Laurence Rickard (born 14 June 1975) is an English actor, writer, and comedian best known as a member of the

Them There Them There is a theatrical production collective made up of a group of comedy writers and performers, notable for working on a range of projects together including the first five series of ''Horrible Histories'', '' Yonderland'', and ''Ghosts''. ...

collective, with whom he both wrote and starred in productions including ''

Horrible Histories ''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more. In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpo ...

'', ''

Yonderland ''Yonderland'' is a British sitcom television series that was broadcast on Sky One from November 2013 to December 2016. It was produced by Sioned Wiliam, and was created by, written by and starred the main performers from CBBC's series ''Horri ...

'', and ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

''. In 2022, along with fellow Them There member

Ben Willbond Benjamin Thomas Willbond (born 18 January 1973) is an English actor and screenwriter best known as a member of the British Them There collective, for which he has written and starred in productions including ''Horrible Histories'', '' Yonderland ...

, he co-wrote the feature length television comedy ''We Are Not Alone''. He is also one half of the comedy writing/performance duo "Larry and George" with George Sawyer.

Career

Rickard has written for UK comedy shows including ''

The Armstrong and Miller Show ''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton, co-creator ...

'', ''

The Charlotte Church Show ''The Charlotte Church Show'' is a Channel 4 entertainment television show presented by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. It was first broadcast on 1 September 2006 and ran for six subsequent Fridays. The show was commissioned for a further two seri ...

'' and ''

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson ''The Impressions Show (also known as The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson)'' is a British sketch comedy show starring impressionists Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson. A second series began broadcasting on 14 November 2010 and ended o ...

'', as well as children's programme ''

Me and My Monsters ''Me and My Monsters'' is a children's comedy television program from The Jim Henson Company that combines live action and puppetry. The series is a co-production filmed in Australia. It first screened on CBBC (TV channel), CBBC on 18 October 20 ...

''. He is a principal cast member, lyricist and writer for the award-winning

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

programme ''

'', in particular creating and performing the character of 'Special Correspondent' Bob Hale (a parody of presenter

Peter Snow Peter John Snow (born 20 April 1938) is a British radio and television presenter and historian. Between 1969 and 2005, he was an analyst of general election results, first on ITV and later for the BBC. He presented ''Newsnight'' from its lau ...

). He has also appeared regularly on the spin-off game show '' Horrible Histories: Gory Games'' and in the ''Horrible Histories''

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

at the Royal Albert Hall. Along with the five other members of the ''

'' starring cast, Rickard is also the co-creator, writer, and star of ''

'', a family/fantasy/comedy series that premiered on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

on 10 November 2013. A second series was released in 2015 and a third has since been commissioned and began filming in early 2016. In addition he is the co-writer of ''

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

'', a BBC-produced comedy film which is based loosely around the early life of William Shakespeare and involves the same starring troupe. Filming took place in 2014, and the film had a nationwide UK release in September 2015. As a performer, Rickard has also appeared in the Channel Four

Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998. Several pilots first shown on ''Comedy Lab'' have gone on to spawn full seri ...

'Private Lives' as well as the TV series '' Balls of Steel''. He is also a writer and performer on ''

Tracey Ullman's Show ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' is a British sketch comedy television series starring Tracey Ullman. ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' premiered on BBC One on 11 January 2016. The programme marks her first project for the broadcaster in over thirty years, and h ...

'' and ''

Tracey Breaks the News ''Tracey Breaks the News'' is a British topical comedy programme starring Tracey Ullman. It premiered on BBC One on 27 October 2017 following a one-off special that aired on 23 June. After the success of the one-off special on 13 September 201 ...

''. While he has played numerous roles on the shows, his most recent recurring role is that of

Philip May Sir Philip John May (born 1957) is an English investment manager. He is married to Baroness May of Maidenhead, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019. Early life May was born in Norwich in 1957. His father was a sal ...

, the husband of former British Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

. Rickard co-created, wrote, and starred in the 2019-2023 BBC sitcom ''

''. In 2024, Rickard was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities from

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

for his services to television and education. He also co-wrote the six part comedy series ''

Amandaland ''Amandaland'' is a 2025 British comedy series. It is a spin-off from British comedy series ''Motherland'' with Lucy Punch reprising the role of Amanda. The series also stars Joanna Lumley as her mother Felicity. It was broadcast on BBC One from ...

'' that same year, with the show airing February 2025.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rickard, Laurence 1975 births English television writers English male stage actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Brighton English male television writers Writers from Brighton 21st-century English male actors English male screenwriters English male comedians Comedians from Brighton and Hove