Neil Cole (born 1 March 1972) is an English

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

presenter,

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

broadcaster and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Early life

Cole was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1972, lived in Allendale, New Jersey, USA as a child, and attended King Edward Grammar School in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

. He studied English and French Literature at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

Stand-up comedy

As a comedian, Cole - with Tom Hillenbrand - was half of successful but short-lived stand-up

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

, Hitchcock's Half Hour, which won the coveted

Hackney Empire New Act of the Year The NATYS: New Acts of The Year Showcase, previously known as The Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, is an annual industry showcase that promotes new waves of emerging Comedy and Variety acts. It ran at the Hackney Empire Theatre from 1988 until ...

competition in 1998. They supported

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an offbeat, energetic performanc ...

and

Ennio Marchetto Ennio Marchetto (; born 20 February 1960) is an Italian comedic live entertainer whose performances feature quick-change artistry, impersonations and his trademark two-dimensional paper costumes. He is also known as The Living Paper Cartoon. ...

in West End Theatres, and appeared on BBC1's ''The Stand Up Show'', BBC Radio 4's '' Loose Ends'' and contributed to Channel 4's ''

The Eleven O'Clock Show ''The 11 O'Clock Show'' was a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4 which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran between 30 September 1998 and 8 December 2000, most notably hosted by Iain Lee ...

'' before splitting up in 2000. Cole returned to the stand-up circuit as a solo comic in February 2007, and supported

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

on his UK Tour over the summer 2007, as well as MCing live music events at the Royal Albert Hall. In March 2010, Cole's debut hour-long solo stand-up show ''Neil By Mouth''premiered at the

Glasgow International Comedy Festival Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a comedy festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The comedy festival started in 2002 and is held annually in March in venues across the city. The festival's aim is to have the biggest impact of any comedy festival ...

, and ran throughout the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in August 2011, at Cabaret Voltaire. He was one of the first UK comedians to perform at the improvised stand-up phenomenon ''Set-List'' in Edinburgh and subsequently in London. Cole was a founder member of London sketch team The Pros From Dover alongside Phil Whelans and Richard Glover, and occasionally still guests with them. In 2017 and 2018 Cole was a core cast member of ''Slattery Night Fever'', a regular improvised comedy show on London's off-West End, directed by Lesley Ann Albiston and credited with the comeback of

Tony Slattery Tony Declan James Slattery (9 November 1959 – 14 January 2025) was a British actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, including as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyw ...

Television

Cole was the series writer for ''

Ultimate Rush ''Ultimate Rush'' is a 2011/2012 documentary television series produced by the Red Bull Media House in association with Matchstick Productions. It is also marketed as a combination of stupendous action sports endeavour, coupled with a cinematic-a ...

'', an adventure sports documentary series produced by

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

Media House for its final two seasons. He was also the live reporter and host for

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull G ...

from 2014-2022. Other work includes hosting a show about roller-coasters for

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

called ''Man Vs Ride'' and hosting Red Bull Race Day 2019. He produced and reported for

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) was a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. ...

and

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

. Before that, Cole presented the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

during 2008–2010. He has previously worked for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

AXN AXN is a pay television channel brand by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America, with some ne ...

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a join ...

Extreme Sports Channel The Extreme Sports Channel is a pay television channel that was launched from Amsterdam on 1 May 1999. The channel broadcasts in over 60 countries and 12 languages, and covers extreme sport and adventure sports which include surfing, skateboardin ...

, The Audi Channel and

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. He has reported on location from major international events, including the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the start or end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers from Formula One, World Rally Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, sports car racin ...

, the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

, UK National Table Tennis Championships, the

and

World Cup Skateboarding World Cup Skateboarding (WCS), sometimes referred to as World Cup of Skateboarding, is an international skateboarding organization that hosts the World Championships of Skateboarding series and other skateboard competitions. Overview Focusing on t ...

