Ian Martin (born 1953) is an English comedy writer.^[1]Martin was a writer for the BBC seriesThe Thick of It.^[2] He was hired in 2005 for Series 1 of the political satire by the show's creator,Armando Iannucci,^[3] in a role described as "swearing consultant",^[4][5][6] and later became a full member of the writing team.^[7] He won anEmmy for his writing across five series ofVeep and was BAFTA nominated for co-writingThe Death of Stalin.^[8][9]

Martin was born in London and has lived inLancaster since 1988, where half of his descendants now reside.^{[citation needed]}

Martin edits the satirical website martian.fm.^[10] He is a weekly columnist for theArchitects' Journal^[11] and a regular contributor toThe Guardian newspaper.^[12] Other credits include writing additional material for the 2009Oscar-nominated filmIn the Loop, the 2007 Armando Iannucci-created seriesTime Trumpet^[13] and several series of the radio showArmando Iannucci's Charm Offensive.

He is the author ofThe Coalition Chronicles (2011),^[14] a satirical andscatalogical account of a year in the parliamentary life of the Coalition government.^[14] He was a leading contributor toThe Missing DoSAC Files (2010).^[15]

Martin was a writer and supervising producer for the HBO seriesVeep,^[16][17][18] having written on five seasons^[19][20][21] and having acted the role of Dave Wickford in Season 2.^[22] In 2014, Armando Iannucci described Martin inThe Washington Post as being “very good at making the language of political debate suddenly become nonsensical.”^[23]

Martin's radio playThe Hartlepool Spy, concerning theHartlepool monkey, was broadcast onBBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018, with a cast includingMichael Palin,Vic Reeves,Toby Jones,Gina McKee andMonica Dolan.^[24]

Martin is married with two children and four grandchildren, two of whom live inSeoul, and the others in Lancaster, where his daughter teaches music atLancaster Royal Grammar School.^{[25][citation needed]}

In August 2015, Martin endorsedJeremy Corbyn'scampaign in theLabour Party leadership election. He wrote inThe Guardian: "To win over public opinion,Labour must reflect it. Is that right? I think that's right. I think that's why they're all doing this synchronised frowning at poor repellent-ebullient Jeremy Corbyn and pretending he's a weirdo."^[26]

• Ian Martin atIMDb

• 1953 births
• Living people
• 21st-century English writers
• BBC people
• English comedy writers
• English satirists
• English socialists
• The Guardian people
• Writers from London
• Writers from Lancaster, Lancashire

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