Sunday 13 July 2014

Daniel Peacock


British actor Daniel Peacock in 'Five Go mad In Dorset' The Comic Strip Presents


Daniel Peacock:

An actor often associated with the energetic, twitchy delivery much in vogue in the youth theatre of the '80s, Daniel Peacock has played brash, belligerent and brainless characters, mostly in the worlds of comedy and children's TV. Early film appearances in 'Quadrophenia' (1979), 'Porridge' (1979) and 'Gandhi' (1982) were followed by a rich seam of films springing from the alternative comedy scene through the '80s, including: 'Party Party' (1983), 'The Supergrass' (1985), 'Eat The Rich' (1987), 'Whoops Apocalypse' (1988), and the misjudged alt-com shipwreck, 'Carry On Columbus' (1992).  

As angry young inmate Rudge, in the film version of 'Porridge' (1979) 
In 'Party Party' (1983), which he also co-wrote

On TV, he balanced a close relationship with the Comic Strip crowd with a steady stream of parts in more mainstream comedy. He was in 'The Young Ones' and some of the most memorable 'Comic Strip Presents…' episodes, notably the spoof 'Famous Five' trilogy 'Five Go Mad In Dorset', 'Five Go Mad on Mescalin' and the recent reunion 'Five Go Mad in Rehab', in which he reprised his Toby Thurlow role. He was also in 'Strike', 'The Beat Generation', and 'A Fistful of Travellers Cheques'. 


In the British thriller 'A Landscape of Lies (2011)
Meanwhile, he cropped up in the likes of 'Only Fools and Horses', 'Birds of a Feather', 'The Kenny Everett Television Programme', 'One Foot in the Grave' and the very weak and silly sketch show 'Assaulted Nuts' with Tim Brooke Taylor and Cleo Roccos. He wrote and appeared in 'Men of the World', a strangely old-fashioned sitcom set in a travel agency, which starred John Simm and David Threllfall. There has also been some light drama, ranging from 'C.A.T.S Eyes', 'Casualty' and 'The Bill' to 'Shine On Harvey Moon', 'Boon' and 'Doctor Who'.

The return of Toby Thurlow in 'Five Go Mad in Rehab' 

Children's television, both as an actor and a writer, takes up a good bit of his CV and runs from traditionally jolly fun like 'SuperGran' and 'Mr Majeika' to a string of more zany and irreverent kids' series which reflect his old Comic Strip connections, such as 'Teenage Health Freak', 'Billie, Girl of the Future' and 'Demolition Dad'. 

Not a high point. 'I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle' (1990)
An oddity is the ultra low-budget comedy horror 'I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle' (1990) which was apparently produced and shot by the cast of 'Boon' (Neil Morrissey, Michael Elphick, etc) during gaps in shooting and using many of the same locations. Peacock makes a pretty revolting appearance as a demonic talking turd.     

Son of Trevor Peacock.

Daniel Peacock-imdb



3 comments:

  1. I first saw Daniel Peacock in the then new video release of the film version of Porridge in 1981. It would be a couple of years later when I saw him in Party Party, which I think was shown in-house on Channel 4 rather than as a cinema release.

    The part Daniel played in 'Vampire Motorcycle' could be any current TV exec, if you consider the output from the Beeb and ITV (the other channels are even worse, if that's possible).

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  2. Don't you think that first pic of him is very much like "wats his face"!!! That was married to Joan Collins in the 60's. Sorry, terrible for names.

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  3. I remember Daniel played a character in Robin of Sherwood. He played the commander of the Lichfield town watch in Herne's Son (season 3) and was very funny in the role.

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