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| Alex Riley | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Alexander John Riley |
| Born | (1968-03-29)29 March 1968 (age 57) Sheffield,West Riding of Yorkshire,England |
| Medium | Stand up,television |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Notable works and roles | The Caravan Show |
Alexander John Riley (born 29 March 1968 inSheffield,Yorkshire[1]) is an EnglishTV andradiopresenter.[2]
Born and brought up in Sheffield, Riley started performing with the city'sCrucible Youth Theatre, during which time he originated, and appeared in,sketches anddevised pieces, as well as appearing in a number of plays and farces at the Library Theatre.
Riley had a succession of jobs, including spells managing a shopping centre and selling aerial photographs, before successfully answering an on-air appeal for researchers onBBC TV'sTop Gear programme. A lifelong car enthusiast, Riley was in his element writing scripts for racing driver turned presenterVicki Butler-Henderson and making manycameo appearances before being given the chance to present his own items. Amongst these were a 9-hourroad trip from London to Brighton on the world's oldest vehicle, a challenge to build a car in 16 hours from junk bought at Europe's largest autojumble sale and appearing asElvis at the UK's premier American lifestyle festival.
He went on to write and perform sketches forBBC One specials on theChelsea Flower Show andBritain in Bloom, appear as a bed-hopping bigamist in a prime time BBC One documentaryBigamy and write and present Short Circuits, an innovative 10-part series forDiscovery Home and Leisure which combinedScalextric with tips on making realistic scenery out of chicken wire.Moving sideways toradio, he was chosen as the voice ofThe Comedy Club,[3] a nightly 2-hour comedy strand which played a significant part inBBC7 achieving the Sony Gold Award forStation Sound.
Returning toTV, Riley has presented two series ofBoys Toys, a series forITV1 West Country, theCaravan Show forDiscovery Real Time, a tongue-in-cheek active sports seriesYou Know You Want To (again for ITV1 Westcountry) and, after buying aTriumph TR7,Classic Car Club, for Discovery Real Time. He has also been a "traveller" forGlobe Trekker.[4]
ForBBC Three'sMischief series Riley has also presented documentaries which made use of dramatic stunts to confront those responsible for problems on the UK's public transport network and for the fact that thousands of homes across the country lie empty at a time when housing is in short supply. For a 2008Mischief documentary on food titledBritain's Really Disgusting Foods, Riley attempted to create his own "Mr Riley's" meat pie using the minimum requirements set by theFood Standards Agency. When shown onBBC One, it got 2.6 million viewers,[5] prompting the creation of a series of 3 documentaries titledBritain's Really Disgusting Food, aired in January 2009. His new show aired in 2010 calledBritain's Really Disgusting Drink. From 2015, Riley has appeared 6 times on theCBBC panel showThe Dog Ate My Homework. Riley also hostsAll Over the Workplace for CBBC.