Alexei Sayle

Alexei Sayle played the DJ in DW: Revelation of the Daleks. A comedian, actor and author, he was born Alexei David Sayle in Anfield, Liverpool, England on 7 August 1952. He was a central figure in the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He has written several novels and television series and has made many television and film appearances.

He has starred in the TV series and films: The Comic Strip Presents, The Young Ones with Christopher Ryan and many stand-up comedy series. He also co-wrote many programmes, including six series of his own stand-up/sketch shows (three series of Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1988-91), two series of The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1994-95) and one series of Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round (1998)). He was credited with providing "additional material" for The Young Ones. One of his nicknames is the "fat bastard" which is heard in his skits to refer to him; the opening credits for Stuff featured various characters asking "Who is that fat bastard?" as he passed by. Sayle's trademark costume is a suit and tie a size or two too small for his body and a shaved head.

Much of Sayle's humour is in the tradition of Spike Milligan and Monty Python with riffs on an absurd premise. Political themes are also prevalent. One particular piece of political satire on Stuff involved then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher using the TARDIS to take first a tour of a medieval hospital, a squalid, septic, ill-managed hovel with patients moaning in agony, then of a hospital in the near future following her proposed reforms to the National Health Service, which turned out to be a nearly identical squalid, septic, ill-managed hovel with patients moaning in agony.

Sayle alternates his comedic work with performances as a character actor, ranging from serious (Golodkin in Gorky Park) to humorous (the Sultan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). In a column for a British tabloid newspaper around the same time as his appearance in "Revelation of the Daleks," Sayle indicated that he wanted to become the "first Socialist Doctor".

Sayle has written several novels and short story collections and a graphic novel (Geoffrey the Tube Train and the Fat Comedian). Sayle has also tried his hand at recording, scoring a minor international hit with the song "Didn't Ya Kill My Brother?" (for which he also made a music video). He also recorded the album The Fish People Tapes, which begat the single "Allo John Got a New Motor?", the flipside of which consisted of Sayle swearing to the song's backing track for about seven minutes.

He has been married to Linda Rawsthorn since 1974. In 1995, he was awarded an honourary professorship at the Thames Valley University.

As of 2006, he writes a motoring column in The Independent newspaper.