Andy Riley

Andy Riley
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
OccupationAuthor, cartoonist, screenwriter and television producer
Alma materPembroke College, Oxford
Period1993–present
GenreComedy, adventure, science fiction

Andy Riley (born 1970) is a British author, cartoonist, and Emmy-winning screenwriter for TV and film.

Riley has written and drawn many best-selling cartoon books, including The Book of Bunny Suicides (2003) and its sequels,[1] and Great Lies To Tell Small Kids (2005). From 2002 until February 2010[2] he drew a weekly comic strip called Roasted in The Observer Magazine, a collection of which was released in book form in 2007. Riley also publishes the King Flashypants series of children's books.

With Kevin Cecil, his friend since they attended Aylesbury Grammar School, he created and wrote the sitcoms Year of the Rabbit for Channel 4 and IFC, The Great Outdoors for BBC Four, Hyperdrive for BBC Two[3][4] and Slacker Cats for the ABC Family Channel.[5] Their other television work includes Veep[6] (for which they each won an Emmy in 2015 in the Outstanding Comedy Series category), Black Books,[7] the Comic Relief one-off special Robbie the Reindeer,[8] for which he and Cecil won a BAFTA in 2000, Little Britain, Tracey Ullman's Show, Trigger Happy TV, So Graham Norton, Smack the Pony, The Armando Iannucci Shows, Harry and Paul, Big Bad World, Come Fly With Me, and Spitting Image. The Radio Four panel game they wrote with Jon Holmes and Tony Roche, The 99p Challenge, ran for five series from 2000.[9]

They wrote for the Miramax animated feature Gnomeo and Juliet, and its sequel Sherlock Gnomes.

Riley has co-written two TV adaptations of David Walliams books: Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress.

Riley was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he read Modern History.[citation needed]

Screenwriting credits

Production Notes Broadcaster
The Good Sex Guide
  • Unknown episodes (1993)
 ITV
Smith & Jones: One Night Stand
  • Television film (co-written with Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Simon Godley, Rory McGrath, John O'Farrell, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, 1994)
 N/A
The Friday Night Armistice
  • Unknown episodes (1995)
 BBC Two
Jack and Jeremy's Real Lives
  • Unknown episodes (1996) (additional material)
 Channel 4
The Armstrong and Miller Show
  • Unknown episodes (1997)
 Paramount Comedy Channel
Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round
  • 6 episodes (1998)
 BBC Two
Big Train
  • "Episode #1.1" (1998) (additional material)
 BBC Two
The Morwenna Banks Show
  • Unknown episodes (1998)
 Channel 5
Hooves of Fire
  • Short film (co-written with Kevin Cecil and Richard Curtis, 1999)
 BBC One
Fox Family Channel
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
  • Television film (co-written with Mark Burton and Kim Fuller, 1999)
 BBC One
Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show
  • Unknown episodes (2000)
 Sky 1
Smack the Pony
  • 7 episodes (2000–2001) (additional material)
 Channel 4
Slacker Cats
  • Television film (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2001)
 ABC Family
TV to Go
  • Unknown episodes (2001)
 BBC One
The Armando Iannucci Shows
  • 8 episodes (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2001)
 Channel 4
Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe
  • Short film (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2002)
 BBC One
Black Books
  • 8 episodes (2002, 2004)
 Channel 4
Man Stroke Woman
  • "Episode #1.3" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2005)
 BBC Three
Little Britain
  • 8 episodes (2005–2006) (additional material)
 BBC One
Hyperdrive
  • 12 episodes (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2005–2006)
 BBC Two
Katy Brand's Big Ass Show
  • "Episode #2.2" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2007)
  • "Episode #2.4" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2007)
 ITV2
Slacker Cats
  • 7 episodes (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2007, 2009)
 ABC Family
The Great Outdoors
  • 3 episodes (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2010)
 BBC Four
The Armstrong & Miller Show
  • "Episode #2.1" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2009)
  • "Episode #3.1" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2010)
  • "Episode #3.4" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2010)
  • "Episode #3.6" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2010)
 BBC One
Come Fly with Me
  • 6 episodes (2010–2011) (additional material)
 BBC One
Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul
  • "Episode #3.1" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2010) (additional material)
  • "Episode #4.2" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2012) (additional material)
  • "Episode #4.4" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2012) (additional material)
 BBC Two
Gnomeo & Juliet
  • Feature film (co-written with Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Steve Hamilton Shaw, John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling, 2011)
 N/A
Big Bad World
  • "Episode #1.6" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2013)
 Comedy Central
Gangsta Granny
  • Television film (co-written with Kevin Cecil and David Walliams, 2013)
 BBC One
The Boy in the Dress
  • Television film (co-written with Kevin Cecil and David Walliams, 2014)
 BBC One
Veep
  • "Clovis" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2014)
  • "Detroit" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2014)
  • "East Wing" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2015)
  • "B/ill" (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2015)
 HBO
Tracey Ullman's Show
  • 6 episodes (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2016–)
 BBC One
Sherlock Gnomes
  • Feature film (co-written with Kevin Cecil, 2018)
 Paramount Pictures
Seize Them!
  • Feature film (2024)
 TBA

Awards and nominations

Year Award Work Category Result Reference
2012 Annie Award Gnomeo & Juliet (shared with Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Steve Hamilton Shaw, John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling) Writing in a Feature Production Nominated
2014 Online Film & Television Association Award Veep Best Writing in a Comedy Series Won
2015 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Comedy Series Won
Writers Guild of America Award Comedy Series Nominated
2016 Writers Guild of America Award Comedy Series Won
Producers Guild of America Award Veep, Season Four Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy Nominated

Bibliography

Standalone Cartoon Books

  • Roasted (2007)
  • D.I.Y. Dentistry and Other Alarming Inventions (2008)
  • Selfish Pigs (2009)
  • Wine Makes Mummy Clever (2011)
  • Beer Makes Daddy Strong (2011)
  • Puppy Versus Kitten (2017)

Bunny Suicides

Lies to Tell Small Kids

  • Great Lies to Tell Small Kids (2006)
  • Loads More Lies to Tell Small Kids (2007)

King Flashypants

  • King Flashypants and the Evil Emperor (2017)
  • King Flashypants and the Creature from Crong (2018)
  • King Flashypants and the Toys of Terror (2018)

References

  1. ^ Jarvis, Alice-Azania Jarvis (1 November 2007). "The 5-minute Interview: Andy Riley, Cartoonist and author". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  2. ^ Riley, Andy (26 January 2010). "Status". Twitter. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil". Hyperdrive. BBC Comedy. July 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  4. ^ Deans, Jason (14 February 2006). "Hyperdrive gets second series". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  5. ^ Wiegund, David (13 August 2007). "Review: Cartoon cats with adult themes? Bad, kitty, bad". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Veep IMDB entry". IMDb.
  7. ^ Low, Lenny Ann (13 June 2005). "In the bad books". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  8. ^ Mytton, Leigh (26 December 2002). "Top comic cast for Reindeer Robbie". BBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  9. ^ "The 99p Challenge". BBC Comedy. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.