BEN ELTON: COMEDY LEGEND

This year’s winner of the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award is comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director Ben Elton. He first achieved widespread fame for the left-leaning satirical rants he delivered as the host of Channel 4’s Saturday Live. But his career as a scriptwriter began in 1980 and went on to give him writing credits and cameo roles in a wide array of TV comedy classics, among them The Young Ones, the showbiz spoof Filthy Rich & Catflap, some of the Blackadder series and Upstart Crow, and to collaborations with stars such as French & Saunders, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson.

Along the way, he has also written over a dozen novels and worked on musicals, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game, and on the smash hit jukebox musical built around Queen songs, We Will Rock You. With onscreen extracts, Ben will be talking with Last Leg presenter and comedian, Adam Hills, about highlights of his career prior to receiving a personalised Morph, conferring on him Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend status.

“What an amazing honour to be joining such an incredible pantheon of Aardman/Slapstick Legends! I would have liked to have pulled off a perfect pratt fall to celebrate but at 65 I’m worried I’d do my back in. I may slap a custard pie in my face though because I am truly thrilled and grateful.” Ben Elton