Robert Darren Popper (born 23 November 1967) is a British comedy producer, writer, actor, and author, best known as co-creator of the mock BBC documentary ''

Look Around You ''Look Around You'' is a comedic parody of British science television shows, devised and written by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, and narrated in the first series by Nigel Lambert. The first series of eight 10-minute shorts was shown ...

'', and creator of Channel 4's sitcom ''

Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday ...

''. He also wrote the books ''The Timewaster Letters'', ''Return of The Timewaster Letters'' and ''The Timewaster Diaries'' under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Robin Cooper.

Early life

Popper was educated at

Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School) is a 4–18 boys Independent school (United Kingdom) in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school was ...

and is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Television and film

Popper began his career in

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

working for

The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

under Peter Richardson. He then worked on the Channel 4 show, ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

'', writing for comedy puppets Zig and Zag. He also made his first appearance as a comedian on ''

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 ...

'' as the character Simon Michael Simon. Later, he was employed as a commissioning editor for Entertainment and Comedy at

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 ...

. His commissioning credits include the series ''

Bo' Selecta! ''Bo' Selecta!'' is a British television sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 2002 until 2009 and lampooned popular culture, becoming known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour. Ser ...

'', ''

Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Dyla ...

'', ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the comedic, and sometimes surreal and action-packed, misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bi ...

'' and ''

Bremner, Bird and Fortune ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune'', originally titled ''Rory Bremner...Who Else?'', is a satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel 4, uniting comedy impressionist Rory Bremner with the veteran satirical comedy duo ...

''. He commissioned three series of the ''

Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998. Several pilots first shown on ''Comedy Lab'' have gone on to spawn full seri ...

'' whilst at the channel. He left the role to work on the first series of ''

'' (2002) with

Peter Serafinowicz Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. His film roles include the voice of Darth Maul in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999), Pete in '' Shaun of the Dead' ...

. ''Look Around You'' was a spoof educational science comedy that ran on BBC2. It was written and produced by Popper (who featured onscreen in one episode as "Jack Morgan", also performing the rock song "Little Mouse") and Serafinowicz (who appeared more frequently). The pair wrote and played all the music in the series. ''Look Around You'' was nominated for a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and a

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

. In 2003, Popper co-wrote the short film ''Hello Friend'' with

Graham Linehan Graham George Linehan (; born May 1968) is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), and has wri ...

. In 2005, Popper returned to the screen with a second series of ''

'', again co-written by him and Serafinowicz. Made up of six half-hour shows, ''Look Around You 2'' resembled an early-80s ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorrow's World' ...

''. Popper appeared in all six episodes as Jack Morgan. Besides Popper and Serafinowicz, the series featured Josie D'Arby and

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Award ...

presenter Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a news program * Sports commentator, an announcer who presents analysis of a sporting event * Radio personality, presenter or announcer on a radio show * Television ...

s. ''Look Around You 2'' won the Rose D'Or TV Award in 2006 for Best Comedy Series. Popper was a programme consultant and co-writer for the TV sketch comedy ''

The Peter Serafinowicz Show ''The Peter Serafinowicz Show'' is a British sketch comedy show written by and starring Peter Serafinowicz. Its debut was on 4 October 2007 at 21:30 on BBC Two as part of the newly launched "Thursdays Are Funny" brand on the channel and Thursd ...

'' (2007), in which he also made several brief on-screen appearances. Popper was the producer for the third and fourth series of Channel 4's ''

Peep Show A peep show, peepshow, or, a peep booth is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the devel ...

''. Both series won the British Comedy Award for Best Comedy, and Popper won a BAFTA for series 4. Popper was the

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

on all three series of ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager Willi ...

.'' He was also the script editor on Graham Linehan's ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British television sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in th ...

'' and the BBC3 comedy ''

Him & Her ''Him & Her'' is a British television sitcom about a lazy twenty-something couple: Steve and Becky, who live in Walthamstow, London. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 6 September 2010. It is written by Stefan Golaszew ...

''. In 2009, Popper and Serafinowicz wrote, produced, and performed in a 30-minute podcast entitled ''The Other Side''. The comedy purported to be a radio show coming from the only radio station ("Radio Spiritworld") to broadcast from the afterlife. Robert and Peter also created the online world religion, Tarvuism, making a variety of shorts. The pair created a number of web videos on YouTube showcasing their surreal humour, including "Birds of Britain", "Markets of Britain" and "Intermission". On 28 July 2010, Popper and Serafinowicz added a new narration track to an episode of "Out Of Town" by

Jack Hargreaves John Herbert Hargreaves OBE (31 December 1911 – 15 March 1994) was an English television presenter and writer whose enduring interest was to comment without nostalgia or sentimentality on accelerating distortions in relations between the city ...

in order to create the spoof film "Markets of Britain, a short film by Lee Titt" Popper wrote on the fourteenth series of ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

''; he was signed up by creators

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

and

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

following a week-long brainstorming session, and worked on the final four episodes of the first half-season. Popper created, wrote and produced six series of the

sitcom ''

''. Series 1 aired from February to April 2011 and won the Rose D'or Award for Best Sitcom. It received two BAFTA nominations and four British Comedy Award nominations. Popper also co-wrote the first three episodes of ''

Stath Lets Flats ''Stath Lets Flats'' is a British sitcom created by Jamie Demetriou that aired on Channel 4 from 27 June 2018 to 30 November 2021. The series stars Demetriou as Stath, an awkward and bumbling English Cypriot man who is employed at a London letti ...

