Neil Hodgson Shand (3 March 1934 – 14 April 2018) was an English television comedy writer.

Early life

He was born in Luton to parents from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, the son of a

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

employee and a dressmaker. Neil was the eldest of three boys.

Career

Raised in a "two up two down" house, he passed the 11-plus, and had a positive experience of attending a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. Virtually blind in one eye, his eyesight was saved by an operation at 14 on the day the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

was founded (5 July 1948). He began to work for a local paper, the ''Luton Gazette'', after leaving school. Briefly working for the nationals while still having the day job in Luton, he managed to gain a regular job at the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet. The ''Sketch'' was Conservative in its politics and populist in its tone during its existence through all its ch ...

'' after finding details of the 21st birthday party of a son of the

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...

. Shand was later a journalist for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', before moving into comedy writing in the 1960s. Shortly after being sacked from the ''Mail'' for being drunk once too often, he ran into the documentary maker Michael Ingrams, who eventually introduced him to

Bernard Braden Bernard Chastey Braden (16 May 1916 – 2 February 1993) was a Canadian-born British actor and comedian, who is best known for his appearances in UK television and radio shows. Life Braden was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and educated ...

, for whom Shand first began to write humorous material. Shand worked extensively with

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

, beginning with ''The Frost Programme'' in 1967. Subsequent work with Frost included ITV's coverage of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

landing on the Moon in 1969, and spells in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

working on Frost's American talk show as a "creative consultant". His work with impressionist

Mike Yarwood Michael Edward Yarwood (14 June 1941 – 8 September 2023) was an English impressionist, comedian and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early life Michael Edwar ...

began around the same time with the sketch show ''Three of a Kind'' (1967). Shand also wrote for such acts as

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio Disc Jockey, DJ and television entertainer, known for his zany comedic style. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the m ...

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, television presenter, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including '' The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and ' ...

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

and

Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...

(on '' Carrott Confidential''). He was a member of

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 ...

staff for many years. Shand married

Judith Keppel Judith Cynthia Aline Keppel (born 18 August 1942) is a British quiz show contestant. In 2000 she became the first person to win one million pounds on the British television game show ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''. She appeared on the BBC T ...

in 1985; the marriage ended in 1987. He died on 14 April 2018, aged 84, in Whitton, North Lincolnshire, where he had lived since 2003.

Books

*''Melting Pot'' (1983) – with Spike Milligan *''1956 and All That'' (1984) – with

Ned Sherrin Edward George Sherrin (18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC. He appeared in a variety of r ...

*''True Brit'' (1992) – with

Jim Davidson James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows '' Big Break'' and '' The Generation Game''. In 2014 he was the winner of the 13th series of ''Cel ...

References

External links

* 1934 births 2018 deaths British comedy writers British television show creators People from Luton British male journalists 20th-century British journalists {{UK-writer-stub