Phil Cornwell
This page was last updated 13/11/2001. It is in association with Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Blackstar.co.uk.
If you have come here from the Stella Street page, you can get back there by following this link. And welcome to web of pub, which is a fan page for the BBC show World of Pub, which stars Phil Cornwell! (I combined the pages to make life easier for everyone. That is retailing!)
Phil Cornwell was born 05/10/1957. He is married to Rita, a nurse, and has two children; Freddy, who was born in September 1998 (ish), and Lile, born in March 2001. He is a Spurs fan (he really knows about football; no wonder he can do Jimmy Hill so well). Freddy is, like his father, obsessed with the Beatles!
Phil started off doing impressions as a stand up, appearing on The Cabaret Upstairs on Radio 4 in 1986, and then appeared in the later Comic Strip films, taking major roles. With Stella Street, Phil has finally been recognised for being a superb impressionist and performer, and writer, of course! I would like to add that I had heard of Phil Cornwell before Stella Street was even thought of, OK! World of Pub proves that Phil can also carry a show playing a single character.
Notes about listings:
This list, like many of the lists on this site, is constructed mainly from my memory, which has a tendency to be wrong about dates. I am thus grateful for all updates, corrections and comments. Please use the email link on your left.
[L] means there is more information to be found on the links page. This is to avoid having multiple links to the same sites, which gets very confusing.
Year Title Notes Availability 6 minutes of mediocre material, but Phil has already perfected
many of his Stella Street impressions, plus there are a few that
heven't been done lately, such as Bob Geldof. BBC Radio 4 Childrens Show, hosted by Michael Cumming's mate Gareth "Gaz"
Top. Phil did the voice for Gilbert the Alien. ITV Tyne Tees or something. This was an MTV quiz show that screened
on Channel 4 in about 1989. Phil sang "Hit the Road Jack" and "Hay
You, Gedoff'a my show" like the Stones. Also appearing were John
Thompson (later of the Fast Show and Paul Calf's Video Diaries)
and the bizarre/not funny Frank Sidebottom (the one with the paiper-maîché
head). The host was Anthony H Wilson, the manager of pop group New
Order. The final prize was won by a person lying on a huge spinning
wheel and having to recognise different objects and personalities
while spinning round. MTV for Channel 4. The Comic Strip Presents… [L] Phil appears in many of the later half-hour
episodes (the ones on BBC2, not Channel 4). NB: Comic Strip episodes were originally
produced by Peter Richardson Ltd, but the name of the company was
changed to Comic Strip Ltd in 1986. It currently shares its office
with Stella Street Ltd. A Comic Strip Ltd production for BBC2
and C4. Phil did many
voices (again with Rick “Gilbert” Stone)—Billy &
Dave, Mick & Keef, Bowie etc BBC Radio 1 Gilbert comes out of retirement for this Children’s BBC themed
afternoon to celebrate the 25th aniversery of the moon landing.
Hosted by Gaz Topp. Produced by Michael Cumming of World of Pub
fame. CBBC1 P.C co presents another Children’s TV show to celebrate
the 25th aniversery of the moon landing. Proof that great minds
think alike. Directed by Michael Cumming this time! Channel 4 See Peter Richardson’s page on the
Stella
Street site for general information. In GMD, Phil performed some of the impressions
that would later appear on Stella Street. Jack Nicholson, a vague
Jimmy Hill (not him by name), Albert Steptoe, a mediocre Michael
Caine (later, of course, greatly improved) and even Al Pacino and
Keith Richards. He also does a passable David Attenborough impression.
Oh, and David Bowie too. One strand from the show, the Life and
Times of Colin Corleone, has Phil in a kind-of Al Pacino role; while
well done, the main character is so psychotic, it can be quite unsettling
to watch. As far as I know, the show has never
been repeated. Way ahead of its time. A Peter Richardson production for BBC2.
6 X 30 min episodes. There was a VHS release once upon a time, but this is now deleted.
Try searching for it at Blackstar. Taped off-air. I now have all 7 episodes in vaarying quality. 1996 Doon Your Way [L: Radio HaHa] Played many parts in this very funny programme fronted by Doon
McKichan.Very funny series, starring Doon
Mackichan. Best bits include Princess Di's single mothers' phone-in
and Cornwell doing Mick Jagger. This show also contains Ali MacGowan,
another impressionist. It is not available on record. It was produced
by Jon Magnusson, who produced Rory Bremner, Who Else…. Interestingly,
Rory Bremner has approved of Phil Cornwell's impression of Mick
Jagger, and you can't get higher praise than that! Also, BBC adio 4. Taped off-air. 1997 Loose Ends Occasional guest performer in Ned Sherrin’s book-plugging
Saturday evening Radio 4 show. None Chris Morris, the creator of Jam, has
just released a record, Blue Jam, from the Radio 1 show of the same
name. How is this relevant? Close examination of the sleeve notes
(or just listening) reveals quite unequivocally that Phil has a
small part. For those of you familiar with either version, he appears
in the Gush sketch, in a role somewhat similar to Hank Zootermelk.
His part was taken by Chris Morris in the TV version, Jam/Jaaaaam.
