Robert "Doc" Cox (born 1 July 1946), also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is known for his appearances on the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

programme ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 yea ...

'' from 1982 to 1992 and for four albums of humorous, smutty songs. Currently resident in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.

Education

Cox was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

''That's Life!''

After some years as a teacher, Cox became a sound engineer with 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 ...

in 1969. Later he became a warm-up man for ''

''; he recalled that one day "Someone didn't turn up for one of the auditions or something, and I was sort of pushed in". In October 2008, Cox was part of a ''That’s Life!'' reunion broadcast on BBC London 94.9. Cox said of the impending reunion: "It'll be lovely to chat to Esther again. Somebody once asked me who my greatest influences were, and I had to reply '

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...

, my dad,

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

and

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded t ...

'."

Ivor Biggun

Under the Biggun name, Cox fronts a humorous band that is sometimes billed simply as "Ivor Biggun", or variously "Ivor Biggun and the Red-nosed Burglars" or "Ivor Biggun and the Left-handed Wankers", also "Ivor’s Jivers" (less rude), or Ivor Biggun's Vulgar Band. He specialises in

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

-laden smutty songs. Ivor Biggun has released four albums of bawdy songs (and recorded with

Judge Dread Alexander Minto Hughes (2 May 1945 – 13 March 1998), better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and the BBC has banned more of his songs from ...

and David "Screaming Lord" Sutch), the most recent being 2005's ''Handling Swollen Goods''.

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

selected " The Winker's Song (Misprint)" as his single of the week in 1978 when he was a guest reviewer for ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

''. The single sold well, reaching number 22 in the UK Singles Chart thanks to Rotten's support. However, it was banned by nearly all radio stations due to its explicit lyrics. The single "Bras on 45 (Family Version)", credited to "Ivor Biggun and the D Cups", reached number 50 in the UK Singles Chart in 1981 and remained in the charts for three weeks.

Discography

* 1978 ''The Winker's Album (Misprint)'' BBL1CD * 1979 "The Winker's Rock 'n' Roll" (Extended Play single "7 incher") BOP5 * 1981 ''More Filth! Dirt Cheap'' BBL3CD * 1987 ''Partners in Grime'' BBL79CD * 1999 ''The Fruity Bits of Ivor Biggun'' (Greatest hits) * 2005 ''Handling Swollen Goods'' TOSSA2CD * 2006 ''More Fruity Bits! The Rest of Ivor Biggun (Misprint)'' (Second greatest hits, double CD) * 2021 ''The Compleat Works of Ivor Biggun'' TOSSA5CD (5-CD Set including ''The Winker's Album'', ''Handling Swollen Goods'', ''More Filth! Dirt Cheap!'', ''Partners in Grime'' and a bonus disc of previously unreleased material dating up to the 2020s – ''Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Mostly Blue'')

References

External links

*
Audio Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Doc 1946 births Living people English male singers English comedy musicians English television presenters People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford British novelty song performers English male comedians Comedians from Suffolk