Al Murray

Al Murray was nominated for a Perrier Award so many times that the cognoscenti deemed him too popular to win. But the Pub Landlord is a phenomenon. He did finally win the award, and Time Gentlemen Please established Al as a comedy character of national importance.

Al reached a new audience with an impressive performance on Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. A big new ITV show followed; Al Murray’s Happy Hour saw the landlord play host to some fine examples of British manhood, from Terry Venables to Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. He followed it up with a quiz show, Compete for the Meat, a long overdue television take on the pub meat raffle. He’s also continued to fill some of the country’s biggest live venues, sell huge numbers of DVDs, and has sold over 300,000 copies of The Pub Landlord's Book of British Common Sense.

Away from the boozer Al produced a credible Neil Diamond impression on Stars in Their Eyes; and in Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder he brought a fresh cast of characters to life. He regularly appears as himself on Mock the Week and QI, and as befits a history graduate has presented historical documentaries on BBC4 and Discovery and appeared in CBBC’s Horrible Histories.

In cabaret The Pub Landlord continues his mission to put the Great back into Britain and the ale back into the Daily Mail. The strength of his passion for Queen and country and open disdain for our European cousins might be a touch politically incorrect, but it wins roars of approval from audiences.