Nick Newman (born 17 July 1958) is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter.

Early life

The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

and schooled at

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...

where his satirical career began, working on

revues A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

with

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, and television personality. He is the editor of the satirical magazine '' Private Eye'', a position he has held since 1986. He has appeared on many radio and television pr ...

. In his last term at Ardingly, Newman was 'asked to leave' (thrown out), after wiring up the chapel to play rock music ("Happy in the Lord" by

Stackridge Stackridge were a British progressive rock/folk rock group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s. History Classic period Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James ...

) during a chapel service. Despite this incident Newman managed to secure a place at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

where he read history and continued collaborating with Hislop, who was studying English at

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

Career

Hislop and Newman subsequently wrote for Maureen Lipman and co-wrote several episodes of '' Murder Most Horrid'' for

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...

. Newman and Hislop's credits also include two series of '' My Dad's the Prime Minister'' for

BBC One 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 channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

, sketches for '' Harry Enfield & Chums'', creating the character Tim Nice-But-Dim, and the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series ''Gush'', a satire based on the first

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, in the style of

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...

. Writing for radio, he has co-written all episodes of ''

Dave Podmore Dave Podmore is a fictional English cricketer. Co-written by the English actor and writer Christopher Douglas (British actor), Christopher Douglas, Andrew Nickolds and Nick Newman, his column appears in ''The Guardian''. Fictional character Podmor ...

's World of Cricket'', ''Dave Podmore's Ashes'' and ''Strictly Dave Podmore'' with performer Chris Douglas and Andrew Nickolds and '' The News at Bedtime'' with long-time friend and schoolmate Ian Hislop. Also with Chris Douglas, he wrote two series of ''Mastering the Universe'' for

on Radio 4. In 2008 he co-wrote '' A Bunch of Amateurs'' – starring

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

, Sir Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond – which was the Royal Film Performance for that year. Newman's career as a cartoonist began in 1976, when he sold his first drawings to ''Yachting Monthly'' – and by 1981 he was working regularly for ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

''. Since 1989, he has been pocket cartoonist for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. His cartoons and strips have appeared in many other publications including '' Punch'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''. He also draws for ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' (THE), ''Estates Gazette'', ''The Wisden Cricketer'', the ''Wisden Almanack'' and ''The Big Issue''. The Cartoon Art Trust voted him Pocket Cartoonist of the Year 1997 and Gag Cartoonist of the Year 1998 and 2005. He won the Sports Journalists' Association's award for Sports Cartoonist of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2008. He has produced many cartoon anthologies and books, including three '' Wallace & Gromit'' adventures (with Tristan Davies, published by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

References

External links

cartoons.ac.uk
A biography of Newman can be seen at the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent {{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Nick 1958 births Living people People educated at Ardingly College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford British satirists British satirical comics writers British satirical comics artists British radio show creators British satirical radio show creators British editorial cartoonists British comic strip cartoonists British comics artists British comics writers British political artists Private Eye contributors The Spectator people British humorists People from Kuala Lumpur