Philip Pope
Encyclopedia
Philip R. J. Pope is a British
composer
and actor
. He was educated at Downside School
and New College, Oxford
.
. He performed in the BBC
radio comedy series Radio Active (1980–87) and has also starred in a number of TV comedy shows, including Who Dares Wins (1983–88), Chelmsford 123
(1988–90) and KYTV (1989–93) Round the Bend (1989-1991). He made guest appearances on Blackadder
as the painter Leonardo Acropolis and Shelley as pop star Hobo with Hywel Bennett
as James Shelley. Pope also appeared as Tony Angelino in the Only Fools and Horses
episode Stage Fright
with David Jason
& Nicholas Lyndhurst
— written by John Sullivan
. Pope has regularly featured in the radio series Old Harry's Game
(1995–2009). Pope performs regularly as a singer with the Thame
Chamber Choir.
the Hee Bee Gee Bees
' single "Meaningless Songs" (B-side "Posing in the Moonlight") released in 1980 to parody the style of a series of Bee Gees
disco hits. The Hee Bee Gee Bees went on to record two albums spoofing numerous acts including Eagles, Michael Jackson
, The Police
, Status Quo and Supertramp
. Pope also wrote or co-wrote many comic songs for Not the Nine O'Clock News
and Spitting Image
including British Number 1 hit single "The Chicken Song
" with Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
and along with Simon Franglen, he did the main theme for Round the Bend for Yorkshire Tv, a three series comedy shown on CITV, later shown on Channel 4 and Nickelodeon.
Pope has also composed a large amount of music other radio and television including the theme tunes for Through the Keyhole
, Whose Line Is It Anyway?
(UK), KYTV, My Hero, The Bill
and Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul
. He was the musical director and composer for The Fast Show
as well as the popular BBC children's programmes Fimbles and The Roly Mo Show
. Pope also provides the voice for the character Yugo, of Yugo and Migo from The Roly Mo Show
.
He has scored numerous dramas and comedy-dramas for TV including Ted & Ralph
, Midnight Flight, Crazy for A Kiss, Hospital! and Margery & Gladys as well as the film Kevin & Perry Go Large
(2000).
He was invited to arrange Snow Patrol's Run 12" remixed by Garrett Lee
On October 5th, 2004, Pope featured in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
episode "Fit the Fifteenth" as one of three aliens from the planet of Krikkit. The three aliens sang a song called "Under the Ink Black Sky", which Pope wrote and performed.
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...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and 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...
. He was educated at Downside School
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
.
Performer
He appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978 and 1979, both with Angus DeaytonAngus 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...
. He performed in 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...
radio comedy series Radio Active (1980–87) and has also starred in a number of TV comedy shows, including Who Dares Wins (1983–88), Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123 is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. It ran for two series, of six and seven episodes, in 1988 and 1990....
(1988–90) and KYTV (1989–93) Round the Bend (1989-1991). He made guest appearances on Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
as the painter Leonardo Acropolis and Shelley as pop star Hobo with Hywel Bennett
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett is a Welsh film and television actor. Bennett is best known for his recurring title role as James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley from 1979 to 1984 and its sequel The Return of Shelley from 1988 to 1992....
as James Shelley. Pope also appeared as Tony Angelino in the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
episode Stage Fright
Stage Fright (Only Fools and Horses)
"Stage Fright" is an episode of the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses. It was the third episode of series 7, and first broadcast on 13 January, 1991....
with David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
& Nicholas Lyndhurst
Nicholas Lyndhurst
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies...
— written by John Sullivan
John Sullivan (writer)
John Richard Thomas Sullivan OBE was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends....
. Pope has regularly featured in the radio series Old Harry's Game
Old Harry's Game
Old Harry's Game is a UK radio comedy written and directed by Andy Hamilton, who also plays the cynical, world-weary Satan. "Old Harry" is one of many names for the devil...
(1995–2009). Pope performs regularly as a singer with the Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
Chamber Choir.
Composer
Philip Pope co-wrote with Richard CurtisRichard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
the Hee Bee Gee Bees
Hee Bee Gee Bees
The Hee Bee Gee Bees were a pop group formed initially to parody the Bee Gees towards the close of their sequence of high-pitched, disco-style hits. The 'band' consisted of the three Cribb brothers; Garry , Norris and Dobbin , performed respectively by Angus Deayton, Michael Fenton Stevens, and...
' single "Meaningless Songs" (B-side "Posing in the Moonlight") released in 1980 to parody the style of a series of Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
disco hits. The Hee Bee Gee Bees went on to record two albums spoofing numerous acts including Eagles, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, Status Quo and Supertramp
Supertramp
Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
. Pope also wrote or co-wrote many comic songs for Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
and Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
including British Number 1 hit single "The Chicken Song
The Chicken Song
-12" vinyl:-Chart performance:...
" with Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
Grant Naylor
Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor for their collaborative work, particularly the television series Red Dwarf. Grant and Naylor themselves called this pseudonym a "gestalt entity" Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug...
and along with Simon Franglen, he did the main theme for Round the Bend for Yorkshire Tv, a three series comedy shown on CITV, later shown on Channel 4 and Nickelodeon.
Pope has also composed a large amount of music other radio and television including the theme tunes for Through the Keyhole
Through the Keyhole
Through the Keyhole was a British panel game, hosted by Sir David Frost where panellists are given a video tour of a mystery famous guest's property and attempt to identify them. As of 1996, it is produced by David Frost's own production company, Paradine Productions at The Leeds Studios , and has...
, Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...
(UK), KYTV, My Hero, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
and Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul
Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul
Harry & Paul is a BAFTA Award-winning British sketch comedy show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 April 2007...
. He was the musical director and composer for 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...
as well as the popular BBC children's programmes Fimbles and The Roly Mo Show
The Roly Mo Show
The Roly Mo Show is a CBeebies children's television series featuring a cast of puppets; it is a spin-off from the Fimbles show and was created by the same people, Novel Entertainment...
. Pope also provides the voice for the character Yugo, of Yugo and Migo from The Roly Mo Show
The Roly Mo Show
The Roly Mo Show is a CBeebies children's television series featuring a cast of puppets; it is a spin-off from the Fimbles show and was created by the same people, Novel Entertainment...
.
He has scored numerous dramas and comedy-dramas for TV including Ted & Ralph
Ted & Ralph
Ted and Ralph are fictional characters created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, played by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson in the BBC comedy sketch show The Fast Show...
, Midnight Flight, Crazy for A Kiss, Hospital! and Margery & Gladys as well as the film Kevin & Perry Go Large
Kevin & Perry Go Large
Kevin & Perry Go Large is a 2000 British comedy film based upon the Harry Enfield sketch Kevin the Teenager. The film was directed by Ed Bye and was written by Dave Cummings and Harry Enfield. Enfield, Kathy Burke and Louisa Rix all return to their roles after previously appearing in Harry...
(2000).
He was invited to arrange Snow Patrol's Run 12" remixed by Garrett Lee
On October 5th, 2004, Pope featured in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
episode "Fit the Fifteenth" as one of three aliens from the planet of Krikkit. The three aliens sang a song called "Under the Ink Black Sky", which Pope wrote and performed.