. Cole has also hosted (and often associate-produced) further shows including: * (for MTV) ''Select MTV, Euro Top 20, mtv:new, World Chart Express, MTV News'' and his own weekly live music and chat show, ''The Fridge''. * (for AXN) ''AXN Road Trip'', ''Shakedown'' (also shown on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...

and

Men & Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Brit ...

, twice nominated for a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award 2006 & 2007). * ''Bedrock'' - a live daily magazine show that launched ITV's digital platform ITV2 in 1998, co-hosting with Malcolm Jeffries,

Ben Shephard Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard (born 11 December 1974) is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2024–present), alongside Cat Deeley. Shephard was a main presenter ...

Heather Suttie Heather Suttie is an occasional PR and Scottish TV & radio presenter, most recently on Heart Scotland. In 2001, aged 26, she presented BBC Children's Saturday morning show ''Live & Kicking''. She has written tabloid features on travel, lifestyle ...

and Rachel Brady. The Series Producer of the show was

Drew Pearce Drew Pearce (born August 24, 1975) is a British screenwriter, director, and producer best known for his work on The Fall Guy (2024 film), ''The Fall Guy'' (2024), ''Hotel Artemis'' (2018), ''Iron Man 3'' (2013), ''Fast and Furious Presents: Hob ...

Acting

2024 saw Cole appear as photographer Brian Green in BBC One series

Call The Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

and as Jarrod Williams in science fiction feature film ''Sentinel''. Cole won the Best Actor award at the Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival 2016 for his role as Pete in British comedy horror feature film ''Stag Hunt'', starring alongside

Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor. Early and personal life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His half brother is actor Sean Astin. H ...

. Other work includes character roles in the Dark Ditties series on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

. He also played a Radio DJ in feature film '' Borrowed Time'' and Captain William in feature film Richard the Lionheart: Rebellion In theatre, Cole recently played Meatball in the World Premiere of Lesley Ann Albiston's new play ''A Slice of Eel Pie''. He has appeared in leading roles including: Puck in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', Hal in '' Loot'', Nero in ''

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman Emperor Claudius and his third wife, Valeria Messalina. For a time, he was considered his father's heir, but t ...

'', Wilson in ''

The Ruffian on the Stair ''The Ruffian on the Stair'' is a play by British playwright Joe Orton which was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1964, in a production by John Tydeman. It is an unsympathetic yet comedic one-act portrayal of working class England, as played out b ...

'', Willie in ''

Blue Remembered Hills "Blue Remembered Hills" is the 14th episode of the ninth season of the British BBC anthology TV series ''Play for Today''. The episode was a television play that was originally broadcast on 30 January 1979. "Blue Remembered Hills" was written by ...

'', Mephistopheles in '' Dr Faustus'', and various characters in Mamet's '' Edmond''. He has played The Darkness in cult comedy ''Umbrage Swain and the Magical Diamond of Ramtutiti'' in London's Off-West End.

Radio

In 2024 Cole has appeared three times on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

as an expert correspondent. After several years hosting various shows on London 104.9

Xfm Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

(including breaking new Scandinavian bands like Peter, Bjorn & John and

The Concretes The Concretes were a Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm. History Since their formation in 1995, the Concretes have grown into an eight-piece band. Original members of the band include Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. ...

in his feature Northern Xposure), Cole was the daytime DJ for

NME Radio The Music Machine (TMM) is a pair of British radio stations that broadcast an alternative music format. It is owned and operated by Sammy Jacob, founder of the original Radio X (United Kingdom), XFM. The station dates back to NME Radio which broadc ...

from launch until summer 2009. He has also guest-starred in two

Sapphire & Steel ''Sapphire & Steel'' is a British supernatural/fantasy television series starring David McCallum and Joanna Lumley. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. Hammond who conceived the ...

audio plays, '' All Fall Down'' and '' Dead Man Walking''.

References

External links

Official site

Spotlight CV

Review on Chortle
*
2011 Interview with The Humourdor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Neil 1972 births People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford Living people Male actors from Bristol English male film actors English male comedians English male television actors Male actors from Chelmsford Alumni of the University of Bristol Comedians from Essex Comedians from Bristol