Charlie Hanson is a British producer and director. His award-winning work includes television shows such as ''
Desmond's
''Desmond's'' is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, ''Desmond's'' stars Norman Beaton as barber Desmo ...
'', ''
Chef!
''Chef!'' is a British situation comedy starring Lenny Henry that aired as twenty episodes over three series from 1993 to 1996 on the BBC. The show was created and primarily written by Peter Tilbury based on an idea from Lenny Henry and produc ...
'', ''
The Big Impression
''The Big Impression'', known as ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression'' for the first three series, is a British comedy sketch show. It features Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona impersonating personalities from entertainment and sport. Four series ...
'', ''
The Sketch Show
''The Sketch Show'' is a British television sketch comedy programme, featuring many leading British comedians. It aired on ITV between 2001 and 2004. The show was first commissioned in 2001 and was co-produced by a company owned by Steve Coog ...
'' and ''
Whites
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
'', and the 2003 feature film ''
A Way of Life
Way of life may refer to:
* Lifestyle (sociology), a term to describe the way a person lives
* ''Modus vivendi'', a Latin phrase meaning ''way of life'' or ''way of living''
* The culture of a nation or tribe
Books
*'' A Way of Life: Over Thir ...
''.
Career
Hanson's work as a producer spanned more than two decades of television drama and comedy. His work included BBC Television's ''
This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''
Birds of a Feather
''Birds of a Feather'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC One from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998, then revived on ITV from 2 January 2014 to 24 December 2020. The series stars Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, with Lesley Jos ...
'',
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 ...
's ''
Desmond's
''Desmond's'' is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, ''Desmond's'' stars Norman Beaton as barber Desmo ...
'', ''
Chef!
''Chef!'' is a British situation comedy starring Lenny Henry that aired as twenty episodes over three series from 1993 to 1996 on the BBC. The show was created and primarily written by Peter Tilbury based on an idea from Lenny Henry and produc ...
'', starring
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...
for the BBC, ''
Kelsey Grammer Presents The Sketch Show
''The Sketch Show'' is a British television sketch comedy programme, featuring many leading British comedians. It aired on ITV between 2001 and 2004. The show was first commissioned in 2001 and was co-produced by a company owned by Steve C ...
'' for
Fox Television
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations a ...
, both ''
The Harry Hill Show'' and an episode of ''
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' is a British horror parody television series created by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness for Channel 4. The show focuses on fictional horror author Garth Marenghi (played by Holness) and his publisher Dean Lea ...
'' for Channel 4,
Alistair McGowan
Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for '' The Big Impression'' (formerly ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''), which was, for four year ...
's ''
The Big Impression
''The Big Impression'', known as ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression'' for the first three series, is a British comedy sketch show. It features Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona impersonating personalities from entertainment and sport. Four series ...
'', winner of the
BAFTA award for Best Comedy Programme in 2003, and ITV's ''
The Sketch Show
''The Sketch Show'' is a British television sketch comedy programme, featuring many leading British comedians. It aired on ITV between 2001 and 2004. The show was first commissioned in 2001 and was co-produced by a company owned by Steve Coog ...
'', winner of the BAFTA award for Best Comedy Programme in 2002.
In 2003 Hanson produced his first feature film,
Amma Asante
Amma Asante (born 13 September 1969) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, former actress, and Chancellor at Norwich University of the Arts, who was born in London to parents from Ghana. Her love for the film industry started when she receive ...
's BAFTA award-winning ''
A Way of Life
Way of life may refer to:
* Lifestyle (sociology), a term to describe the way a person lives
* ''Modus vivendi'', a Latin phrase meaning ''way of life'' or ''way of living''
* The culture of a nation or tribe
Books
*'' A Way of Life: Over Thir ...
''. The film, which had its world premiere at the
Toronto Film Festival
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, was released in the UK in October 2004, garnering 12 international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film, and the International Critics' Prize at the Miami International Film Festival in 2005, and four BAFTA Cymru awards.
He has since produced two series of ''
Extras'' for BBC/HBO, and in 2008 won a Golden Globe for the Extras Special TV Movie. Most recently he has produced the new
Reggie Perrin
''Reggie Perrin'' is a modern update of the 1970s BBC sitcom ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', which starred Leonard Rossiter. The revival stars Martin Clunes and was first broadcast on 24 April 2009. Series 1 was released on DVD in Re ...
on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...
, and ''
Whites
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
'' for
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...
, starring
Alan Davies
Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series '' Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only pe ...
. He has produced the
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms '' The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad ...
and
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer.
Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series '' The Office'' (2001–2003), an ...
movie ''
Cemetery Junction'' for
Sony International
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
, released on 14 April 2010.
In 2011, Hanson produced Gervais and Merchant's new series, ''
Life's Too Short'' and in 2012, Gervais' Channel 4
comedy-drama pilot ''
Derek
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name are ...
''. Hanson also worked on the
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...
BBC2 television series ''
Pompidou'', which aired in early 2015. From 2019 Hanson went on to produce ''
After Life'' for Gervais.
Sexual assault allegations
In May 2021, Hanson was accused by 11 women of serious sexual assault between 2008 and 2015. His accusers allege that he used "his reputation" to prey on them as young women by "promising them a starry career under his wing". Following the allegations, Hanson was suspended by BAFTA on 30 May 2021, and was removed as producer of ''After Life''.
References
External links
*
* Comedy Guide
''Charlie Hanson''at HBO.com
Living people
British television producers
British television directors
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{BBC-tv-bio-stub