David Geoffrey Earl (born 10 March 1974) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

actor and comedian, best known for his comedy character Brian Gittins. He has featured in several projects associated with

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) ...

, most notably as Kevin "Kev" Twine in the comedy-drama '' Derek'', and in smaller roles in '' Extras'', '' After Life'' and the film '' Cemetery Junction''. Earl also works frequently with comic

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 11 February 1975) is an English comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. In 2006, Wilkinson won the Hackney Empire New Act of ...

. Together they co-wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Rovers'', and the comedy series '' The Cockfields''. They also host three podcasts called ''Gossipmongers'', ''Chatabix'' and ''You Don't Know What You're Doing''. He also co-wrote and starred in the feature film '' Brian and Charles'' where he plays an isolated inventor who builds a robot.

Early life

Earl was born in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, on 10 March 1974. Before undertaking acting roles, Earl worked as a gardener, a greenkeeper at a golf club, a van driver delivering building tools, and a window cleaner.

Comedy career

One of Earl's earliest online videos featured him playing a character called Graham, which he sent to a friend who showed it to

and

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...

. They liked the video and Gervais asked Earl to play an obsessive fan, based on the character from the video, who talks to Andy Millman in a pub in an episode of ''Extras''. Around this time Earl played Tony Queen in the film ''The Penalty King''. Earl went on to create a number of online videos in character as Brian Gittins and played this role in the film ''Cemetery Junction''. In 2012 a sitcom pilot entitled ''Gittins'' was broadcast on

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 ...

. In the pilot Gittins works as a taxi driver: previously the character had been a cafe owner and this discrepancy is highlighted in an episode of the podcast ''Flatshare Slamdown'', in which Earl appears as Brian. He releases regular ''Brian Gittins and Friends'' podcasts. Another of Earl's characters is Steve "Cumbo" Cumberland, who features in a number of online videos, including a Channel 4 ''Comedy Blaps'' series, co-written with

Brett Goldstein Brett Goldstein (born July 17th, 1980) is an English actor, comedian, writer, producer, and podcaster. Known for his role as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series ''Ted Lasso'', he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppo ...

. In 2011, Earl was revealed to be the person behind the popular Twitter account of Dr Peter Thraft, a supposed sex therapist.

Personal life

Earl has three children and lives in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

with his wife Naomi.

Filmography

Podcasts

''The Brian Gittins Show''

A live radio show hosted on Spreaker from 2012-2017, where Brian played the role of 'the worst radio presenter in the world'. Callers would Skype in from around the world, and these included David Edwards and Charles Petrescu.

''Brian Gittins and Friends''

Brian, David Edwards and Charles Petrescu have a chat with various comedians. It started in 2016, with guests including John Kearns, Lolly Adefope, and

Scroobius Pip David Peter Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally as Scroobius Pip, is an English actor and podcaster as well as a former spoken word poet and hip hop recording artist from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. He first gained prominence as one ...

''Gossipmongers''

In 2019, David Earl,

and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called ''Gossipmongers'', a weekly podcast where listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In September 2020 Hillstead was removed from the podcast without any public explanation from Earl or Wilkinson. The podcast continued without Hillstead and all mention of her was removed including the entire back catalogue being deleted. The podcast quietly came to an end with the final full episode in February 2022. Earl and Wilkinson have both suggested there are no plans to bring it back.

''Chatabix''

In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called ''Chatabix'', originally a daily weekday podcast recorded very early in the morning. From the Summer of 2023 it is now 3 episodes a week released Tuesday to Thursday where they chat to each other as well as special guests including Ben Rufus Green their co-star from The Cockfields

''You Don't Know What You're Doing''

In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called ''My New Football Club''. The show is now presented by Earl, Jon Beer and Alfie Indra after Wilkinson left the podcast due to time commitment. The podcast was originally about David becoming a new fan of Exeter City and now provides regular updates on Exeter City including interviews with staff as well as famous fans of other teams.ITV Westcountry In 2024, the podcast was rebranded to ''You Don't Know What You're Doing.''

References

External links

Official website
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David Earl
on Twitch {{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, David British male film actors British male television actors 1974 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people)