Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.
Educated atNottingham High School and graduating with aMaster of Arts in English Literature from theUniversity of Exeter,[1][2] Pegg subsequently trained at theGuildford School of Acting.
Pegg's acting work in the theatre includes productions forNottingham Playhouse,Scottish Opera,Birmingham Repertory Theatre and theTheatre Royal, Plymouth.[3] His television roles include appearances inEastEnders,Doc Martin andIt's a Sin, and he has appeared as aDalek operator in numerous episodes ofDoctor Who.[4] In his capacity as a Dalek operator he has also appeared in person onBlue Peter and in many editions of the documentary seriesDoctor Who Confidential. In November 2013 he appeared as himself in the 50th anniversary comedy homageThe Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.[5]
Pegg has also worked onDoctor Who in the audio medium, acting, writing and directing for severalDoctor Whoaudio plays produced byBig Finish Productions. For the same company, he played the Duke of Albany inKing Lear (2017),[6] Foxy-Faced Charles inThe Box of Delights (2021),[7] the Law Machines inTorchwood (2018),[8] and Captain Smollett inTreasure Island (2013).[9] His other acting roles include Gervais of Waringham in the 2020Audible serialThe Waringham Chronicles,[10] and its 2017-18Audible prequel serialScarlet City,[11] andRobert Wintour in the 2012 comedy filmThe Plotters. For the audiobook company Textbook Stuff he recorded the collected poems ofAndrew Marvell,[12] and for Penguin Audiobooks in 2013 he read theDoctor Who short storiesTip of the Tongue byPatrick Ness andSpore byAlex Scarrow.
On 19 January 2014, Pegg wrote and performedThe UKIP Shipping Forecast, a satirical response to the pronouncements of various high-profile members of theUK Independence Party. The sketch went viral, receiving 250,000 hits in 4 days.
As a writer, Nicholas Pegg is a noted authority on the life and work ofDavid Bowie. He is the author ofThe Complete David Bowie (ISBN 9781785653650), published byTitan Books and described by Bowie's long-time producerTony Visconti as "the best Bowie reference book one could ever hope for".[13] Pegg has acted as consultant and contributor to numerous Bowie projects, including the 2022Brett Morgen filmMoonage Daydream, the BBC TV documentariesDavid Bowie: Five Years (2013) andDavid Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017), theVictoria and Albert Museum's exhibitionDavid Bowie Is, the BBC Radio 2 documentaryExploring 'Life On Mars? (2017),[14] and the same year'sRoyal Mail edition of commemorative Bowie stamps.[15] He also worked on theIsle of Man Post Office's 2022 issue of commemorative stamps celebrating David Bowie's acting career.[16] In May 2016 Pegg joinedMarc Almond on stage at London'sAce Hotel to co-host a tribute to Bowie in the company ofLindsay Kemp,[17] while in January 2017 Pegg teamed up withGary Kemp ofSpandau Ballet to make a short film forThe Guardian website to mark the first anniversary of Bowie's death.[18]
Also in 2017, Pegg appeared as a guest Bowie speaker at events including the Penzance Literary Festival[19] and theVictoria and Albert Museum'sCelebrating Bowie at 70.[20] Since 2018 he has been a regular contributor to theAlbum to Album Bowie podcast series.[21] In 2019 and 2021 he was a guest speaker at the annual Dublin Bowie Festival,[22] and in 2022 he compered the David Bowie World Fan Convention in Liverpool, a role he would reprise at the 2023 event in New York.[23] He also appeared as a Bowie expert in the 2007 TV documentary seriesSeven Ages of Rock, and has hosted Bowie radio specials for broadcasters in Australia and the United Kingdom.[24][25]
In 2018, the authorPhilip Reeve revealed that Pegg's bookThe Complete David Bowie had "played an inspirational role" in the genesis of Reeve'sRailhead trilogy of novels.[26]
