41 Facts About Peter Baynham

Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter, stand-up comedian and performer.

Peter Baynham's writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Smith.

Peter Baynham himself created, written and directed the adult animated black comedy miniseries I Am Not an Animal.

In feature film, with Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham is a writer for the comedy films Borat, Bruno, Grimsby and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Peter Baynham was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales as the second of four children.

Peter Baynham attended St Mary's Primary School in Canton and Lady Mary RC High School in Cyncoed.

Peter Baynham said he found school difficult, finding himself shy, weedy and unpopular.

Peter Baynham found himself too unathletic to enjoy rugby, despite expectations from his father.

Peter Baynham left school with eight O-Levels, four with an "A" grade and joined the British Merchant Navy at age 16 with a desire to travel the world.

Peter Baynham reflected by saying "I'm small and would basically float around inside the suit like a confused foetus, trying to pick up spanners and operate a walkie-talkie".

Peter Baynham went on to serve as second mate on a private yacht in Monte Carlo, Monaco as a summer job.

In 1987, Peter Baynham moved to London, England with his brother and worked by selling some advertising space in The Guardian newspaper.

Peter Baynham began attending a comedy workshop The Comedy Store.

Peter Baynham became a stand-up comedian and created the character "Mr Buckstead", a psychotic teacher and poet.

Peter Baynham said the act consisted of "[talking] about the terrible things he did to his pupils".

Peter Baynham became a cast member for the BBC television sketch series Fist of Fun.

Peter Baynham was unimpressed by Wogan's delivery of the jokes.

Peter Baynham appears in a sketch as a reporter who presented "Gay News" where he farcically announces the gayness of various roads, periodic table elements, cars and walls.

Peter Baynham became a guest and contributor for the radio show The Chris Morris Music Show, but he was suspended by the BBC for two weeks for conceiving a joke where Morris falsely implies on air that Michael Heseltine had died.

Peter Baynham stated that Morris technically did not announce his death, saying "if there is any news of Michael Heseltine's death in the next hour, we'll let you know".

Peter Baynham even became a cast member for the radio series Lee and Herring.

Peter Baynham became a writer for the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, a spin-off of the comedy character Alan Partridge, an incompetent sports reporter who gets progressed as a tactless and self-satisfied television personality.

Peter Baynham thought that Alan Partridge was underdeveloped because the format of The Day Today made him "bracketed and contained within presenting to [the] camera".

Peter Baynham would realise that Alan Partridge would be a "three-dimensional" character.

Coogan credited Peter Baynham for making Alan Partridge more human and sympathetic.

Peter Baynham described his work on I'm Alan Partridge as a highly productive and enjoyable period of his career, saying "It's my happiest, most fun writing experience ever really, it was just so exciting".

Peter Baynham served as a presenter of the satirical comedy sketch show The Saturday Night Armistice.

Peter Baynham created and performed the character "Terry from Pontypridd" in a popular television advertising campaign for Pot Noodle, promoted with the catchphrase "they're too gorgeous".

Peter Baynham wrote the Bob and Margaret episode "Neighbors" as well as writing the additional material for the three episodes of the sketch show Big Train.

Peter Baynham even served as a writer for the radio series Blue Jam which was adapted into the TV miniseries Jam that Baynham and Morris worked together on.

Peter Baynham became a guest for the eighteen episodes of the radio comedy game show The 99p Challenge.

Peter Baynham created the adult animated black comedy miniseries I Am Not an Animal which follows a group of intelligent talking animals who escape a vivisection laboratory.

Peter Baynham felt uncertain about his future in television after I Am Not an Animal was poorly received by BBC executives in which one of them said to him: "I won't be paying a return visit to this".

Meanwhile, Peter Baynham received a phone call from Sacha Baron Cohen who asked him if he could help continue his faltering feature film project of Borat Sagdiyev.

Peter Baynham replied that he was not interested because he was working on creating his own sitcom, but then he changed his mind and phoned Baron Cohen later that day by expressing interest and then Peter Baynham became a writer for the 2006 mockumentary comedy film Borat.

The story deals with Santa's global operation to deliver presents to every child, which Peter Baynham said he considered with a "pedantic" detail such as what would be mathematically possible in 12 hours with one million elves and a mile wide spaceship.

Under director Genndy Tartakovsky, Peter Baynham became a writer for the 2012 animated film Hotel Transylvania.

Peter Baynham even became an executive producer for the 2012 political satire black comedy film The Dictator which he worked with Baron Cohen on.

Peter Baynham collaborated with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan again to create an Alan Partridge feature film and he became a writer for the 2013 crime comedy film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.

In 2021, Peter Baynham launched the six-episode surreal comedy podcast series Brain Cigar with his close friend and long-time collaborator Jeremy Simmonds.

Peter Baynham himself said "It feels quite cool, in a mad way, to be someone who skulks about in the shadows".