Graham Duff
Encyclopedia
Life and Work
Graham Duff is an EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer, actor and producer. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and currently resides in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
on the south coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He attended and graduated from the University of Brighton
University of Brighton
The University of Brighton is an English university of the United Kingdom, with a community of over 23,000 students and 2,600 staff based on campuses in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. It has one of the best teaching quality ratings in the UK and a strong research record, factors which...
. His work for TV and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large casts, frequently dark subject matter and a love of wordplay
Wordplay
Wordplay is a musician/actor, of mixed British and Black African descent. Gaining worldwide exposure as an actor in 1998 through the Austrian Obscuro Gothic science fiction film "Dandy dust" directed by Hans Schierl...
and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. His writing is influenced by the worlds of horror and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, musical sub-cultures and the realms of fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
and art house cinema. He is a noted music enthusiast, having worked as a DJ and selected all the soundtrack music for seven series of his TV show "Ideal
Ideal (TV series)
Ideal is a British comedy-drama, or dark comedy originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three, created by Graham Duff and produced by BBC Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions. It stars Johnny Vegas as small-time cannabis dealer Moz....
", as well as curating an ‘Ideal’ soundtrack album and helping to release albums by the leftfield bands Celebricide and Cyclobe
Cyclobe
Cyclobe are a music duo based in London, formed by Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown. They make hallucinatory electronic soundscapes by mixing sampled and heavily synthesized sounds with acoustic arrangements for strings and woodwind. Their approach draws upon diverse forms, including acousmatic,...
.
Early Career
Graham began writing and performing in the mid 1980’s with the performance artPerformance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
group Theatre of the Bleeding Obelisk and the fringe theatre
Fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is not of the mainstream. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which name comes from Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival as a ‘fringe’, writing: ‘Round the fringe...
company Wax Cabinet. During this period, he also worked occasionally as an assistant editor at Ikon
Ikon
Ikon can mean:* An alternate spelling of icon* , Journal of Iconographic Studies* Ikon Asean, a recent singing competition between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines* Ikon , an Australian dark wave group...
, the video department of Manchester’s Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
. By the early 90’s he was a member of the comedy improvisation group Fish-heads. With Wax Cabinet colleague Malcolm Boyle
Malcolm Boyle
Malcolm Boyle was a British organist and composer. He was born in Windsor, England, and as a boy served as a chorister at Eton College. He became an organ pupil of Sir Walter Parratt of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. After taking his BMus at Queen's College, Oxford, he became Assistant organist to...
, he wrote for BBC Radio 1’s "Mark Goodier Show" and contributed sketches to BBC Radio 3’s "The Music Makers
The Music Makers
The Music Makers, Op. 69, is a work for contralto or mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra composed by Edward Elgar. It was dedicated to "my friend Nicholas Kilburn"...
". Graham also DJ’d and hosted comedy phone-in shows in the guise of self help guru Doctor Devlin on a number of independent and pirate radio stations, as well as presenting "The Duff Almanac", a regular feature on BBC Radio 4’s "Loose Ends
Loose Ends
In common conversation, the phrase loose ends usually refers to unresolved issues.Loose Ends may also refer to the following:In music:* Loose Ends * Loose Ends...
".
Stage Work
His first one man stage show was ‘Burroughs’ (1992) – based on the life and times of infamous beat author William S. BurroughsWilliam S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
. The show won a Brighton Festival award and was followed by "Diary of a Madman" (1993), adapted from the novel of the same name by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n absurdist
Absurdist
Absurdist may refer to:* Absurdism* Absurdist fiction...
author Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
. With comedian and writer James Poulter, Graham toured internationally with the stand up shows "The A-Z of Drugs" (1995) and "The A-Z of Taboo" (1996). These were followed by another solo comedy show "Vinyl Anorak" (1997) about the world of music obsessives.
