Rix studied Drama and English at the University of Kent, and worked as an assistant stage manager at Royal Court Theatre to learn how to direct plays.[2] On holiday in France, he created a white lie story, The Spaghetti Man, in order to make his four-year-old son eat his dinner.[2] It was about a little boy who refused to behave at the kitchen table and is kidnapped by an invisible force, that takes him to a factory to turn him into lasagne. Rix took note of how the lie had made his four-year-old eat all of his meals without hesitations, which would inspire a series that could scare children into behaving themselves.[2]
Rix was hired by the BBC to write and produce comedy, such as Radio Active, The Michael Bentine Show, The Wow Show, and The History of Rock for BBC Radio 4, and, for television, Alas Smith and Jones.[2]
Little Brother Productions
In 1994, Rix founded a production company with Nigel Planer, at the time named Elephant Productions.[6] It produced the two book-to-TV adaptations of Rix's bibliography, as well as the children's programmes Animal School and Popskool for the BBC, Father Christmas, and the 2005 Willo the Wisp revival for Playhouse Disney,[2] and the adult programmes Not Going Out, Faith in the Future, and Let's Get Divorced with Jonathan and Libby Hughes.[7][8]
Personal life
Jamie Rix is the son of actor-turned-Mencap President Brian Rix and actress Elspet Gray, and was raised in Richmond Park with his two older sisters (one of them being Louisa) and younger brother.[2] Rix admitted that Alistair Fury's odd relationship with his bullying siblings were based on the arguments he used to have with his siblings during childhood.[2] As a child he was involved with sports: he had a football trial with Chelsea FC and ran marathons until he hurt his back.[2] At school, an English teacher inspired him to write fiction.[2]