Graham Duff
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Graham Duff is an English writer, actor and producer. His work for television and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large casts, frequently dark subject matter and a love of
wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...
and
surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
. Duff's writing is influenced by the worlds of
horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...
and
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, musical sub-cultures and the realms of
fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...
and art house cinema. He is a noted music enthusiast, having worked as a DJ and selected all the soundtrack music for seven series of his television show ''
Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...
'', as well as compiling an ''Ideal'' soundtrack album and helping to release albums by the left-field bands Celebricide and
Cyclobe Cyclobe (1999–present) are a music duo formed by Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown. They make hallucinatory electronic soundscapes by mixing sampled and heavily synthesized sounds with acoustic arrangements for a variety of instruments inclu ...
. He also worked as a script editor on seven series of BBC Radio 4's ''Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!'' and the Alan Partridge movie ''Alpha Papa'' (2013).


Early life

Duff was born in
Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
, Lancashire. He graduated from the
University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based in Brighton on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieved university status in 1992. T ...
.


Career


Career beginnings

Duff began writing and performing in the mid-1980s with the
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
group Theatre of the Bleeding Obelisk and the
fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...
company Wax Cabinet. During this period, he also worked occasionally as an assistant editor at Ikon, the video department of Manchester's
Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...
. By the early 1990s he was a member of the comedy improvisation group "Fish-heads". With Wax Cabinet colleague Malcolm Boyle, he wrote for BBC Radio 1's ''Mark Goodier Show'' and contributed sketches to BBC Radio 3's ''The Music Makers''. Duff also DJ'd and hosted comedy phone-in shows in the guise of self-help guru Doctor Devlin on a number of independent and pirate radio stations, as well as presenting "The Duff Almanac", a regular feature on BBC Radio 4's '' Loose Ends''.


Theatre

Duff's first one-man stage show was 'Burroughs' (1992) – based on the life and times of infamous beat author
William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...
. The show won a Brighton Festival award and was followed by " Diary of a Madman" (1993), adapted from the novel of the same name by
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n absurdist author
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
. With comedian and writer James Poulter, Duff toured internationally with the stand-up shows "The A–Z of Drugs" (1995) and "The A–Z of Taboo" (1996). These were followed by another solo comedy show "Vinyl Anorak" (1997) about the world of music obsessives.


Television

Along with
Henry Normal Henry Normal (born Peter James Carroll, 15 August 1956) is an English writer, poet, film and TV producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival), and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In J ...
and
Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...
, Duff co-wrote the six-part comedy horror homage ''
Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible ''Dr Terrible's House of Horrible'' is a satirical British comedy horror anthology series created by Graham Duff, who co-wrote the series with Steve Coogan. BBC Two broadcast the series in 2001. The title parodies Amicus Productions' anthology fi ...
'' (BBC2 2001), which starred Coogan in seven roles; Duff appeared in four supporting roles. Duff then created and wrote all 53 episodes of ''
Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...
'' (BBC3 & BBC2 2005–2011) starring
Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour. Ve ...
as
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
cannabis dealer Moz. Duff also appeared in the show as the promiscuous and bitchy gay man Brian, as well as an uncredited role as Moz's frightening, masked neighbour Fist. He co-wrote two series and a Christmas special of the sit-com ''
Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...
'' (BBC2 2012–2013) with stand-up comedian and series creator Jason Cook as well as appearing in several episodes as newspaper photographer David Cowgill. He also created and wrote the
Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
television series '' The Nightmare Worlds of H. G. Wells'' which starred
Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage, and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is known ...
,
Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...
and
Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in '' A Room with a View'', '' Maurice'', '' The Madness of King George'' and '' The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he sta ...
; Duff also appeared in the first episode.


Radio

Duff wrote and performed the lead roles in his six-part comedy series ''Stereonation'' (adapted from the stage show ''Vinyl Anorak'') which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the summer of 1998. From 1998 to 2000, he presented ''
Totally Wired "Totally Wired" is a song by The Fall (band), the Fall. Released in September 1980, the single became one of their signature tracks. The track subsequently appeared on CD reissues of their album ''Grotesque (After the Gramme)''. The track reached ...
'', an alternative music show on Brighton's Juice 107.2. Following this, Duff wrote three series of the
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 ...
sci-fi sit-com '' Nebulous'' (2005–2008) starring
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
as Professor Nebulous. The show featured Duff as the Professor's assistant Rory. Duff has also worked as the script editor on all seven series of BBC Radio 4's ''
Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! ''Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!'' is a sitcom broadcast on BBC Radio 4, written by Steve Delaney. It features Count Arthur Strong, a former variety star who has malapropisms, memory loss and other similar problems, played by Delaney. Eac ...
'' (2005–2011) starring
Steve Delaney Steve Delaney (born 1954) is an English comedian and character actor, best known for his comedy character Count Arthur Strong on BBC Radio 4 and then a television sitcom broadcast on BBC2 and BBC1. Early life and career Delaney was born in Le ...
, the fourth series of which won the Sony Gold Award. Duff currently presents a weekly show, ''Graham Duff's Mixtape'', on Brighton based radio station Slack City which is run by the same directors as Juice 107.2. For BBC Radio 4, he adapted
Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th g ...
's short stories for two series of the comedy drama series '' The Absence of Normal'', with actors including
Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in ''Dinnerladies (TV series), dinnerladies'', a sitcom on BBC One (1998–2000), as List of Shameless (British TV series) characters#Vero ...
, Paul Barber and
Hugh Quarshie Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor. He is known for his long-running role as Ric Griffin on the BBC One medical drama ''Holby City'' (2001–20), and for playing Captain Panaka in the ''Star Wars'' ...
.


