About / Bio
Charles is a writer and composer, former professional actor and musician and BBC television producer and director. His diverse career began at Birmingham Repertory Theatre as a dancer in a musical, and broadened to include working as an actor, musician, cabaret artist and speaker. His acting ‘swan song’ was at The Old Vic in Great Expectations, adapted and directed by Peter Coe. Charles played five small parts, and composed much of the incidental music, which he helped perform on various instruments. Soon after, Charles joined the BBC. His first assignment was as assistant to Sir Jonathan Miller for a BBC2 production of Cosi Fan Tutte. Following that, he worked on every type of programme – children’s and school’s productions, three Royal Variety shows and three series of The Paul Daniels Magic Show, as well as dramas, game shows, ‘reality’ programmes and a short run as director of Top Of The Pops. Sitcom became a major part of his working life, with Terry and June, Joint Account and Last Of The Summer Wine as assistant producer, although most of his time was spent with David Croft OBE, on such shows as Hi-De-Hi!, ‘Allo! ‘Allo!, You Rang, M’Lord? and Oh, Dr Beeching! as producer. Next, over a three-year period, Charles re-versioned much of the classic comedy archive for the BBC, including Dad’s Army, Steptoe and Son, Are You Being Served?, Porridge and The Good Life. Charles wrote a short BBC appeal, delivered by David Croft entitled Dad’s Army, Where Are You? , and wrote for CBBC programme Jim Jam and Sunny. Charles devised BBC show The Other Half with Jeremy Lloyd (uncredited), directed short How Can I Be Sure?, wrote and performed a one-man show One Upon A Labrador on an extensive UK tour, linked with publication of his collection of verse, My Labrador Eats Poo, illustrated by Harry Venning, (which I promise is not (quite) as yukky as it sounds). He has recently completed the audio version of his first novel, Painted Angel, published in 2021 and is currently working on two contrasting books and further episodes of sitcom Sea View.
MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Memberships: WGGB, BAFTA, EQUITY, PRS IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0307506
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COMMISSIONED:
BBC1 – Dad’s Army, Where Are You?
BBC – CBeebies : Jim Jam and Sunny
AWAITING COMMISSION / ALREADY PUBLISHED (BOOKS) :
TELEVISION
Sea View: situation comedy series : two ladies forced by circumstance to run a B&B.
STAGE
Stage musicals / plays, all performed, now ready :
Over Here! : Suffok 1943 during WWII (Act 1) characters reappear in 2025 (Act 2). Five, Six, Seven, Eight! : Final reherasals for stage show – love, hate, jealousy, fulfilment. Cool School : Unhappy 12 year old girl buys her failing school online during the night. Atlantis : Unions rise up against Temple law. Next generation escape as sunami arrives. Rick Van Winkle : Music by Simon May. Reworking of well known story with 12 year old boy.
Another Way : one act / 5 cast musical, anti-bullying show which toured Norfolk schools.
Spread a Little Happiness : Five short plays with a cast of five: three female, two male, each with three roles.
SCREEN
The Day They Blew His Head Off : Three naive drama students from Birmingham travel to Dublin and are tricked into blowing up Nelson’s Pillar in 1962 by IRA.
Death Duty : Army recruit clashes with training Sergeant which leads to his death.
PUBLICATION
Painted Angel, a novel, published in 2022, available as e-book or audio book video via Audible. Paperback relaunch in 2025.
My Labrador Eats Poo, a book of ‘whimsical verse’ available from Amazon. Not as yukky as it sounds. Honestly.