'' with

Jamie Demetriou Jamie Demetriou (; born 1 November 1987) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Bus Rodent in ''Fleabag'' and for creating, co-writing, and starring in '' Stath Lets Flats''. For the latter, he won Best Male A ...

in 2018. He also created and wrote '' I Hate You'' for Channel 4, starring

Tanya Reynolds Tanya Louise Reynolds (born 4 November 1991) is an English actress. She landed her first major role as a series regular on the Sky 1 comedy-drama '' Delicious'' (2016–2019). Reynolds portrayed Lily Iglehart on the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Ed ...

and Melissa Saint. It dropped on

All 4 Channel 4 (previously 4oD and All 4) is a video on demand service from Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to ...

in September 2022 and aired on C4 in October 2022. Popper had a small, uncredited role in

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

's 2004 film ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden London salesman who is caught alongside his loved ones in a zombie apocalypse. It also star ...

'', in which he played a news reporter, and also appeared in Wright's next film, ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 buddy cop action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the film with Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, an elite London police officer, whose proficiency makes the rest of his team look bad, causing hi ...

'' (2007), credited as "Not Janine". He reprised his ''Look Around You'' character, Jack Morgan, for an appearance in the music video for

Frankie & The Heartstrings Frankie & The Heartstrings are a Sunderland-based indie rock band formed in 2008. The band's debut album, ''Hunger'' was released on 21 February 2011, and debuted at No. 32 on the UK albums chart. Known for their partying, they were labelled as ...

' 2011 single "Hunger".

Books

Robert Popper wrote the books ''The Timewaster Letters'' and ''Return of the Timewaster Letters'' under the pseudonym Robin Cooper. The books were a set of madcap letters he wrote to weird associations and hobby groups. The books became bestsellers and have so far sold over 300,000 copies. The third "Robin Cooper" book, ''The Timewaster Diaries'', was published in 2007, was serialised on Radio 4's Book of the Week programme 16–20 July 2007, read by

Paul Whitehouse Paul Julian Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer, presenter and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Fast Show'' and has starred with Harry Enfield in the shows ''Harry & Paul'' and ''Ha ...

. ''The Timewaster Letters'' was released in the US in the summer of 2008.

Tangerinegate

Popper was responsible for a minor hoax regarding

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

in February 2010 known as "Tangerinegate". Popper, who often makes prank phone calls, rang up

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

radio station

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

claiming he had seen Brown throw a tangerine into a laminating machine during a fit of rage, breaking the machine. This hoax was reported as a true event in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' as well as being referenced (as 'alleged') on comedy news show '' The Bubble''. The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' (FT) website published a blog post, stating its belief that the story was a hoax. The ''FT'' also reported on the emergence of a computer-animated version of the events from Hong Kong. Similar stories regarding Gordon Brown having temper tantrums were widely published in the British media during February 2010, following publicity about

Andrew Rawnsley Andrew Nicholas James Rawnsley (born 5 January 1962) is a British political journalist and broadcaster. A columnist and chief political commentator for ''The Observer'', he has written two books on New Labour. Early life Rawnsley was born in Le ...

's book '' The End of the Party''. The ''Financial Times'' later issued a follow-up post acknowledging the hoax.

Awards

'' (Series 1)
Writer/Producer
Winner: Best Sitcom, Rose d'Or Awards 2012
Winner: Best Format, MIPCOM, 2012
Winner: Best Sitcom, Montreux Comedy Festival, 2011
Winner: RTS Craft Award, Best Editing, Sitcom 2011
Nominated: BAFTA, Best Sitcom
Nominated British Comedy Awards, Best Sitcom 2011
Nominated British Comedy Awards, Best New Comedy 2011
Nominated Best Writer, Comedy, RTS Awards 2011
Nominated Best Comedy, Broadcast Awards 2012
Nominated, Best Comedy, Televisual Awards, 2011
Nominated Best New Programme, Broadcast Awards 2012 ''Praise Tarvu''
Short Film co/written/produced with Peter Serafinowicz
Winner: Best Comedy, Campfire Film Festival, Australia, 2009 ''Peep Show'' (Series 4)
Producer
Winner: BAFTA, Best Sitcom, 2008
Winner British Comedy Award, Best Comedy Series, 2007
Winner of the Monte Carlo International TV Festival, Best Comedy
Winner, Best Comedy Performance, RTS Awards, 2008
Nominated RTS Awards, Best Sit Com, 2008 ''Peep Show'' (Series 3)
Producer
Winner: British Comedy Awards, Best Comedy Series, 2006
Nominated: BAFTA, Situation Comedy 2006
Winner: South Bank Awards for Best Comedy, 2006
Nominated for a Broadcast Award, Best Comedy, 2006 ''

'' (Series 2)
Co-Writer, Co-Star, Co-Producer, Co-Composer (with Peter Serafinowicz)
Winner: Best Comedy, Rose D’Or Awards, 2006
Winner: Arena Magazine Awards for Best Comedy Show 2005
DVD: Nominated for a DVDA award, Best Comedy DVD, 2006 ''

'' (Series 1)
Co-Writer, Co-Star, Co-Producer, Co-Composer (with Peter Serafinowicz)
Nominated: BAFTA, Best Comedy Series, 2003
Nominated: British Comedy Award, Best New Comedy, 2003
Winner: Amazon.co.uk’s UK Comedy DVD of the year, 2003 ''

'': Calcium
Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Co-Composer with Peter Serafinowicz, 20-minute comedy short film, 2001
Winner: London Portobello Film Festival (Springfest)
Special Mentions: Milan, Leeds, and Bradford Film Festivals
Finalist: London Greenwich Film Festival

References

External links

*
''The Timewaster Letters'' webpage

Tarvuism's official website

Radio Spirit World official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, Robert English male comedians English male television actors Television producers from London People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School 1967 births Living people Jewish English writers Jewish male comedians Male actors from London People from Marylebone Writers from the City of Westminster Comedians from the City of Westminster Actors from the City of Westminster Jewish English comedians