James Lance
Encyclopedia
James Lance is a British
actor
who is best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series. James Lance attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. He also appeared in the ITV1
mockumentary
Moving Wallpaper
, ITV1's Boy Meets Girl
, as well as the ITV2
original comedy No Heroics
as Timebomb.
, Matt in two series of Teachers
, Ben in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge
, Jamie in Absolute Power and various roles in the sketch show Smack the Pony
. He also played Richard, Daisy's boyfriend, in Spaced
.
Lance has also had roles in various films such as Late Night Shopping
and The Search For John Gissing, the recent mini-series The Impressionists
(as Bazille) and the sitcoms The Book Group
, Sensitive Skin
and Rescue Me. Smaller roles have included appearances in 2 point 4 Children, People Like Us
, Saxondale
, Marie Antoinette
and Absolutely Fabulous
.
Additionally he played the character of Mr. Hugo in the pilot episode of Biffovision, as well as featuring alongside Mark Heap
and Tim Key
in another Paul Rose-penned pilot, "Now The Weather".
Lance was also the voice for several UK TV commercials including brands such as Maybelline
while he also starred in advertisements for Wrigley's Extra
and the AA
. He appeared on the 24 January 2008 episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks
where host Simon Amstell
made a running joke of an effort to get him better name recognition by having a pre-recorded voice say "IT'S...JAMES LANCE" and running text across the screen saying the same thing almost every time he spoke.
Lance also appeared in episode 6, series 3 of BBC series Hotel Babylon
. He appeared in the 2009 film Bronson
, about the life of the violent British prisoner Charles Bronson
, as art teacher Phil Danielson.
Lance appeared on stage as Miles at the Trafalgar Studios
in May 2009 in Marcus Markou
's play Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair
. He portrayed Eric Idle
at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival
in a play called Pythonesque
by writer Roy Smiles
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
who is best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series. James Lance attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. He also appeared in the 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...
mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper was a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–2009. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called Echo Beach, each episode of which aired directly after the Moving Wallpaper episode...
, ITV1's Boy Meets Girl
Boy Meets Girl (TV series)
Boy Meets Girl is an ITV comedy-drama television mini-series starring Rachael Stirling and Martin Freeman. In the show, Danny Reed is struck by lightning. When he wakes up from the attack, he is inside the body of a woman, fashion journalist Veronica Burton...
, as well as the ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
original comedy No Heroics
No Heroics
No Heroics is a British superhero-comedy television series, which began on 18 September 2008. The show is ITV2's first original sitcom. It was nominated for Best New British TV Comedy of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards.-Setting:...
as Timebomb.
Career
Lance's roles include dealer Sticky in the drug-related series Top BuzzerTop Buzzer
Top Buzzer was a British sitcom written by Johnny Vaughan, styled as television's first ever "dope opera". It was shown on MTV in 2004 and later repeated on Five. It was released on DVD on 24 October 2005. It revolves around two small-time cannabis dealers, Lee and Sticky , and their customers...
, Matt in two series of Teachers
Teachers (UK TV series)
Teachers is a British television sitcom, originally shown on Channel 4. The series follows a group of secondary school teachers in their daily lives....
, Ben in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge
I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan, of which two series of six episodes each were produced — the first in 1997 and the second in 2002...
, Jamie in Absolute Power and various roles in the sketch show Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Its title was intended to sound like a euphemism for female masturbation; the working title was Spot the Pony. The main performers and writers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips...
. He also played Richard, Daisy's boyfriend, in Spaced
Spaced
Spaced is a British television sitcom written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright. It is noted for its rapid-fire editing, frequent pop culture references and jokes, eclectic music, and occasional displays of surrealism and non-sequitur humour...
.
Lance has also had roles in various films such as Late Night Shopping
Late Night Shopping
Late Night Shopping is a comedy funded by FilmFour Productions. The film is about four young friends who all work the graveyard shifts in various soul-killing jobs then meet up in a cafe after their shift to talk about nothing and generally kill time.- Synopsis :Each of...
and The Search For John Gissing, the recent mini-series The Impressionists
The Impressionists (BBC drama)
The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution is a 4 part factual drama from the BBC, which reconstructs the origins of the Impressionist art movement.-Narrative:...
