Michael Fenton Stevens (born 12 February 1958)^[1] is anEnglish actor and comedian. He was a founder member ofThe Hee Bee Gee Bees and sang the lead on theSpitting Image 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song".^[2] He also starred inKYTV, itsRadio 4 predecessorRadio Active,Benidorm, and was an anchor on3rd & Bird onCBeebies. Stevens also appeared as a diner in an episode of the original series of Mr Bean, entitled ‘Room 426’.

Michael Fenton Stevens
Fenton Stevens in "Mr. Bean in Room 426" (1993)
Born	Michael Stevens (1958-02-12)12 February 1958 (age 67) London, England
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian

Fenton Stevens was one of the principal performers in the Radio 4 comedy seriesRadio Active during the 1980s, alongsideHelen Atkinson-Wood,Angus Deayton,Geoffrey Perkins andPhilip Pope, which later led to the television seriesKYTV.^[3][4]

He also appeared in various roles in theTertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases of theHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series.^[5] In 2007, he played the similarly named Michael Wenton Weeks inDirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.^[6] He plays the eponymousInspector Steine inLynne Truss' long-running Radio 4 comedy series.^[7]

He has also played a long-running role in the radio soapThe Archers.^[8]

In 2020, Fenton Stevens released the first of a podcast series,My Time Capsule, produced by his son John Fenton Stevens.^[9] The show involves guests choosing four memories they would preserve in a time capsule, and a fifth memory they would wish to bury in the ground and never think about again. Guests have includedStephen Fry,Rebecca Front,Rick Wakeman,Mark Gatiss,Rufus Hound,David Mitchell,Anthony Head,Chris Addison, RevRichard Coles,Griff Rhys Jones,Richard Herring andDavid Baddiel.^[10] In June 2023, it celebrated its 300th episode.

Fenton Stevens featured in regular roles as Hank in the 1996 seriesThe Legacy of Reginald Perrin, and as Ralph inAndy Hamilton's 2003 televisionsitcomTrevor's World of Sport, as well as in the Radio 4 version of the latter which was broadcast in 2004. He had previously appeared in a guest role inDrop the Dead Donkey, another television comedy series written by Hamilton, and appears regularly in various roles in Hamilton's Radio 4 sitcomOld Harry's Game. He has also featured inIan Hislop's sitcomMy Dad's the Prime Minister as theHome Secretary.

From 2004 until 2005 he appeared in two series ofJulia Davis's dark comedy seriesNighty Night as the Reverend Gordon Fox.^[11]

He has provided the voice of Mr Beakman, atoucan, in theCBeebies show3rd & Bird, and has a recurring role in the sitcomMy Family as Mr Griffith, the boss of the dental corporation Cavitex. He has played Sir Henry inBenidorm since series four, which was first broadcast in 2011.

Notable guest appearances have included the next door hotel guest in "Mr. Bean in Room 426", and the brother-in-law of Hee Bee Gee Bees bandmate,Angus Deayton's character in an episode ofOne Foot in the Grave.^[12] He played Alan Perkins, a holiday rep in Spain in "The Unlucky Winner Is" episode ofOnly Fools And Horses.^[13] He also played a guest role inCoronation Street in November 2004. In 2006, he guest-starred in theDoctor Who audio adventureThe Kingmaker. He appeared in Series 3 Episode 3 ofOutnumbered, as a substitute player called 'Lance' in a tennis match, and in the "Music 2000" episode ofLook Around You as the chairman of the Royal Pop and Rock Association. In 2022 he appeared as Tony Vanoli in a fourth season episode ofGhosts.^[14]

Fenton Stevens has appeared as a Pantomime Dame in a number ofpantomimes. From December 2006 until January 2007, he starred in and wrote theCambridge Arts Theatre pantomime version ofAladdin in the role ofWidow Twankey.^[15] In 2015, Stevens appeared asDr. John Radcliffe in theRoyal Shakespeare Company's production ofHelen Edmundson'sQueen Anne.^[16]

In 2014, his mother, Olive Stevens, was accidentally killed by her own car when another motorist attempted to help her turn her vehicle around after fly-tipped rubbish blocked her path. She fell and hit her head which caused a bleed on the brain causing her death in hospital.^[17]

• Michael Fenton Stevens atIMDb