David Baddiel
David Baddiel graduated from Cambridge University with a double first in English. He went on to forge a successful career as a comedian, first on the stand-up circuit in London, and then as part of the team behind the popular BBC sketch show The Mary Whitehouse Experience. In 1993 he teamed up with his Mary Whitehouse partner, Rob Newman, they became the first British comics to play an arena gig, at Wembley. His other shows include Fantasy Football League, Baddiel’s Syndrome, and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. In 1996 he co-wrote and co-sung ‘Three Lions’, the England song for Euro '96 — the only song in the history of British pop music to go to number 1 three separate times. He created, and for the first four series hosted, the Radio 4 comedy discussion programme Heresy and in 2010 wrote the screenplay for the feature film The Infidel. He has written four novels for adults, Time for Bed, Whatever Love Means, The Secret Purposes and The Death of Eli Gold. In 2021 TLS Books published a bestselling polemic, Jews Don't Count, in which he argues that progressives, i.e. those who think of themselves as on the right side of history, have often ignored the history of anti-Semitism. In 2023 TLS Books published David Baddiel's philosophical essay The God Desire. His next book, My Family: the Memoir will be published in 2024.
David Baddiel has also published ten highly successful middle-grade children's books, which have sold over one and a half million copies worldwide: The Parent Agency, The Person Controller, Animalcolm, Birthday Boy, Head Kid, The Taylor Turbochaser, Future Friend, The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous, Virtually Christmas, Only Children (stories), all published by HarperCollins. He was commissioned to write the story The Boy Who Could Do What He Liked for 2016 World Book Day. The Parent Agency won Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9 to 13-year-olds at the inaugural Laugh Out Loud Awards and is currently been turned into a musical.
He had a book column in The Times for five years and in 2002 he was a member of the Man Booker Prize panel of judges. In 2013 he performed, to wide acclaim, his first stand-up show for fifteen years: Fame: Not the Musical. It was followed by My Family: Not the Sitcom, which was nominated for an Olivier Award, and Trolls: Not the Dolls.
David Baddiel lives in London with his family.
Book in order of publication:
Time for Bed (1996)
Whatever Love Means (2002)
The Secret Purposes (2006)
The Death of Eli Gold (2011)
The Parent Agency (2015)
The Person Controller (2016)
Animalcolm (2016)
Birthday Boy (2017)
Head Kid (2018)
The Taylor Turbochaser (2019)
Future Friend (2020)
The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous (2021)
Jews Don't Count (2021)
Virtually Christmas (2022)
The God Desire (2023)
Only Children (2023)