Acting

Aside from appearing in his own work, Duff has a small speaking part as a Death Eater in the films ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallo ...
'' (2010) and ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...
'' (2011). He has also appeared in ITV's comedy series ''
Monkey Trousers ''Monkey Trousers'' is a television comedy series on ITV first broadcast in 2005, featuring Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Alistair McGowan, Steve Coogan, John Thomson, Ronni Ancona, Mackenzie Crook, Griff Rhys Jones, Alex Lowe, Neil Morrissey ...
'' (2005) and
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 ...
's ''Ketch & Hiro-pon Get it On'' (2008). He appeared as a convicted child molester and cult leader in two series of David Cross's dark sitcom '' The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret'' (2011) and as a Nazi in the Channel 4 comedy show ''
Totally Tom Totally Tom are a British comedy duo consisting of Tom Stourton and Tom Palmer. Background Stourton and Palmer first met as housemates at Eton College. Their public school education became a major subject in their comedy and spoofs, focusing o ...
'' (2011). He played greengrocer Mike Greatbatch in '' Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life'' (2012) and press photographer David Cowgill in ''
Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...
'' (2012–2013). He also played a malevolent bio-mechanoid waiter in " Deep Breath",
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...
's debut episode of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
''.


Books

Duff has published three books: ''Foreground Music: A Life in 15 Gigs'' (2019), ''The Future's Here To Stay: The Singles of The Fall'' (2021) and ''The Otherwise'' (2021), which was co-written with ''
Mark E. Smith Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistol ...
'' of '' The Fall''.


Articles and online media

Duff has written articles for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. He has also contributed a chapter to ''The Cosey Complex'' - a book about the life and work of musician and performance artist
Cosey Fanni Tutti Cosey Fanni Tutti (born Christine Carol Newby; 4 November 1951) is an English performance artist, musician and writer, best known for her time in the avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey. Tutti first performed under the name ...
and written an introduction to ''Tranart'' - a monograph on the visual art of Val Denham. Duff has made guest contributions on a number of albums by "People Like Us" aka Vicki Bennett. He acted in ''
Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
'' — an
audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
based on ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', as well as writing another — '' Faith Stealer'' starring
Paul McGann Paul John McGann ( ; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...
. In 2013, alongside Pat Cahill he co-created and co-wrote ''Still Reeling'', a series of two online comedy blaps for
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 ...
starring Cahill and Matt King.


Heaven's Lathe

In 2021, with designer Lauren Winton and lathe cutter Michael Lawrence, Duff co-founded the Heaven's Lathe record label. The label releases limited edition lathe cut singles, with Duff curating the artists, including established names, such as
Adi Newton Clock DVA are a musical group from Sheffield, England, whose style has touched on industrial, post-punk, and EBM. They formed in 1978 by Adi Newton (born Gary Coates) and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's ...
,
Danielle Dax Danielle Gardner (born 23 September 1958), known professionally as Danielle Dax, is an English rock musician, music producer, and artist most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. Early life She was born Danielle Gardner, in Southend-o ...
,
I Monster I Monster are an English electronic music duo, composed of the Sheffield based record producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling. Best known for their songs "Who Is She?" and "Daydream in Blue", both of which appeared on their 2003 album ''Nevero ...
,
David J David John Haskins (born 24 April 1957, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England), better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician, producer, and writer. He is the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus (band), Bauhaus and for ...
,
Roger Robinson Roger Robinson may refer to: * Roger Robinson (American football coach) (died 2004), American football player and coach * Roger Robinson (actor) (1940–2018), American actor * Roger Robinson (poet), writer and performer * Roger Robinson (academic) ...
and
Graham Lewis Graham Lewis (born Edward Graham Lewis, 22 February 1953) is an English musician. He is best known as a bassist, songwriter, and vocalist with punk rock/post-punk band Wire, of which he has been a core member since founding in 1976. Biography ...
, as well as debut vinyl releases from artists including Wrong Circles, Andrew&Lucy, and White Devil Disco.


Personal life

Duff lives in
Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
.


Partial filmography

* ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallo ...
'' (2010) -
Death Eater The Death Eaters are an extremist group from the ''Harry Potter'' series, led by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. They follow a strict belief in blood purity, thinking that only pure-blood wizards should have power over the wizarding world. Bec ...
* ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...
'' (2011) - Death Eater * '' High-Rise'' (2015) - Queue Person


References


External links

* *
Graham Duff's Mixtape on Slack City



IDEAL (series) on BBC iPlayer
* Heaven's Lathe websit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Graham 1964 births Living people Alumni of the University of Brighton English comedy writers English male screenwriters English male television actors English radio writers English science fiction writers English screenwriters English television producers Male actors from Blackburn Writers from Blackburn