It's fantastic stuff, albeit situation led rather than Stella Street’s
character-led basis. Talkback for BBC Radio 1. 3 series of
6 shows of one hour; comedy and music. Show 6 of series 1 was censored
by the BBC and has never been broadcast, though some sketches have
escaped. You can check out the record here:
That's the best price, anyways. You can download all of Blue Jam in RealAudio
format here,
and all manner of Morris goodies are here,
or at least used to be till people objected and they were taken
down. Taped off-air (series 1 and 2). 1998 The Jack Docherty Show Guest. Discussing Stella Street. With
Peter Richardson. Tx 07/05/1998. Also on another later show, which
I didn’t get. Absolutely Productions/United News and
Media for Channel 5. Taped off-air Lee Hurst, who was one of the original
team captains, is suffering from, I believe, a bone disease. As
a result, his position was replaced by Phil in one episode. The
appearance was nothing special, but there were some Jimmy Hill impressions.
Probably “hilariously” improvised in advance, if the rumours
are to be believed. Bring on some women so I can molest them! BBC. An exceptionally good sitcom following
the fall and rise of Norwich's Michael Parkinson. Starring Steve
Coogan as Alan Partridge, with Sally Philips, Kevin Eldon and Chris
Morris appearing. Phil plays Dave Clifton, the DJ whose Radio Norwich
breakfast show follows Alan’s Through-the-Night programme.
The character is not entirely dissimilar to Tony Blackburn in Series
2 of Stella Street. Phil also appeared in the Comic Relief
special. Written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham
and Armando Iannucci. Talkback for BBC2. Phil does the voice for the World Stare Out commentators, with
Barry Davies, in this fantastic sketch comedy show. Also in Big
Train are Simon Pegg (Spaced) and Kevin Eldon, from our very own
Pub! The pilot, and the second series, are directed by Chris Morris.
The shows are written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews (Father
Ted). Talkback for BBC2. Phil appeared in the shed and on Yanks
for the Memory with Johnny Vaughan discussing Stella Street and
other things. He makes other appearances from time
to time, when he's plugging something, usually. Planet 24 for Channel 4. 1997–2001 World of Pub [L: Radio HaHa (radio series only)] Erm, I’m not going to reproduce
the whole web of pub in this box, like some impossible kind of Russian
doll. See videos page. If there’s no videos
page, then there’s no video. Simple as that. Some Radio 4 series with Suggs and Bob Monkhouse. I know nothing
about this. Bob Monkhouse, however, despite his terrible quiz programmes, knows
a lot about comedy. I even have a documentary he did called Bob,
Buster and WC, where he looked at Buster Keaton and WC Fields!
1986
The Cabaret Upstairs
Download coming soon! perhaps
1980s
Get Fresh
None
Slightly later 1980s
Gilbert's Fridge
A spin-off from Get Fresh, with Rick Stone. Described by one contributor
as "utterly mad, with flashes of genius".
None. WE DEMAND A DVD!
Unknown (late 80s)
Amnesty International 30th Anniversary
Here
seems like as good a place as any to say it: I recently discovered
a clip of Phil Cornwell with Steve Coogan about a decade ago, trying
to outdo eachother’s Jagger impressions while introducing Spinal
Tap. Maybe I can get it up on the site soon.
I’ve got the only copy. Mwahahahaha. And I've digitised it
too.
Unknown (late 80s)
Remote Control
[Many thanks to Nick Cresswell, Ian P Smith and Rob Andrew for
their help here.]None.
1990
Gilbert’s Fridge
BBC. Or was it ITV?
None. Some people have it on tape, I suspect.
1990 ish
Videos of the series are sparingly available
from Blackstar,
but are now deleted. I have some episodes off-air.
1991
Steve Wright in the Afternoon
None
1994
An Afternoon on the Moon
None
1994
Over The Moon
None
1995
Glam Metal Detectives
1997–1999
Blue Jam
1999
They Think It’s All Over
None.
1999
I'm Alan Partridge
Available on video from Blackstar.
1999–2001
Big Train
None yet. Expect a DVD or something soon.
2000
Sunburn
Phil appears in this Michelle Collins (who?) vehicle.
None
2000
The Big Breakfast
None
2000
Dead Ringers
Phil is occasionally in the cast for this once-brilliant, but now
tired, impressions programme. He starred alongside the brilliant Jon
Culshaw, Kevin Connelly and Jan Ravens. He was also chosen to perform
in the untransmittable pilot for the show’s TV transfer.
Audio cassettes and CDs are available; link coming soon.
2000
Gormenghast
Phil appears briefly in episode 3 of this adaptation of the gothic
fantasy novel. He plays a teacher. He and John Sessions (who has a
major part) appear in the same scene.
See the video/DVD at Blackstar.
2001
Anon
None.
Advert work: Renault Laguna, BT, OnDigital, Nissan Primera (doing brilliant John Thaw impression)
Things to be added to the above list at some time. Details are needed!
- The Bill
- Various Film Rôles
For more information on the latest happenings, check the Stella Street Latest News page.
You should also visit Jenny Owen’s excellent Phil Cornwell page, which has much more information than I do! But Phil deserves more than one website, if you ask me.
Web of Pub
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This site was last tampered with on 2007-04-07 with a little DVD news, although nothing's official yet.
