Benjamin Thomas Willbond (born 18 January 1973) is an English actor and screenwriter best known as a member of the British

Them There Them There is a theatrical production collective made up of a group of comedy writers and performers, notable for working on a range of projects together including the first five series of ''Horrible Histories'', '' Yonderland'', and ''Ghosts''. ...

collective, for which he has written and starred in productions including ''

Horrible Histories ''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more. In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpo ...

'', '' Yonderland'', and ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

''. Along with fellow Them There member

Laurence Rickard Laurence Rickard (born 14 June 1975) is an English actor, writer, and comedian best known as a member of the Them There collective, with whom he both wrote and starred in productions including ''Horrible Histories (2009 TV series), Horrible Hi ...

, he co-wrote the 2022 feature-length television comedy ''We Are Not Alone''.

Early life

Willbond was a Forces child and consequently his family moved around every two years. He was sent to

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

Stamford School Stamford School is a co-educational independent school (UK), independent school in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition. Founded in 1532, it has been a member of the Headmasters' and Hea ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, when he was nine years old. He was bullied whilst attending the school. Willbond when talking about his experience at the school said "I don't actually remember that time because it was so shocking". He studied Russian and French at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

Career

Along with Arnold Widdowson, Willbond was part of the comedy duo "Ben & Arn", who won

Perrier Award Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of bottled water marketed as coming from its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acqui ...

for "Best Newcomer" in 1999, and formed the self-proclaimed "thinking man's

French pop French pop music is pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primari ...

duo" Priorité à Gauche. He then went on to perform his solo character shows at several

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 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 ...

s, the last being in 2005 which also starred

Katy Brand Katherine Frances Brand (born 13 January 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series '' Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4. Early life and education Brand ...

and

Jim Field Smith Jim Field Smith (born 20 February 1979) is an English film and television director, writer and producer. Early career Smith was a member of the British sketch comedy group Dutch Elm Conservatoire, who were nominated for the prestigious Perrier ...

. He is perhaps best known for his regular role in

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

's ''

'', in which he played a wide variety of historical figures, most memorably recurring roles as

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. Along with the five other members of the ''Horrible Histories'' starring cast, Willbond is also the co-creator, -writer and -star of '' Yonderland'', a family

fantasy comedy Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on, and parodies of, other works of fantasy. Literature The subgenre ro ...

series that premiered 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 10 November 2013. In addition he is the co-writer of ''

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

'', a BBC-produced comedy film based loosely around the early life of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, which involved the same starring troupe. Previously, Willbond had starred in a short-lived

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

for

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

called ''Laura, Ben & Him'' with

Marek Larwood Marek Ryan Larwood (born 2 June 1976) is an English comedian, actor and YouTuber. He is best known for the BBC Three sketch show ''Rush Hour'' and for being one third of the comedy trio '' We Are Klang''. Early life Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Larw ...

and sometime writing partner

Laura Solon Laura Madalene Solon is an English screenwriter, comedian, actress, and winner of the 2005 Perrier Comedy Award. She was the second woman to win as a solo performer, after Jenny Eclair in 1995. Background Solon was raised in Great Kimble nea ...

. He also appeared in Solon's

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

sketch show, '' Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking''. Other notable television work includes the recurring roles of Steve Warwick in the

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 ...

comedy ''

Rev Rev, REV or Rév may refer to: Abbreviations Rev. * Rev., an abbreviation for revolution, as in Revolutions per minute * Rev., an abbreviation for the religious style The Reverend * Rev., the abbreviation for Runtime Revolution, a development en ...

'', Adam Kenyon in

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

's ''

The Thick of It ''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series created, written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially ...

'' and as a television director in the movie-length final episode of the

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

comedy '' Extras'' (

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

). He has also appeared in '' Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' for

and '' Mayo'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. Willbond's other radio credits include

series '' Deep Trouble'', ''

Double Science This is a list of current and former programmes broadcast on BBC Radio 4. When it came into existence – on 30 September 1967 – Radio 4 inherited a great many continuing programme series which had been initiated prior to that date by its pred ...

'' (co-written with Justin Edwards), ''Recorded for Training Purposes'' and the first series of '' Electric Ink''. He also starred in the YouTube

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

''Nigel and Victoria''. His 2010

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

'' Tooty's Wedding'', which he co-wrote with Solon, won numerous international comedy awards and was screened as part of the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competitio ...

. Other notable film work includes the movie '' Starter for 10'' (2006). In 2007 he had a short appearance in '' St Trinian's'', as a nervous school inspector. Between 2019 and 2023, Willbond portrayed The Captain in the BBC sitcom ''

'' with the other main ''Horrible Histories'' cast.

Personal life

Willbond has two children and is married to Charlotte Gordon. He is a keen

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and plays for the Thunderers.

Awards

Filmography

References

External links

Official Website
* *
Official Twitter Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willbond, Ben 1973 births 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians English male comedians English male stage actors English male television actors Living people People educated at Stamford School Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male screenwriters Male actors from Bedfordshire English male television writers Comedians from Bedfordshire