Hello.

My name is Toby. I am an actor, writer and comedian. I have a Patreon Page here with all sorts of goodies.

I was going to write this in the third person in order to give the impression that I have “people”. But I don’t. So, hello!

You can see me every Tuesday at XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester, and every last Sunday of the month at Testing, Testing, the popular new material night at 53Two.

I am also a regular presenter on The 7th Dimension on BBC Radio 4 Extra and as an actor I pop up on TV and radio. I am also a prolific voice-over chap and a walking anorak who does a lot of Doctor Who and Old Telly related stuff. I’m mostly harmless.

Here’s my latest news (December 2025):

I am all over the BBC at Christmas time. At the weekends I will be presenting The 7th Dimension on Radio 4 Extra from just before Christmas – and then right into the first Saturday and Sunday of 2026. I also have my two part obituary show, Absent Friends, which will on broadcast on 27th and 28th December. Immediately before the second episode there will be a repeat of my adaptation of Nigel Kneale’s The Road, starring Mark Gatiss. It’s one of the best productions I have ever been involved with. 

 

Something you might want for your discerning friend’s Christmas stocking – my book on the classic TV serial The Quatermass Experiment, 36 years in the making, is out now. After two successful launches and a sell out of the limited ediition hardback, it is available to order in its beautiful paperback from here. Reviews have been pretty much perfect :

“Superb – seeing TV history being presented so richly in this manner means that celebration is more than earned by this engrossing, skilfully assembled publication.” : Andrew Pixley – downthetubes

“If you’ve got any interest in Quatermass then you need a copy of this on your bookshelf. It’s always tempting fate to say that something is the last word on the subject – but I really think this is. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in British SF or the development of British television in the 20th century. 10/10” : Paul Simpson – Sci-Fi Bulletin

There’s a little trailer for the book here.

With Mark Gatiss at the BFI launch of The Quatermass Experiment

Do join me for New Year’s Eve at 53Two if you can – there’s a fantastic line-up : Hannah Platt, Nick Doody and Frankie Monroe will be providing top quality laughs on I think the best value and most civil New Year’s Eve comedy event in the area. The past couple have been really good fun – and there’s music afterwards in this lovely venue.  Tickets are available here. 

I’ve done a few tellies this year – popping up in Ridley, Waterloo Road and, most recently, Are You OK? With Alan Partridge. The latter two are still on inlayer and whilst the most recent one was no more than a cameo it was worth it to be part of the Partridge-verse and to enjoy the added bonus of working with the legendary Roger Sloman.

With Roger Sloman and Jennifer Macbeth on location for Alan Partridge…

I am impossible to avoid on the latest Doctor Who Blu-ray box set. I am host of the brand new Tom Baker commentaries on three stories and I also present the Return to Thirteen documentary, accompanying Philip Hinchcliffe to the locations where his classic stories were made. And then there is the Escape Room with Michael Briant and Matthew Waterhouse and my favourite, Behind the Sofa, in which Katy Manning, Sadie Miller and I chortle a lot as the violence on screen unfolds.

With Sadie and Katie on – not behind – the sofa…

My Radio 4 Extra show Surviving Doctor Who:  An A-Z  is now available to buy on physical media! And it bears the legend “Presented by Jo Whiley & Toby Hadoke”.

My monthly comedy night – Testing, Testing – at the fabulous 53Two venue in Manchester City Centre, has been going great guns. We never announce who is going to turn up but so far we have had Sarah Millican, Justin Moorhouse, Colin Hoult, Gary Delaney, Nick Doody, Amy Gledhill, Rob Rouse, Daliso Chaponda and many more pop in. There are some great line-ups coming up too: TV names aplenty.  It will showcase the very best circuit acts trying out their new material in a friendly environment on the last Sunday of the month. As ever with the stuff I do it is accessible, low cost and friendly. The 53Two website is here – follow the link for tickets. 

With Jonny Pelham, Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney at Testing, Testing. It’s a new material night in Manchester which I will compere on the last Sunday of every month.

XS Malarkey – my award-winning, Manchester-based comedy club – continues to provide great value laughter for a very small entry fee.  It is now based full time, and every Tuesday at 53Two. We’ve had a great year this year and are even doing a New Year’s Eve Show with Phil Ellis, Josh Jones, and Bethany Black. We have some fantastic acts coming up, including Joe Sutherland, Shelf, Carl Donnelly, Stephen Bailey, John Luke Roberts and many more. Find out more about the club here. 

With Colin Hoult, Hayley Ellis and Joe Lycett at XS Malarkey (on the road!)

My podcasts are going strong – and I did some special eiditions to tie in with the broadcast episodes of the latest series. They were written in a very small time window but have had some excellent feedback. They have clocked up over 500, 000 downloads across 350 episodes which I am told is very good! They are all about Doctor Who : there’s Too Much Information (a fact-filled, episode-by-episode breakdown), Indefinable Magic (whimsical vocal essays inspired by some random aspect of the the show), and Happy Times and Places (commentaries with the aim of positivity). They are released under the blanket title of Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels. The podcast version is now also on You Tube and all the usual podcast places. My You Tube channel is here. My Podbean podcast page is here. My Patreon Page is here.

 

And here’s the general stuff about me if you’re interested (which I’m guessing you might be as you are here, so thanks!):

My one-man show Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe before embarking on a national tour, international dates and a West End run. The radio version was released on CD by the BBC and was nominated for a Sony Award. The follow-up – My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver –  joined its predecessor for a double bill at the Garrick Theatre in 2013. My radio work includes afternoon plays, a Fright Night presentation and topical comedy and has been nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award. For TV I have written for children’s series Biff and Chip.

I am a regular performer at the Comedy Store, Manchester and was the Wednesday night MC at the 99 Club Leicester Square for a decade, and have been resident compere at the award-winning XS Malarkey comedy club for 27 years.

I also like old TV and can spot a character actor in a crowd from space. I have written about such passions for national newspapers and magazines, and spoken about them on documentaries and TV news programmes. My podcast, Toby Hadoke’s Who’s Round, has run to over 250 episodes, and my latest effort, Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels, has hit 300, 000 downloads.

But I’m an actor really. I have appeared in Holby City, An Adventure in Space and Time, Phoenix Nights, The Forsyte Saga, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Casualty 1907, the 2020 feature film Six Minutes to Midnight and dozens of radio plays.

“SUPERIOR STAND-UP SKILLS: VERY, VERY FUNNY”