TV

In which Eddie glows in the corner of your living room.

On the small screen Eddie has acted, written, presented, and been interviewed. Boy, has he been interviewed. But this page isn’t about interviews. It’s about some selected highlights of Eddie’s adventures in television. See below for examples.

2014

Masterclass with Michael Parkinson

Role:  

Himself

Channel: 

Sky Arts

Outline: 

Michael Parkinson talks to Eddie about his career and what drives him in an in-depth interview.

 

2013

Eddie Izzard’s Mandela Marathons

Role: 

Himself

Channel:

Sky 1

Outline:

A two-part documentary focusing on Eddie’s personal journey in homage to Nelson Mandela, during which he planned to run 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa, to raise money for charity.

Meet the Izzards

Role: 

Himself

Channel:

BBC1

Outline:

A two-part documentary in which Eddie uses his own DNA to tell the story of modern humans – and the Izzards. 

Hannibal

Role: 

Dr. Abel Gideon

Channel:

NBC

Outline:

Based on the famous characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon. Eddie plays Dr. Abel Gideon, a surgeon institutionalized for killing his family and entwined in the investigation into the Chesapeake Ripper.

 

2012

Mockingbird Lane

Role: 

Grandpa

Channel: 

NBC

Outline:

A re-imagining of the 1960s sitcom the Munsters, which was planned to become a series in its own right, this was aired as a one-off special for Halloween 2012.

Bullet in the Face

Role: 

Johann Tannhäuser

Channel:

IFC

Outline:

Eddie played a secretive, agoraphobic, chess-playing crime lord in this dark comedy.

Treasure Island

Role: 

Long John Silver

Channel:

BSkyB / Sky 1

Outline:

A TV movie for Sky based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, Eddie played the notorious and lengthy pirate John Silver.

 

2011

United States of Tara

Role: 

Dr Hattarras

Channel:

Showtime

Outline:

Eddie played sceptical psychology professor Dr Hattarras in eight episodes of the third season of this series starring Toni Collette as a suburban housewife and mother coping with dissociative identity disorder.

 

2010

Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man

Role: 

Himself

Channel:

BBC3 / BBC1

Outline:

Originally aired on BBC3 in March 2010 in the run-up to charity event Sport Relief, a one hour edit was later broadcast on BBC1. Marathon Man documented Eddie’s incredible run around Britain, covering 43 marathons in 51 days.

Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story

Role: 

Himself

Channel:

BBC2 (and limited theatrical release)

Outline:

Documentary in which cameras followed Eddie on his stressful comeback tour, Sexie. Under extreme pressure to write, he delved into his life for inspiration –  culminating in a moment of revelation about the source of his relentless drive.

 

2007-2008

The Riches

Role: 

Wayne Malloy

Channel:

FX Networks

Outline:

Critically acclaimed show about a family of crooks who assume the identity of an upper-middle-class suburban clan in the Deep South. Eddie starred alongside Minnie Driver, co-writing the pilot episode and serving as executive producer.

 

2007

Kitchen

Role: 

Nick Malone

Channel:

Ecosse Films Production for Channel FIVE

Outline:

Two-part comedy drama set in a Glasgow kitchen. Eddie plays head chef Nick, a former cooking hotshot whose star is now on the wane.

 

2003

Mongrel Nation

Role: 

Presenter

Channel:

Discovery Channel

Outline:

A three-part series (2003 being the year of three-part series) about the way that foreign immigration and influence have defined the very basis of Englishness.

40

Role:

Ralph Outen

Channel:

Channel 4/Company Pictures

Outline:

40 was a three-part drama series about the ‘mystical significance’ of turning 40. Eddie played Ralph Outen, the successful, coke-snorting, enfant terrible of the advertising industry.

 

1999

It’s: The Monty Python Story

Role: 

Presenter

Channel:

BBC2

Outline:

As part of ‘Monty Python Night’ celebrating 30 years of Monty Python, Eddie presented this 50 minute documentary on the comedy group, including interviews with the surviving pythons and sketches thought lost from 1971.

 

1998

Monty Python’s Flying Circus – Live at Aspen

Role: 

Performer

Channel:

HBO

Outline:

This was a recording of a live stage event at the Wheeler Opera Theatre in Aspen, part of the US Comedy Arts Festival, which featured the entire Monty Python cast (including Graham Chapman’s ashes) on stage discussing the group’s origins and their sketches and films. Eddie played a Monty Python impostor.

Rex The Runt

Role: 

Melting Blob Man (voice) / Easter Island Head (voice)

Channel:

BBC2/ Aardman Animations

Outline:

Animated adventures of four house-sharing dogs, from the company behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run.

 

1997

Channel Izzard

Role: 

Writer/presenter

Channel:

Channel 4

Outline:

Channel 4 handed over an evening of programming to Eddie, who chose the shows and films and provided links and bits and bobs of comedy goodness.

Lust for Glorious

Role: 

Writer/performer

Channel:

Channel 4

Outline:

A satirical mock documentary which aired on Channel 4 in the UK and can be found on the Glorious DVD.

Cows

Role: 

Co-writer

Channel:

Channel 4

Outline:

A pilot for a live action sitcom, co-written with Nick Whitby, which featured cast members dressed in cow suits. Weirdly, Channel 4 didn’t go to series with this one.

 

1996

Tales from the Crypt – ‘Confessions’

Role: 

Warhol Evans

Channel:

HBO

Outline:

Eddie appeared in an episode in the final season of HBO’s horror story anthology show, playing a suspected serial killer opposite interrogator Ciarán Hinds.

 

1995

Aristophanes: The Gods Are Laughing

Role: 

Socrates

Channel:

Channel 4

Outline:

Part of an initiative by Channel 4 and the British Film Institute to encourage television and cinema viewers to see more live theatre, Aristophanes: The Gods Are Laughing was a specially commissioned hour-long comic teleplay about the titular Greek satirist. Eddie played Socrates as a hip Athenian radical.

 

1993

It’s The Monty Python Story

Role: 

Presenter

Channel:

BBC/A&E

Outline:

Eddie linked together rare clips and interviews with the Python members and other comedians about the history of one of the most famous comedy groups of the 20th Century.

English