Patrick Marber

His first breakthrough came with radio and television, collaborating in teams with the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Ianucci and Chris Morris in the mid-1990s, on award-winning programmes such as Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Day Today, and Paul and Pauline Calf's Video Diaries.

Fans of the surreal spoof news series The Day Today (which had been adapted from the R4 series On the Hour), will recall Marber's hilarious turn as the useless Economics correspondent Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan who had never bothered to check his facts.

Marber has since established himself as a successful playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director.

His plays Dealer's Choice, Closer and Howard Katz have had successful runs at the Royal National Theatre and theatres around the world.

His screen adaptation of Closer earned him a BAFTA, whilst his screenplay adapted from Zoe Heller's novel Notes on a Scandal was nominated for an Academy Award.

However, he has not abandoned his comedy roots altogether, and has recently been involved in writing the screenplay for Alan Partridge: The Movie.