Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scots - Italian comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer. He has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire". He is particularly known for the radio series On the Hour and the television series The Day Today and The Thick of It.
Iannucci's father, also called Armando, is from Naples, Italy, and his mother is from Glasgow, Scotland, where Iannucci was born. His father, who came to Scotland in 1950, ran a pizza factory. Armando has two brothers and a sister. Iannucci was educated at St Peter's Primary School, St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow and University College, Oxford, where he read English literature gaining an MA in 1986. In his teens he thought seriously about becoming a Roman Catholic priest. He abandoned graduate work on 17th-century religious language with particular reference to Milton's Paradise Lost, to pursue his career in comedy.
Despite his involvement in many facets of British comedy as a producer, writer and performer, Iannucci has remained relatively unknown amongst the British public. His projects include Smokehammer, a web-based project with Chris Morris, the short-lived topical satire Gash, as well as three programmes for BBC Radio 3, including Mobiles Off!, a 20-minute segment on classical concert-going etiquette. As well as television and radio work, he also wrote a book in 1997 entitled Facts and Fancies, compiling some articles from his newspaper columns, which was turned into a BBC Radio 4 series. A little-known radio series called Scraps With Iannucci followed late in 1998, in which Iannucci used his tape-fiddling skills to present a review of the year.
On the Hour
Iannucci has an extensive history in British radio and television. First receiving widespread fame in the early 1990s as the producer for On the Hour and then The Day Today, he received critical acclaim for both his own talents as a writer and a producer, and for first bringing together such comics as Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Peter Baynham and Steve Coogan. The members of this group went on to work on separate projects and create a new comedy "wave" pre-New Labour: Morris went on to create Brass Eye, Blue Jam and the Chris Morris Music Show; Stewart Lee and Richard Herring created Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy.
Baynham was closely involved with both Morris's and Lee & Herring's work ... simultaneously at one point. Lee would go on to co-write the controversial Jerry Springer ... The Opera, but perhaps the most famous "alumnus" of this group is Steve Coogan's character Alan Partridge, who first appeared in On the Hour, and has featured in multiple spin-off series.
Between 1995 and 1999, Iannucci produced and hosted The Saturday Night Armistice.
The Armando Iannucci Shows
The Armando Iannucci Shows was an eight-part series for Channel 4 broadcast in 2001. The series consisted of Iannucci pondering pseudo-philosophical and jocular ideas and fantasies.
The Thick of It
More recently, Iannucci devised, directed and was chief writer of The Thick of It, a political satire-cum-farce for BBC Four. It starred Chris Langham as an incompetent cabinet minister being manipulated by a cynical Press Officer, played by Peter Capaldi and based on Tony Blair's former Press Secretary Alastair Campbell. It was described by critics on BBC Two's Newsnight Review as a modern-day counterpart to Yes Minister, which Iannucci had championed on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom competition.
Time Trumpet
In mid-2006, his spoof documentary series Time Trumpet was shown on BBC 2. It followed a similar format to his earlier one-off programmes in looking back on past events through highly edited clips and "celebrity" interviews, although this time was looking back on the present and near-future from the year 2031. One episode, featuring fictional terrorist attacks on London and the assassination of Tony Blair, was postponed and edited in August 2006 amid the terrorism scares in British airports at that time. Jane Thynne, writing in The Independent, accused the BBC of lacking backbone.
Advertisement director
He has also directed the latest series of Post Office adverts, featuring the actors John Henshaw, Rory Jennings and Di Botcher alongside guest stars such as Joan Collins, Bill Oddie and Westlife.
He has appeared on Radio 3 talking about classical music, one of his passions. He recently collaborated with composer David Sawer on Skin Deep, an operetta, which was premiered by Opera North on 16 January 2009.
In the Loop
In January 2009, his first feature film In the Loop, in the style of The Thick of It, was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was the first cinema film to be directed by Iannucci, after his contribution to Tube Tales in 1999. The film has been applauded by critics, both in Britain and the US, and was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2009.The film secured the eighth highest placing in the UK box office in its opening week – despite its relatively insignificant screening numbers. According to the British Film Institute screenonline, Iannucci had previously failed to secure funding for a historical comedy film in 2003.
Iannucci used his BBC press pass to enter the US State Department headquarters whilst researching the film, saying how he just turned up and claimed to be "here for the 12.30". Iannucci spent an hour inside taking photographs which were used for the film's set designs.
Iannucci has won two Sony Radio Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. He was also subject of a 2006 edition of The South Bank Show.
Academic work
In January 2006 he took the post of News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at the University of Oxford, where he has delivered a series of four lectures under the title "British Comedy ... Dead Or Alive?".
In 1990, he married Rachael Jones. They have two sons and one daughter.
In the 2010 general election he came out as a Lib Dem supporter saying: "I'll be voting Lib Dem this election because they represent the best chance in a lifetime to make lasting and fair change to how the UK is governed."
The Day Today (BBC 2 ... creator, co-writer, producer plus occasional appearances. The Day Today was the TV adaptation of On The Hour)
The Saturday Night Armistice (writer, producer, presenter etc. - later The Friday Night Armistice)
Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, co-creator)
I'm Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, director)
The Armando Iannucci Shows (writer, performer, director)
His Struggle with Dirt (writer, director)
Gash (writer, presenter)
Have I Got News For You, three times as a panelist on 23 April 2004, 4 May 2007 and 20th May 2010.
The Thick of It (writer, director)
The Stupid Version (Presenter, co-writer, director)
Time Trumpet (writer, presenter, director)
Lab Rats (executive producer)
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (executive producer, plus appears in "Comedy Extra" segments on red button)
Channel 4's 2010 Alternative Election (guest)
Radio
On the Hour (BBC Radio 4 ... creator, co-writer, producer)
No' The Archie McPherson Show (BBC Radio Scotland ... presenter, writer, producer)
Armando Iannucci (BBC Radio 1 ... writer, presenter, producer)
The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4 ... producer, also appeared as guest)
Quote... Unquote (BBC Radio 4 ... producer)
Loose Talk (producer)
The Mary Whitehouse Experience (producer)
The 99p Challenge on BBC Radio 4.
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive on BBC Radio 4
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World as various characters.
Desert Island Discs - BBC Radio 4 as a guest. Armando reveals how as a youngster he rebelled against his parents' "Classical Music listening ways" by playing Wagner.
Scraps With Iannucci a BBC Radio 4 series from 1998.
