Bob Mills (comedian)

Robert Edward "Bob" Mills (born 30 June 1957) is an English comedian, notable for his appearances in cult television series such as In Bed with Medinner and The Show, the latter an attempt to do a non-fictional British version of The Larry Sanders Show.

Early life

Mills was born in Chester and attended Chester City Grammar School. After a very short spell of training for the Merchant Navy, he quit and worked as a valet in King's Cross, London and as a Hoffman dry cleaning presser operator, driver and delivery man. After seeing Kevin Day and Eddie Zibbin (Pat Condell) at the Market Tavern in Islington in 1983, he decided to become a comedian and has been a mainstay of the British 'stand-up' circuit ever since.

TV career

In 1983 Mills played a villain as Lon's Bodyguard in Doctor Who opposite Peter Davison as The Doctor and Martin Clunes as Lon. In the 1990s Mills hosted the daytime quiz show Win, Lose or Draw on ITV and the video games programme Games World on Sky One. He graduated to his own stand-up comedy show on ITV, In Bed With MeDinner, well known for its introduction, a remake of the opening credits of The Prisoner with Mills in the place of Patrick McGoohan. He is also a writer, having written the Michael Barrymore comedy Bob Martin. He created and wrote the Robson Green vehicle Christmas Lights, and the spin-off series Northern Lights. He also wrote the screenplay for the film Pierrepoint.

Radio career

Bob Mills presented his own weekday programme in the 1990s on Greater London Radio from 10pm to 1am, where he would impress with his wit and dexterity. This was during the period when other comedians also had their own programmes on GLR such as Mark Lamarr and Phill Jupitus. Bob's feature of 'Veneer of the Week' was inspired by his driving along the North Circular Road and seeing the sign on Shadbolts, the veneer sellers, advertising their latest offering. He thought that this had to be brought to public attention. He indulged himself in the last ten minutes of his show by playing music by Elvis Presley.

He is a regular pundit on BBC Radio Five Live's Fighting Talk, and was the holder of the Copa de Croix St. Simon, awarded to the annual FT Champion of Champions, having defeated Martin Kelner in the 2010 Final. This, he recently revealed, is his "most prestigious achievement in a life of anonymity." He lost the 2011 final to Tom Watt.

On 7 October 2011 Mills made his debut on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz. He has subsequently returned for further appearances.

He currently appears regularly every Friday on Talksport co-presenting with Colin Murray between 10am and 1pm, alongside Perry Groves, Where he has his own feature called "Bob Mills goes Postal", this feature allows listeners to send letters in which he reads out live on air.

Personal life

Mills is a well-known supporter of Leyton Orient and writes a regular column in the Leyton Orient matchday programme. His uncle Eric Lee played in The Football League for Chester City. He is a cousin of Peter Lee, a former Montreal Canadiens first-round draft pick.

External links

• Youtube In Bed With Medinner site
• Bob Mills at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by None

BBC Radio Five Live Fighting Talk Champion of Champions 2009/10

Succeeded by Tom Watt