大象传媒

Graham Fellows is an actor, musician and character comedian who has been in showbusiness for 40 years.

After hiding behind the masks of made-up people, it鈥檚 time he revealed himself.

This two-part series is an honest account of Graham鈥檚 life to date - sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving and often disarmingly honest - which will give a real sense of the man within.

Each show will be punctuated with witty and moving songs performed on pedal harmonium and Graham will share which songs he kept for himself and which he gave to his characters, and why, with occasional interjections from some of Graham鈥檚 characters, particularly John Shuttleworth.

This episode finds Graham greeting John on Christmas Eve before he begins to share his story, although John doesn鈥檛 know who he is or why he鈥檚 there and assumes he鈥檚 a carol singer.

Graham wants to take us back to 1977 when he first started drama school and came up with a riff that led him to his first character.

From here we follow Graham鈥檚 life as a jobbing actor in Coronation street, a theatrical landlord to a Hollywood star and a role in the film Morons from Outer Space.

When Graham lands a song publishing deal for his first solo album , he celebrates and amuses the record company with a comedy demo tape, in which he pretended to be a naff singer/songwriter looking himself for a song publishing deal. His publisher loved it and the solo career was put on hold.

We learn of Graham鈥檚 love for audio recording and, in particular, reel to reel tape recorders which is how he came to start talking to himself and eventually created the world of John Shuttleworth, his family and friends.

Producer: Dawn Ellis

A Chic Ken production for 大象传媒 Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2020.

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