Mathew Baynton

Mathew John Baynton (born 18 November 1980) is an English actor, writer, comedian, singer, and musician best known as a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the TV series Horrible Histories; as well as an actor in Yonderland; and Ghosts. He was also the co-creator, writer and star of the sitcom The Wrong Mans. Other major television roles include Deano in Gavin & Stacey, Chris Pitt-Goddard in Spy, Simon in Peep Show, and twin brothers Jamie Winton and Ariel Conroy in You, Me and the Apocalypse.

Mathew Baynton
Baynton at the 2011 Glasgow Film Festival.
Born (1980-11-18) 18 November 1980
Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England[1]
OccupationActor, writer, comedian, musician
Years active2007–present
Spouse(s)Kelly Robinson
Children2
Websitewww.dogears.org

Early life

Baynton was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex with two older brothers, Daniel and Andrew. He was educated at Southend High School for Boys. He graduated with first class honours from the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama,[2] and later trained in clowning at École Philippe Gaulier in Paris. Baynton explained his motivation in an interview with Metro: "The performing instinct came from making my family laugh, so I've always been drawn to the funny side of things. Comedy is really rewarding."[3]

Career

Acting and writing

In 2009, Baynton featured in the video for The Maccabees' single "No Kind Words" alongside Mathew Horne.

Baynton is also familiar as one of the stars of the hit children's television series Horrible Histories, appearing over all five series as a singer, actor, and occasional writer.[4] Along with the five other members of the Horrible Histories cast, Baynton is the creator, writer, and star of Yonderland, an eight-part family fantasy comedy series that premiered on Sky1 on 10 November 2013.[5] He starred with the same troupe in Bill, a BBC family comedy film based loosely around the early life of William Shakespeare, who ventures to London to pursue his dream of becoming a playwright.[6][7] The troupe also reunited in 2019 to create the BBC series Ghosts, with Baynton appearing as a romantic poet named Thomas Thorne.

Baynton teamed with friend and fellow Gavin & Stacey alumnus James Corden to create, write, and star in The Wrong Mans, a comedy-thriller for BBC Two that premiered in autumn 2013.[8] The series is co-produced by online television provider Hulu.com in the United States, where it premiered in November 2013.[9] The first six-part series proved a critical and commercial success, and a similarly well-received two-part sequel was broadcast in December 2014.[10]

Other notable TV comedy roles include the recurring character of Deano in Gavin & Stacey; co-starring as Chris in the Darren Boyd sitcom vehicle Spy; and William in the 2017 black comedy series Quacks.

Baynton appeared at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, starring in the world premiere of Tom Basden's play Holes.[11] He reprised his role of Gus in a London revival of the same play in summer 2014.[12]

In late 2015, Baynton starred in a dual role as Jamie Winton and his evil twin Ariel Conroy in Sky1's science fiction comedy-drama miniseries You, Me and the Apocalypse.

Music

Baynton is a former member of the band Special Benny as a vocalist and guitarist.[13] Their debut album Toys was released in 2010.

He has also performed as a solo act under the name Dog Ears. His debut solo EP, So It Goes, was released in November 2011.[14] It consists of four self-penned songs.

Personal life

He and his wife Kelly Robinson, a film historian, have two children: a son, Bo, born in 2011, and a daughter, Ida. [15]

Baynton has commented on his son's skewed view of his father's profession: "He thinks work is putting on a beard. One day his eyes will be opened, but I do find it wonderful that that’s his view of work." [16] He commented during the same interview that while many actors do not want their children to become an actor as well, but Baynton has said that he sees no problem with his son following in his footsteps by stating that "[he] enjoy[s] it, so why shouldn't I let him?".[17]

