John Sparkes (born 6 January 1954) is a Welsh comedian and actor. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the

HTV Wales ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales and Wes ...

series ''

Barry Welsh Is Coming ''Barry Welsh Is Coming'' is a Welsh sketch show produced by Absolutely Productions for HTV Wales. The programme was first broadcast at 10:40 pm on Friday 6 September 1996 and originally ran for six series with some episodes later broadc ...

''. He has also had major roles in ''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radi ...

'', '' Absolutely'', ''

Fireman Sam ''Fireman Sam'' () is a British animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd and T ...

'', ''

Shaun the Sheep ''Shaun the Sheep'' is a British stop-motion animated silent children's television series which is produced by Aardman Animations. A spin-off in the '' Wallace & Gromit'' franchise, the series focuses on the adventures of Shaun, the eponymou ...

'', and '' Jeff Global's Global Probe'', and is the narrator of the children's television show ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

''.

Early life

Sparkes was born on 6 January 1954 in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, Wales. After working, firstly at

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

Mumbles Mumbles () is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its place names considered unusual, unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by ...

and then as a teacher, in the 1980s he turned to comedy and moved to London, performing on the alternative cabaret circuit with comedians such as

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th g ...

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known by the stage name Paul Merton, is an English comedian who is best known as one of the two regular panellists on the television show '' Have I Got News for You''. Known for his improvisation skill, M ...

, and

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (; 7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Adrian Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative come ...

Television comedy career

''Naked Video'' and ''Absolutely''

Sparkes starred in the sketch show ''

'', where he played Siadwel, the geeky South Wales poet who wore an

anorak A parka, like the related anorak, is a type of coat with a hood, that may be lined with fur or fake fur. Parkas and anoraks are staples of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from caribou or seal skin, for hunting and kayaking in the frigid A ...

and glasses. The character also appeared when Sparkes was part of 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 ...

comedy programme ''Bodgers, Banks & Sparkes''. He was one of the team behind the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

sketch show '' Absolutely'', which ran for four years between 1989 and 1993. Following an award-winning radio special, a new series for

was commissioned for broadcast in September 2015.

Barry Welsh

'' was a long-running comedy series for

. As well as playing Barry Welsh, the hapless host of a

chat show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (20 ...

, Sparkes also plays other characters within the programme, such as pub singer Gwyn, old Mr Ffff and Fishguard news reporter Hugh Pugh. Although the series ended in 2004, it returned in 2007 for a series of one-off specials. Throughout its original run, the series also won four

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

'', in which the voice of fellow '' Absolutely'' star

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announc ...

is also featured. In ''

'' he voices Bitzer the Dog and the Farmer. He also voices Mr Elf and King Marigold in ''

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom ''Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom'' is a British preschool animated television series. The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and by Entertainment One (the original companies responsible for '' ...

'', Professor von Proton in ''

The Big Knights ''The Big Knights'' is a British animated television series. It was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker through their studio The Big Knights Ltd., in co-production with BBC Worldwide and in association with BBC Bristol. It was first broad ...

'', Steven in '' A Town Called Panic'', and the lead character ''

'' in the 2005 series.

Radio

After killing off Siadwel in ''Naked Video'', Sparkes revived the character in 2014 for a new series of radio shows for

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

, which was recommissioned a year later.

Writing

Sparkes has written and presented three ongoing television series of ''Great Pubs of Wales'' for ITV Wales. He has voiced the unseen character of archivist Goronwy, in a section of '' Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'' 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 ...

and has written and presented ''Ghost Story'', in which he spent the night alone with a camcorder in haunted houses around Wales. He has also co-written and presented ''Doug Strong's Special Places'', a factual comedy series for ITV Wales and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

Other work

In 2005, Sparkes performed 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 ''Absolutely Presents John Sparkes and Pete Baikie'' with his ''Absolutely'' colleague

Peter Baikie Peter Baikie (born 1957) is a Scottish comedian and composer. He appeared in the British comedy sketch-show '' Absolutely'', composed music for TV and radio and helped set up 'The Smiling Sessions', a charity that brings live music into care h ...

. For Welsh television, he starred in '' Jeff Global's Global Probe'' (ITV Wales), and he resurrected the character Frank Hovis, originally devised for the ''Absolutely'' series, in ''Pub Quiz'' (

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

Personal life

Sparkes is married to Beverly and they have two grown-up daughters.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkes, John 1954 births Living people 20th-century Welsh male actors 21st-century Welsh male actors Animal impersonators Male actors from Swansea People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Welsh male comedians Welsh male television actors Welsh male voice actors Comedians from Swansea