(as Bazille) and the sitcoms The Book Group
The Book Group
The Book Group is a comedy drama that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2003, and ran for two series. It was written and directed by the American-born Glasgow resident Annie Griffin, who also wrote and directed Festival...
, Sensitive Skin
Sensitive skin
Sensitive skin, also known as sensate skin, is an electronic sensing skin placed on the surface of a machine such as a robotic arm. The goal of the skin is to sense important environmental parameters—such as proximity to objects, heat, moisture, and direct touch sensations...
and Rescue Me. Smaller roles have included appearances in 2 point 4 Children, People Like Us
People Like Us
People Like Us is a British comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer...
, 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...
, Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Marie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design...
and Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
.
Additionally he played the character of Mr. Hugo in the pilot episode of Biffovision, as well as featuring alongside Mark Heap
Mark Heap
Mark Heap is an English actor. He began his acting career in the 1980s as a member of the Medieval Players, a touring company performing medieval and early modern theatre, and featuring stilt-walking, juggling and puppetry...
and Tim Key
Tim Key
Tim Key is an English actor, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.-Edinburgh Fringe:...
in another Paul Rose-penned pilot, "Now The Weather".
Lance was also the voice for several UK TV commercials including brands such as Maybelline
Maybelline
Maybelline is an American makeup brand sold worldwide and owned by L'Oréal. Their motto is Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.-History:...
while he also starred in advertisements for Wrigley's Extra
Extra (gum)
Extra is the name of the second sugarfree gum launched by the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in the United States . It was launched in 1984 and became one of the most popular brands of gum in the United States within a few years, known for long-lasting flavor...
and the AA
Automobile Association
Automobile Association may refer to:*Australian Automobile Association in Australia.*Automobile Association of South Africa*Canadian Automobile Association in Canada.*Dominion Automobile Association in Canada....
. He appeared on the 24 January 2008 episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
where host Simon Amstell
Simon Amstell
Simon Marc Amstell is a BAFTA nominated, award-winning English comedian, television presenter, screenwriter and actor, best known for his roles as former co-host of Popworld, former host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and co-writer and star of the sitcom Grandma's House.-Early life:Amstell was born...
made a running joke of an effort to get him better name recognition by having a pre-recorded voice say "IT'S...JAMES LANCE" and running text across the screen saying the same thing almost every time he spoke.
Lance also appeared in episode 6, series 3 of BBC series 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...
. He appeared in the 2009 film Bronson
Bronson (film)
Bronson is a 2008 British fictionalised biographical crime film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Tom Hardy. The film follows the life of notorious prisoner Michael Gordon Peterson, who was re-named Charles Bronson by his fight promoter...
, about the life of the violent British prisoner Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson (prisoner)
Charles Bronson is a Welsh criminal often referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain"....
, as art teacher Phil Danielson.
Lance appeared on stage as Miles at the Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
in May 2009 in Marcus Markou
Marcus Markou
Marcus Markou is a British playwright, actor and internet entrepreneur. His play Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair was staged in May 2009 at the Trafalgar Studios with actors James Lance and Adrian Bower...
's play Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair
Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair
Ordinary Dreams; Or How to Survive a Meltdown with Flair, is a black comedy, written by Marcus Markou, which premiered at the Trafalgar Studios on the 14th May 2009 and ran till 6 June. The cast included Sia Berkeley, Adrian Bower, James Lance and Imogen Slaughter...
. He portrayed Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in a play called Pythonesque
Pythonesque (play)
Pythonesque is a Monty Python-related play by the British playwright Roy Smiles. It was first performed in South Africa in 2008 and made its British debut at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it starred Matt Addis as Terry Jones and Michael Palin, James Lance as Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle,...
by writer Roy Smiles
Roy Smiles
Roy Smiles is an English playwright and singer-songwriter from West London, also occasional actor.-Career:Roy Smiles is the author of twenty three produced stage plays...
.