Baynton tries to keep Bo and Ida out of the spotlight. However, Baynton raised awareness about breaking gender barriers after Bo was mocked in the park for wearing a pink bicycle helmet. [18] Baynton expressed his belief that he lets his son express his likes and dislikes freely without categorising toys and colours in gendered categories. Baynton stated "I won't be teaching my boy how to be a 'boy.'"[19]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRole
20081234Neil
2008TelstarRitchie Blackmore
2009City RatsBarista
2010HereafterCollege Receptionist
2010Tooty's WeddingAiden
2010You InsteadTyko
2015BillWilliam "Bill" Shakespeare
Various Characters
2015The FallingMr. Hopkins

Television
YearTitleRole
2007LearnersHoward
2008Ashes to AshesTom Robinson
2008Roman's EmpireDavvy
2008–2009Gavin & StaceyDeano
2009Doc MartinJunior Chef
2009Horne & CordenVarious characters
2009Brave Young MenDylan
2009New TownDerrin
2009–2010The Armstrong & Miller ShowVarious characters
2009–2013Horrible HistoriesVarious characters including Charles II and Dick Turpin
2009Doc MartinChef
2010The King Is DeadVarious characters
2010The FleetVan salesman
2010The Stephen K. Amos ShowHimself
2010–2012Peep ShowSimon
2011BBC Proms: Horrible Histories Big Prom PartyVarious characters
2011–2012SpyChris Pitt-Goddard
2013–2014The Wrong MansSam Pinkett
2013–2016YonderlandVarious characters
2014BlandingsPongo Twistleton
2015You, Me and the ApocalypseJamie Winton, Ariel Conroy
2016–presentBob the BuilderRoland
2016Drunk HistoryVarious characters
2017Inside No. 9Ted
2017QuacksWilliam Agar
2018Vanity FairBute Crawley
2018The SplitRex
2019GhostsThomas Thorne
2019 Urban Myths Kenny Everett

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 Children's BAFTA Horrible Histories Best Performer[20] Nominated
2014 British Academy Television Craft Awards The Wrong Mans Best Writer – Comedy[21] Nominated
2014 British Academy Television Awards The Wrong Mans Best Male Comedy Performance[22] Nominated
2015 British Academy Television Awards The Wrong Mans Best Scripted Comedy[23] Nominated

RTS Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2013 Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Award The Wrong Mans Programme Award for Best Writer – Comedy[24] Won
gollark: Obviously malformed statements can *exist*, but they're *invalid*, regardless of what the tux1s of the world say/.
gollark: Do you mean to imply that bees are bad?¡
gollark: Betrayed you how?
gollark: I mean, I don't know how that follows, but I like it.
gollark: Sure.

References
  1. "MATHEW BAYNTON On Good and Bad Comedy - The Protagonist Magazine". Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. "Cal McCrystal".
  3. "Mathew Baynton: We couldn't have asked for The Wrong Mans to go any better". Metro. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  4. West, Naomi (25 May 2010). "How Horrible Histories grew up to be a hit comedy show". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  5. "Sky1 to visit Yonderland". Sky1 website. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  6. "Stars of Horrible Histories to make Shakespeare film". BBC Media Centre. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  7. "Bill: production details". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  8. "BBC Two announces new comedy, The Wrong Mans". BBC Media Centre. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  9. "BBC, Hulu team on James Corden laffer". Variety online. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  10. "Corden Hints at Second Series of The Wrong Mans". Digital Spy. 31 October 2013.
  11. "Holes announcement". The Invisible Dot Ltd. 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  12. "Holes announcement". Arcola Theatre, summer 2014 program. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  13. "About". Special Benny.
  14. "Dog Ears". Dog Ears.
  15. Williams, Holly (13 September 2015). "Mathew Baynton interview". The Independent.
  16. "Celebrity interview: Mathew Baynton". Yorkshire Evening Post. 11 November 2013.
  17. ibid
  18. ""Let kids wear what they want," says actor Mathew Baynton". Glamour Magazine. 13 November 2017.
  19. ibid.
  20. "Children's Performer in 2012".
  21. "Television Craft Writer - Comedy in 2014".
  22. "Male Performance in a Comedy Programme in 2014".
  23. "Scripted Comedy in 2015".
  24. "Winners Announced at RTS Programme Awards 2013". Royal Television Society. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
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