Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was prese ...

''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

. In addition to stand-up, Addison played Ollie Reeder in the

BBC Two 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 ...

satire series ''

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

'' and Toby Wright in its spin-off film '' In the Loop'', starred in the Sky Living comedy-drama '' Trying Again'' and appeared in three episodes of series 8 of '' Doctor Who''. He also co-created and starred in the BBC Two sitcom ''

Lab Rats A laboratory rat is a rat of the species ''Rattus norvegicus'' which is bred and kept for scientific research. Labrat, lab rat, or lab rats may also refer to: People and characters * Dunash ben Labrat (920–990), medieval Jewish commentator ...

''. On radio, he previously hosted the weekly comedy news

satire Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

show '' 7 Day Sunday'' on BBC Radio 5 Live from 2009 to 2010. In 2020, he co-created the FX parental comedy series '' Breeders'' starring

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

Early life

Addison was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, Wales, to English parents and moved back with his parents to

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is e ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, England, when he was four. On the

programme ''

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sy ...

'', he stated that he considers himself a middle class Mancunian. He was educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a free grammar school next to Manchester Parish Church, it moved in 1931 to its present site at ...

, an independent school for boys in Manchester. At MGS rather than playing cricket he played the game

podex Podex (also known as Puddocks and Puddex) is a variety of cricket played in some public schools in the UK and on youth camps, most famously Crusader Camp and Houseparty at Bethany School, which has recently been classed as a Centre of Excellence of ...

. This was followed by the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, where he studied English Literature with the original intent of becoming a theatre director. After his directing plans did not work out, he drifted into comedy as an alternative creative outlet.

Career

Stand-up

Addison's first solo show at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

was in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, for which he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Awards. He continued to bring shows to the Fringe for several years, gaining two Perrier Award nominations – for his

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

show ''Civilisation'' and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

's ''Atomicity''. In 2005 he won the

City Life Comedian of the Year The City Life Comedian of the Year competition is held annually in Manchester, and sponsored by the '' City Life'' magazine. The competition began in 1990, and has become one of the most prestigious comedy awards in the North West of England, ...

Award, a stand-up competition in the

North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the t ...