Phil Bowker
Phil Bowker (born 1970) is a British television producer, writer, and director. He is best known for creating and producing the sitcom PhoneShop and co-creating the comedy series Sliced. He has worked on numerous British comedies including Pulling, 15 Storeys High, Time Gentlemen Please, Cider, and the BBC Radio sketch show The News Huddlines.
Early life and career
Bowker was born in Liverpool on 16th February 1970. Hes tarted his media career in 1988 as a commercial producer at Radio City in Liverpool. During his time there, he received multiple award nominations for his work on adverts including for local fashion store Wade Smith and car and van hire company, Maincrest Car and Van Hire. During this time he also presented a weekend dance music programme with Davy T on Radio City called Welcome to the Jungle, which was later rebranded as No Sellout Live. The show also fJack Dee. In the early 1990s, he left Radio City to join the BBC as a trainee comedy producer in the BBC Radio Light Entertainment department, alongside figures such as Armando Iannucci and Phil Clarke. During this period, he worked on BBC Radio 2’s The News Huddlines.
Television career
Bowker transitioned to television in the late 1990s, working on sketch series like Comedy Nation. In 1999, he produced The Jim Tavaré Show for Channel 5, which gave Ricky Gervais his first television role. He also produced Time Gentlemen Please for Sky One and collaborated with Sean Lock on 15 Storeys High for BBC Two.
He was a producer on the BBC Three series Pulling, created by Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly, which was nominated for a BAFTA and won a British Comedy Award. As head of comedy at Talkback Thames, he created, wrote, directed and produced PhoneShop, which ran on Channel 4 and E4 from 2010 to 2013. Ricky Gervais served as script editor for the pilot.
Bowker later produced The Javone Prince Show and co-created Sliced with Samson Kayo for UKTV's Dave channel. Sliced was produced by his own company, Lovely Electricity.
In 2022, Bowker signed a first-look development deal with Tiger Aspect Productions (part of Banijay UK) to develop new scripted projects.
Awards and recognition
- BAFTA Television Awards (2007) – Nominated for Best Situation Comedy for Pulling
- Banff World Television Awards (2007) – Nominated for Best Comedy Programme for Pulling
- Royal Television Society Awards (2012) – Nominated for Best Scripted Comedy for PhoneShop
- Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards (2012) – Nominated for Best TV Comedy for PhoneShop
Production companies
- Radio City – early career
- BBC Radio Light Entertainment – early training and career
- Talkback / Talkback Thames – head of comedy and creator of PhoneShop
- Lovely Electricity – independent production company behind Sliced
- Tiger Aspect Productions – signed first-look deal in 2022
References
- Televisual. "Tiger inks deal with Bowker". 2022.
- The Guardian. Interview with Sharon Horgan. 2007.
- C21Media. "Tiger Aspect signs Phil Bowker to first-look".
- British Comedy Guide. "The News Huddlines".
- The Independent. "Ricky Gervais returns with new workplace comedy".
- Royal Television Society. RTS Programme Awards 2012.
- Writers’ Guild Awards 2012 Nominees. Chortle.
- Televisual. "UKTV’s Dave orders another Sliced".
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