Nicholas Pegg is the co-creator of the 2017 concept albumDecades, a collaboration with songwriterDavid Palfreyman which features a cast of notable actors, singers and musicians, includingDavid Warner,Richard Coyle,Jacqueline Pearce,Jan Ravens,Simon Greenall, Edward Holtom,Sarah Jane Morris, Cassidy Janson,Mitch Benn,Jessica Lee Morgan,Ian Shaw,Gary Barnacle,Greg Hart,Terry Edwards andMartyn Barker.[27][28][29][30][31] In April 2018 he appeared with David Palfreyman on theVintage TV showThe Vintage TV Sessions,[32] introducing a live session by theDecades band, having previously presented a 2017 edition of the same channel's video jukebox showMy Vintage, during which he introduced a selection of his favourite music videos and premiered the videos for theDecades singles 'We All Fall Down' and 'Hurting, Sinking'.[33]
Pegg has written stage plays, including numerouspantomimes for British theatres including Harrogate Theatre, theQueen's Theatre, Hornchurch, the MacRobert Playhouse in Stirling, and theTheatre Royal, Nottingham.[34][35][36][37] He is also the author of theDoctor Who audio playThe Spectre of Lanyon Moor, and he adapted the text ofKing Lear for the 2017Big Finish version starringDavid Warner.[38]
Pegg has written for publications includingMojo,Q Magazine,Pride Life, andDoctor Who Magazine. His other writing credits include the short storiesDeep Water andHold Your Horses for the 2008 and 2009Doctor Who Storybooks as well as contributions toThe Doctor Who Annual andThe Brilliant Book of Doctor Who. He has also written numerous features for the BBC's range of DVD releases of theDoctor Who television series. He wroteCheques, Lies and Videotape, a documentary about the heyday of pirate videos, which appeared on the DVD release ofRevenge of the Cybermen. He also wroteWhen Worlds Collide, a documentary about politics and ideology inDoctor Who, which appeared on the DVD release ofThe Happiness Patrol, andA Matter of Time, a documentary aboutDoctor Who under the producership ofGraham Williams, which was the leading special feature on theKey to Time series box set. Pegg has worked as script editor on several other documentary features, appears as moderator for theDoctor Who DVD audio commentaries ofThe Mutants andResurrection of the Daleks (Special Edition), and wrote the "info text" subtitles for many DVD releases.
In October 2017 Pegg, under his regular pseudonym ofThe Watcher, concealed a crudeacrostic message in his regular "Wotcha" column in Doctor Who Magazine, in which the first letters of each sentence spelled out the message "Panini ..." (publishers of Doctor Who Magazine) " ...andBBC Worldwide are cunts".[39] This was widely reported as leading to his sacking from the magazine and fromDoctor Who.[40][41][42] These reports turned out to be inaccurate, as Pegg has continued to work regularly on the series. Alternative accounts suggest that the decision to axe his column had already been made and that it was this decision that led to Pegg writing the hidden message.[43] Pegg's column that month was subtitled "The column that is not something to be shuffled off on to some stray boffin, you know" (ostensibly a reference to a line of dialogue by the character Brownrose from the 1971 storyTerror of the Autons, mentioned in passing in the article.)[39]
In addition to severalDoctor Who audio plays for theBig Finish series, Pegg's work as a director includes theatre productions ofHamlet,Twelfth Night,Peter Pan,Funny Money,I Thought I Heard a Rustling, andDiary of a Somebody.[3]
Pegg's long-term partner is actorBarnaby Edwards. Guesting at the 2017Pride Cymru eventWho's Queer Now, a symposium celebrating the impact and influences ofDoctor Who on LGBT people, the couple revealed that they were celebrating their 25th anniversary.[26][44]
Pegg has operatedthe Daleks in numerous episodes ofDoctor Who since 2005:
He has also written, featured in or directed a number ofDoctor Who audio plays forBig Finish Productions:[45]
Pegg has also contributed to the followingDoctor Who DVD releases:
 | This article'suse ofexternal links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Pleaseimprove this article by removingexcessive orinappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate intofootnote references.(July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
 | This articleneeds additional or more specificcategories. Pleasehelp out byadding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.(July 2024) |