Television
Along with Henry NormalHenry Normal
Henry Normal is an English comedian, television producer, poet and writer. He is Managing Director of Baby Cow Productions Ltd which he set up with Steve Coogan....
and Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
, Graham co-wrote the six part comedy horror homage "Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible
Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible
Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible is a British television series, created by Graham Duff, co-written by and starring Steve Coogan. Originally aired on BBC2 in 2001, the programme was designed as an anthology series, in the style of Tales from the Crypt, and lampooned many aspects of the horror...
" (BBC2 2001), which starred Coogan in seven different roles. Graham himself appeared in four supporting roles. Graham then created and wrote all 53 episodes of "Ideal
Ideal (TV series)
Ideal is a British comedy-drama, or dark comedy originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three, created by Graham Duff and produced by BBC Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions. It stars Johnny Vegas as small-time cannabis dealer Moz....
" (BBC3 & BBC2 2005-2011) starring Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
as Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
cannabis dealer Moz. Graham also appeared in the show as the promiscuous and bitchy gay man Brian, as well as an uncredited role as Moz’s frightening, masked neighbour Fist.
Radio
Graham wrote and performed the lead roles in his six part comedy series "Stereonation" (adapted from the stage show ‘Vinyl Anorak’) which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the summer of 1998. From 1998 to 2000, he presented "Totally Wired", an alternative music show on Brighton's "Juice 107.2Juice 107.2
Juice 107.2 is a Independent Local Radio station based in Brighton, UK, playing MOR dance music and commercial classics.It also has a sister station - the internet radio station, Totally Radio.Juice was formerly known as Surf 107....
" . Following this, Graham wrote three series of the BBC Radio 4 sci-fi sit-com "Nebulous
Nebulous
Nebulous is a post apocalyptic science fiction comedy radio show written by Graham Duff and produced by Ted Dowd from Baby Cow Productions; it is directed by Nicholas Briggs. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4...
" (2005-2008) starring Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
as Professor Nebulous. The show featured Graham as the Professor’s assistant Rory. Graham has also worked as the script editor on all seven series of BBC Radio 4’s "Count Arthur Strong’s Radio Show!" (2005-2011) starring Steve Delaney
Steve Delaney
Steve Delaney is an English comedian and character actor, best known for the fictional comedy character Count Arthur Strong, whom Delaney created and whom he plays, most notably in Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!...
. The 4th series of which won the prestigious Sony Gold Award.
Acting
Aside from appearing in his own work, Graham has a small speaking part, as a Death Eater in the films "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" (2010) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" (2011). He has also appeared in ITV’s comedy series "Monkey TrousersMonkey Trousers
Monkey Trousers was a short-lived comedy series on ITV in 2005, featuring Alistair McGowan, John Thomson, Ronni Ancona, Mackenzie Crook, Griff Rhys Jones, Neil Morrissey, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Marc Wootton and Steve Coogan...
" (2005), Channel 4's "Ketch & Hiro-pon Get it On" (2008), as well as starring as a convicted pedophile in David Cross’s dark sit-com "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret is an American-British sitcom starring David Cross, Sharon Horgan, Blake Harrison, Will Arnett and Spike Jonze...
" (2011) and a nazi in the Channel 4 comedy show "Totally Tom" (2011).
Other Work
Graham has written articles for "The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
" and "Wire Magazine". He has also contributed a chapter to "The Cosey Complex" - a forthcoming book about the life and work of musician and performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti
Cosey Fanni Tutti
Cosey Fanni Tutti is best known as a performance artist and for her time in Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey....
to be published in 2012. He's made guest contributions on a number of albums by "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...
" aka Vicki Bennett. He acted in Exile
Exile (Doctor Who audio)
Exile is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The Doctor Who Unbound dramas pose a series of "What if...?" questions.-Plot:...
— an audio drama based on 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...
, as well as writing another — Faith Stealer
Faith Stealer
Faith Stealer is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is part of the "Divergent Universe" saga which continued until The Next Life.-Plot:...
starring Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
.