Simon John Blackwell (born 27 May 1966) is an English comedy writer and producer. He is best known for his work on '' The Thick of It'', '' In The Loop'' and ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep'' ...

'', and for his collaborations with

Jesse Armstrong Jesse David Armstrong (born 13 December 1970) is a British author, screenwriter, and producer. He is a co-creator of the Channel 4 comedy series ''Peep Show'' (2003–2015) and '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016), and the creator of the HBO satirical ...

and

Sam Bain Sam Bain (born 3 August 1971) is a British comedy writer, best known for the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show''. He attended St Paul's School in London before graduating from the University of Manchester, where he met his writing partner Jesse Armst ...

on '' Peep Show'', ''

Four Lions ''Four Lions'' (originally titled ''We Are Four Lions'') is a 2010 British political satire black comedy film directed by Chris Morris (in his directorial debut) and written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film, a jihad satire fol ...

'' and ''

The Old Guys ''The Old Guys'' is a British sitcom that revolves around two ageing housemates: Tom Finnan (Roger Lloyd-Pack) and Roy Bowden (Clive Swift). The pair live across the street from Sally (Jane Asher), whom they both find attractive. Tom moved in wi ...

''. Blackwell is the creator of the comedy series '' Back'', starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as ''

Breeders A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

'', starring Martin Freeman and

Daisy Haggard Celia Daisy Morna Haggard (born 1978) is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the BBC sitcoms ''Uncle'' and ''Episodes''. Haggard stars in BBC Three’s comedy-drama, '' Back to Life'', which she also created and co-wrot ...

Career

After graduating from

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

as a mature student and then working as a sub-editor for magazines, Blackwell started writing TV comedy in 1999 on shows such as '' Have I Got News For You'', ''

The Kumars at No. 42 ''The Kumars at No. 42'' is a British television show. It won an International Emmy in 2002 and 2003, and won a Peabody Award in 2004. It ran for seven series totalling 53 episodes. It was reportedly a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II. Plot Th ...

'', '' Alastair McGowan's Big Impression'' and ''

The Armstrong and Miller Show ''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton, co-creator ...

'', for which he created the duo's street-talking RAF pilot characters. He first worked with

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

in 2003 on the topical Channel 4 show '' Gash''. He went on to write on all four series of Iannucci's political sitcom '' The Thick of It'' and co-wrote its spin-off film '' In The Loop'', which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Other work with Iannucci includes '' 2004: The Stupid Version'' and '' Time Trumpet''. The two collaborated again on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

comedy ''

'', with Blackwell co-writing the pilot episode and serving as writer and executive producer on the subsequent four seasons, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. Blackwell wrote for Chris Morris's 2010 black comedy film ''

'', alongside

and

. He had previously collaborated with them on the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show'' and BBC One's ''

''. In 2016, Blackwell created the sitcom '' Back'' starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It premiered on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

on 6 September 2017. In 2020, Blackwell created the dramedy ''

'', starring Martin Freeman and

. The series premiered on the American cable network FX on 2 March 2020, and on

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, ...

on 12 March 2020.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Simon 1966 births British television writers English comedy writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters English television writers Writers from London British male television writers Living people People from Battersea Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge