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!
Here’s my latest news (September 2022):
The festive season and end of the year are looking busy, as I will be hosting The 7th Dimension on Radio 4 Extra on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I will also be presenting Absent Friends, my two part run down of science fiction based obituaries on Radio 4 Extra on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 2023.
I have had some new publicity photos done. I hope you like them. You might also hear my voice on a big TV Ad campaign this month (well, you will… I’m just being coy).
I have been recording guest appearances on some lovely podcasts recently. My contribution to Hamster with a Blunt Penknife is out already and I’ll be on Looks Unfamiliar (for a second time), Something Who and The Bad Wilf Podcast soon.
Two new documentaries are coming out on a couple of imminent Doctor Who home media releases: Troughton in Tibet (The Abominable Snowmen DVD/Blu-ray animation) finds me scaling the Himalayas (in Wales) with Frazer Hines, whilst Looking for David (Doctor Who Season 2 Blu-ray box set) sees me on the track on Doctor Who‘s first script editor, the mercurial David Whitaker.
With Frazer Hines and the TARDIS on the exact spot they last visited this mountain 50 years earlier.
I’m a recurring character in the new Sixth Doctor Adventures Big Finish series Purity Undreamed – three connected adventures featuring the fantastic line-up of Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford and Ruth Madeley (as new companion Hebe Harrison). I play Ron, ex-husband of the dogged Professor Patricia McBride played by Imogen Stubbs, and current husband of Hebe’s friend Elise… played by a certain Cherylee Houston. It was an honour to add Colin Baker to my list of audio Doctors – meaning I have the all the surviving classic series lead actors on my roster.
I recently wrote the Guardian obituaries for comedy actress Josephine Tewson and for the Man From Del Monte actor Brian Jackson who had a very interesting life. Click on the name to get to each article.
XS Malarkey – my award winning, Manchester based comedy club – will celebrate 25 years of mirth making at the end of September, meaning I’ll have been MC there for over half of my life! Some very special guests are lined up for the birthday gig.
Joe Lycett, Chris Kehoe and Sophie Duker are amongst the brilliant acts we have had at XS Malarkey recently
My podcasts are all up and away. They just clocked up over 250, 000 downloads across 200 episodes which I am told is very good (we only launched a year ago)! 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. 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.
I am a regular performer at the Comedy Store, Manchester (New Stuff every second and last Sunday of the month), the 99 Club Leicester Square, and have been resident compere at the award winning XS Malarkey comedy club for 23 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 new lot, Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels, have hit 50, 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 forthcoming feature film Six Minutes to Midnight (2020) and dozens of radio plays. I also present the weekend science fiction hour, The 7th Dimension, on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
