5 minutes with... Andy Hamilton

Andy Hamilton

Andy Hamilton

Writer and comedian Andy Hamilton is one of the hosts of new panel game It's Only A Theory, which can be seen on BBC Four from October 6.

He was born in 1954 in Fulham, and h as worked on some of the most acclaimed TV shows of the past 30 years, including Shelley, Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered.

Andy lives in London with his wife Libby and their three children.

TELL US ABOUT IT'S ONLY A THEORY. WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO?

There's basically myself and Reginald D Hunter, the comedian, plus a guest panellist who changes each week.

We cross question and interrogate experts, often scientists, who've got interesting theories that maybe people wouldn't have heard before and our aim is to sort of try and figure out which theories are worth keeping. So we start from the premise that we live in a theory bound world; there are too many theories. We are being constantly bombarded by them and we need to weed out which theories are worth keeping, and who better to do that than a bunch of no nothing comedians?

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR BIG BREAK IN THE BUSINESS?

Well it wasn't one big break if you know what I mean. I began writing in radio in '76 on a show called Week Ending, and then started doing stuff on telly. Then I did Not The Nine O'Clock News and then graduated onto doing Drop The Dead Donkey, with Guy Jenkin, and Outnumbered, so it's been a gradual progression.

YOU'VE WORKED ON SOME OF THE BEST SITUATION COMEDIES OF THE PAST 30 YEARS. IS IT HARDER TO GET A SITCOM TO BE GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD THESE DAYS?

Maybe, yeah. There are fewer slots for them and the way the market is now, they're much more exposed. If they don't succeed in the ratings from the outset then they're in serious jeopardy, so on balance, yes.

WAS DROP THE DEAD DONKEY A NIGHTMARE TO WRITE AS IT WAS SO TOPICAL?

It wasn't as scary as it might have seemed from the outside, because the scripts were written and rewritten and polished well in advance.

There were six or seven holes and you would know that you were going to fill those holes with last minute topical material, so it was probably scarier for the actors than it was for us because we were lobbing stuff at them, even right up to the moment we recorded it. They used to write it down on little Post-It stickers and stick them on the set to try and give themselves a chance of learning it.

YOUR LATEST SUCCESS IS THE HUGH DENNIS SITCOM OUTNUMBERED. HOW MUCH OF IT IS SCRIPTED AND HOW MUCH IS LEFT FOR THE KIDS TO AD LIB?

There is a script, but what happens is we never show it to the kids. We brief the kids just before we film the scene on the gist of the scene, and then take it from there, so the kids aren't doing something they've learned.

DOES A LOT OF FOOTAGE END UP ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR?

Oh yeah, because in the improvisations you get a mixture of stuff that's fantastic and the stuff that doesn't quite work, so there's a lot of stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor.

WHAT'S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT OVER THE YEARS?

People often ask me that. I haven't got a favourite project. It's a bit like being asked to pick your favourite child.

HAVE YOU GOT A DREAM PROJECT?

I'd like to write a movie one day. But then I'd like to write a novel and I'd like to write a West End play. I'd also like to play football for England, but that's not going to happen either [laughs].

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