Charles Garland

Charles is a writer and composer, former professional actor, musician, cabaret artist and BBC television producer and director. His diverse career began at Birmingham Repertory Theatre as a dancer in a musical, and broadened to include working as an actor, musician, cabaret artist and speaker. His acting 'swan song' was at London's Old Vic Theatre in a production of Great Expectations. Charles played five small parts, and composed much of the incidental music. Charles joined the BBC in 1986 - his first assignment was as assistant to Sir Jonathan Miller for a BBC2 production of Cosi Fan Tutte. Following that, he worked on every type of programme - childrens' and schools' productions, three Royal Variety shows and three series of The Paul Daniels Magic Show, as well as dramas, game shows, 'reality' programmes and a short run as director of Top Of The Pops. Sitcom became the major part of his working life, with Terry and June, Joint Account and Last Of The Summer Wine as assistant producer, although most of his time was spent with David Croft OBE, on such shows as Hi-De-Hi!, 'Allo! 'Allo!, You Rang, M'Lord? and Oh, Dr Beeching! as producer. Next, over a three-year period, Charles re-versioned much of the classic comedy archive for the BBC, including Dad's Army, Steptoe and Son, Are You Being Served?, Porridge and The Good Life. Charles has recently completed the audio version of his first novel, Painted Angel, published in 2021, and is working on two further books, a new sitcom and two screenplays.