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Armando Iannucci

Date of birth: 30-11-1963

Half-Italian, half-Scottish Armando Iannucci abandoned his Oxford graduate studies in English to take up a career in broadcasting - and has since become one of the most important catalysts in bringing comedy to the screen.

He started his career in the early Nineties as a radio producer, working on The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Quote... Unquote, The News Quiz and On The Hour. This spoof news show transferred to TV as The Day Today and spawned Alan Partridge, whose award-winning shows on TV and radio Iannucci produced and co-wrote.

Iannucci has also fronted his own satirical shows, including The Saturday (or Friday) Night Armistice on BBC Two, his self-titled show on Channel 4 and his Radio 4 show Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive. He is also a regular on Radio 4 panel shows such as The News Quiz and The 99p Challenge and has worked on a number of Radio 3 shows, because of his passion for classical music.

More recently, he created the political satire The Thick Of It, about a beleaguered Minister trying to cope with the pressure imposed by his army of spin doctors, and the spoof clip show Time Trumpet.

In 2006, he was made Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at Oxford University, and was appointed as a BBC executive to develop new comedy shows.

He is also a columnist for The Observer, and a collection of his earlier newspaper work for the Telegraph and the Guardian was published in a 1997 collection, Facts And Fancies, which was also adapted for a Radio 4 series.

Iannucci has also directed a number of TV commercials, for clients incluting Nationwide.

Armando Iannucci’s Pandemonium tour cancelled

...and it's all Rishi Sunak's fault

A planned tour of Armando Iannucci’s satire of the government’s Covid response has been axed because of the general election.

Pandemonium, which premiered at London’s Soho Theatre in December, was due to to kick off a UK tour at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre in September.

Producers had hoped the biting commentary on the Tories’ behaviour, featuring parodies of the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – would have proved timely in the build-up to the election, which was originally expected to be held in the autumn.

But they say Sunak’s surprise decision move to go to the polls on July 4 means the play, performed entirely in verse, would no longer have the same relevance.

Wayward Productions told The Scotsman: ‘Unfortunately, the early calling of the general election changes the context of the piece significantly. We felt strongly that the production wouldn’t work as well for audiences without an election campaign in the background.’

Iannucci’s first work for the stage, Pandemonium was a cod Shakespearean/Restoration comedy about the rule-flouting leaders racked by indecision and ill-equipped for the serious thought needed to tackle the pandemic. Read our review here.

Those who had tickets for the Edinburgh week can exchange them for another production or request a refund from the box office.

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Published: 28 Jun 2024