Phillip Jon Plowman (born 1953 in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British television and film producer. He has been a producer at 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 ...

since 1980, when he produced Russell Harty's chat show ''Harty''. He moved on to executive producing at the BBC in 1986, working on sketch show ''

A Bit of Fry and Laurie ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series with ...

'', and became Head of Comedy Entertainment in 1994, mainly responsible for sketch shows. He produced the first four series of the BBC comedy show '' Absolutely Fabulous'' between 1992 and 2001, plus the big screen version in 2016.

Biography

Plowman was educated in

, Hertfordshire and at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

, where was a member of the University College Players and made friends with others who went on to establish successful careers in comedy. One, Mel Smith, directed Plowman in a production of '' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead''. After Oxford, Plowman followed Smith to the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, where he met the director Lindsay Anderson. Plowman worked in theatre for a while, then joined

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

. He was responsible for producing and commissioning programmes produced in-house at the BBC, of which the greatest successes include ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' and '' French & Saunders''. Plowman became Head of Comedy in October 2005, and oversaw the BBC's in-house comedy production, but no longer commissioned programmes. In June 2007, Plowman announced he was quitting his post at the BBC after 27 years. He decided to become a freelance producer for other shows and hoped to carry on his relationship with the BBC, continuing to create programmes "for them and elsewhere." In December 2003, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' named him in its list of the '50 Funniest or Most Influential People in British Comedy'. On 14 March 2006, he was honoured with the 'Judges' Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Television' at the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

awards. Later he moved into the world of theatre. He co-produced ''Lucky You'', the Carl Hiaasen best-seller that premiered as a theatre production at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 2008.

Honours

Plowman was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to British comedy.

Films produced

* '' Ab Fab: The Movie'' (2016)

Programmes produced

* ''

'' (1986) * '' French & Saunders'' (1987) * '' Smith and Jones'' (1989) * '' Bottom'' (1991) * '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992) * ''Kit and The Widow'' (1992) * '' The Stand Up Show'' (1994) * '' The Vicar of Dibley'' (1994) * '' Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round'' (1998) * '' Goodness Gracious Me'' (1998) * '' The Ben Elton Show'' (1998) * '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'' (1998) * '' BBC New Comedy Awards'' (1999) * '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' (1999) * '' Let Them Eat Cake'' (1999) * '' People Like Us'' (1999) * '' Sir Bernard's Stately Homes'' (1999) * ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

'' (1999) * '' Bruiser'' (2000) * '' Life's A Pitch'' (2000) * '' Mirrorball'' (2000) * ''

Rhona Rhona is the name of: * Rhona Adair (1878–1961), British golf champion * Rhona Bennett (born 1976), American singer, actress and model * Rhona Brankin (born 1950), Labour Co-operative politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament * Rhona ...

'' (2000) * '' The Nearly Complete And Utter History of Everything'' (2000) * ''

'' (2000) * '' The Way It Is'' (2000) * '' Tv to Go'' (2000) * '' Victoria Wood With All The Trimmings'' (2000) * '' We are History'' (2000) * '' Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show'' (2001) * '' 15 Storeys High'' (2002) * '' Celeb'' (2002) * '' Cyderdelic'' (2002) * '' Dead Ringers'' (2002) * ''

Grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

'' (2003) * '' Little Britain'' (2003) * '' The Harringham Harker'' (2003) * '' Doctors and Nurses'' (2004) * '' Comic Aid'' (2005) * '' Extras'' (2005) * '' The Late Edition'' (2005) * '' The Robinsons'' (2005) * ''

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

'' (2005) * '' The Brown Couch'' (2006) * '' Jam and Jerusalem'' (2006) executive producer * '' The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle'' (2007) * '' Beautiful People'' (2008) * '' Psychoville'' (2009) * '' Twenty Twelve'' (2011) * '' Way to Go'' (2013) * '' W1A'' (2014–2017) * ''

Inside No. 9 ''Inside No. 9'' is a British black comedy Anthology series, anthology television programme written and created by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. It aired on BBC Two from 5 February 2014 to 12 June 2024, running for 9 series and 55 episo ...

'' (2014 – present)

References

External links

*
Jon Plowman at the BBC Comedy Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowman, Jon 1953 births Alumni of University College, Oxford BBC executives BBC television producers British film producers British television producers Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Welwyn Garden City