Ian Billings

Ian Billings


Ian is a children’s TV writer, playwright and author of 23 children’s books. He is the veteran of 53 pantomimes having written, directed and appeared with Frankie Howerd, Sylvester McCoy, Brian Cant, Bernie Clifton, Julie Goodyear, Little and Large, Cannon and Ball and Timmy Mallett. As a script writer, Ian has penned episodes of the hugely successful CBBC TV show, ChuckleVision, and has written four national children’s theatre tours with his adaptations of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, and The Tales of Hans Andersen. Ian was nominated as Best New Writer at the BBC Audio Awards 2019 for his play about Spike Milligan, Spike and the Elfin Oak starring David Threlfall who won BBC Audio Best Actor Award. He followed this with two radio commissions for BBC Radio Four, an adaptation of Spike Milligan’s Puckoon and Happiness about the life of Sir Ken Dodd, for which David Threlfall, once again, won Best Actor at the BBC Audio Awards. Since then he wrote the audio play There Used To Be a Me about the life of Peter Sellers starring Alfred Molina which won Gold at the New York Festivals Radio Awards. He has recently written and recorded a play for BBC Radio about the early days of alternative comedy broadcast February 2024.

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