Mark Burton (born 23 September 1960) is a British television writer, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and film director.

Television and radio career

After turning up at

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

's Light Entertainment Department, Burton teamed up with John O'Farrell and the two were commissioned for ''Week Ending'' by

Harry Thompson Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series '' Monkey Dust'', screened between 200 ...

(who later named his two pet rats Burton and O'Farrell). The pair won 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 ...

Light Entertainment Contract Award, and went on to write or contribute to a number of radio series, including ''Little Blighty on the Down'', ''McKay the New'' and with Pete Sinclair, the multi-award-winning ''A Look Back at the Nineties'' and ''Look Back at the Future'' in which Burton also performed.''Alphabetical Name Index''
"RadioHaHa". Burton also created the BBC Radio 4 panel game ''We've Been Here Before'' presented by Clive Anderson. Burton and O’Farrell were commissioned for ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'' in 1988 and the following year became two of the lead writers on the show. They also wrote for ''

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts dur ...

Talks Back'',

Nick Hancock Nicholas John Hancock (born 25 October 1962) is an English actor and television presenter. He hosted the sports quiz '' They Think It's All Over'' for 10 years. He also formerly presented '' Room 101'' (1994–1999) on TV, as well as its earlier ...

on ''Room 101'', ''

Murder Most Horrid ''Murder Most Horrid'' is a British black comedy anthology series starring Dawn French. It was broadcast on BBC Two for four series runs, in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999. Created by Paul Smith, who also co-created ''Colin's Sandwich'' (with Terry ...

'', and co-wrote some of the ''Heads to Heads'' for

Alas Smith and Jones ''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smith and Jones'' for six ...

. In 1993, they left ''Spitting Image'' and became the first writers credited for the scripted parts of ''

Have I Got News For You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

''. Also for

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat inste ...

they wrote a

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

sitcom '' The Peter Principle'' starring

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...

(known as ''The Boss'' in the US).

Screenwriting

The pair are credited for 'additional dialogue' for the Aardman film ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

'', but after a decade of collaboration, Burton and O'Farrell began to work on separate projects. Although he continued to do some TV comedy scriptwriting (with credits for

2DTV ''2DTV'' is a British satirical animated television series which was co-created and produced by Giles Pilbrow for ITV. It premiered on ITV on 27 March 2001 and was nominated for the Rose d'Or Award in both 2002 and 2003. The programme was consi ...

, ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'' and '' Mike Bassett: Manager'') Burton began to focus on screenwriting, most notably with the DreamWorks Animation ''

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

''. Other major screenplay credits include '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (which won an Oscar in 2006 for Best Animated Feature Film), ''

Gnomeo and Juliet ''Gnomeo & Juliet'' is a 2011 animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare and features the voices of James ...

'' and ''

Aliens in the Attic ''Aliens in the Attic'' is a 2009 American science fiction comedy film directed by John Schultz and written by Mark Burton and Adam F. Goldberg, based on an original story conceived by Burton. Starring Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler (in his fi ...

''. He adapted the novel of his former writing partner for the ITV film 'May Contain Nuts' and also wrote and produced the BBC short film One of those Days. He also wrote and made his directorial debut with Richard Starzak with ''

Shaun the Sheep Movie ''Shaun the Sheep Movie'' (marketed as ''Shaun the Sheep: The Movie'') is a 2015 animated adventure comedy film produced by Aardman Animations. Written and directed by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton, it is based on the British television seri ...

'', which got nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

. He would later return to write its sequel '' A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon'' with Jon Brown, based on a story by Starzak.

Composing

Burton is a musician and songwriter, having composed the music for the comedy rock musical ''The Next Big Thing'' which he wrote and produced with Pete Sinclair. He also shares the credit for the original music in 'One of Those Days' and has written songs and parodies for a number of radio shows.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Mark 1960 births Living people Aardman Animations people DreamWorks Animation people People from South Oxfordshire District Alumni of the University of York Annie Award winners English television writers English radio writers English comedy writers English male songwriters English film directors BBC people