's People, also known as Bellamy's People of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a British comedy show first broadcast on BBC 2 as an eight episode series. The show is a spin off from the BBC Radio 4 show Down the Line...
.
He published many novels through the early to mid 1990s which take a slightly dystopian look at everyday life and have a considerably more adult tone than his other work, with characters on the margins of society finding themselves spiraling out of control, leading him to be described by Time Out as 'The missing link between Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
and Brett Easton Ellis'.
In 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen a series of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the character's school-days at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School
Sevenoaks School
Sevenoaks School is an English coeducational independent school located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest lay school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1,000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of...
where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans
Jonathan Evans (MI5 officer)
Jonathan Evans is the Director General of the British Security Service, the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence service...
, current Director General of MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
. The first novel, SilverFin
SilverFin
SilverFin is the first novel in the Young Bond series that depicts Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s. It was written by Charlie Higson and released in the UK on March 3, 2005 by Puffin Books in conjunction with a large marketing campaign; a Canadian release of the same...
, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
A second novel, Blood Fever
Blood Fever
Blood Fever is the second novel in the Young Bond series depicting Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s. The novel, written by Charlie Higson, was released in the UK on January 5, 2006 by Puffin Books and in the U.S. by Miramax Books/Hyperion on June 1, 2006.Unlike the...
, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the US. The third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007. In this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on the 4 September 2008.
Higson is currently writing a zombie-horror series of books for children. The first book, The Enemy
The Enemy (Higson novel)
The Enemy is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel written by Charlie Higson. The book takes place in London after a worldwide sickness has infected adults turning them into something akin to zombies. It was published by Puffin Books in the UK on 3 September 2009 and by Disney-Hyperion in the...
, was released in the UK by Puffin Books in 2009 and in the US by Disney-Hyperion in 2010. Book 2, The Dead
The Dead (Higson novel)
The Dead is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel written by Charlie Higson. The book takes place a year before the events in The Enemy. It was published by Puffin Books in the UK on 16 September 2010...
, was released in the UK in September 2010. The third book in the series, The Fear
The Fear (Higson novel)
The Fear, released on September 15, 2011, is the third novel in a series by Charlie Higson.The Enemy is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel which book takes place in London after a worldwide sickness has infected adults turning them into something akin to zombies. It was published by Puffin...
was published on 15 September 2011. Charlie is currently writing the fourth novel in the series that will be out next year.
At a school event at Abingdon School
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
on September 14, 2011, Charlie told children "Originally it was going to be three books and then my publisher, Puffin, said make it five and now we’re up to it being seven."
In 2011 it was confirmed that Higson would be appearing alongside the original cast (with the exception of Mark Williams) in an online-only version of The Fast Show sponsored by lager brand Fosters
Novels
- King of the Ants (1992), ISBN 0-241-13207-X
- Happy Now (1993), ISBN 0-241-13363-7
- Full Whack (1995), ISBN 0-241-00287-7
- Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen (1996) ISBN 0316881066
- Monstroso (2010) ISBN 978-0-141-32845-4
The Enemy
- The EnemyThe Enemy (Higson novel)The Enemy is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel written by Charlie Higson. The book takes place in London after a worldwide sickness has infected adults turning them into something akin to zombies. It was published by Puffin Books in the UK on 3 September 2009 and by Disney-Hyperion in the...
(2009) ISBN 0141384646 - The DeadThe Dead (Higson novel)The Dead is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel written by Charlie Higson. The book takes place a year before the events in The Enemy. It was published by Puffin Books in the UK on 16 September 2010...
(2010) ISBN 0141384658 - The FearThe Fear (Higson novel)The Fear, released on September 15, 2011, is the third novel in a series by Charlie Higson.The Enemy is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel which book takes place in London after a worldwide sickness has infected adults turning them into something akin to zombies. It was published by Puffin...
(2011) ISBN 0141384662 - The Sacrifice (2012)
Young Bond
- SilverFinSilverFinSilverFin is the first novel in the Young Bond series that depicts Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s. It was written by Charlie Higson and released in the UK on March 3, 2005 by Puffin Books in conjunction with a large marketing campaign; a Canadian release of the same...
(2005), ISBN 0-14-131859-7 - Blood FeverBlood FeverBlood Fever is the second novel in the Young Bond series depicting Ian Fleming's superspy James Bond as a teenager in the 1930s. The novel, written by Charlie Higson, was released in the UK on January 5, 2006 by Puffin Books and in the U.S. by Miramax Books/Hyperion on June 1, 2006.Unlike the...
(2006), ISBN 0-14-131860-0 - Double or Die (2007), ISBN 0-14-132203-9
- Hurricane Gold (2007), ISBN 0-14-138391-7
- By Royal Command (2008), ISBN 0-14-138451-4
- SilverFin: The Graphic Novel (2008), ISBN 9780141322537 (with Kev Walker)
- Danger Society: The Young Bond DossierDanger Society: The Young Bond DossierDanger Society: The Young Bond Dossier is a non-fiction companion to the Young Bond series of novels written by Charlie Higson. The book contains in-depth character profiles to the cars, the weapons and the exotic locations, plus facts, statistics, photographs, maps, and illustrations by Kev Walker...
(2009), ISBN 9780141327686 (authored short story included in book)