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 (December 2022):
Watch out for my annual In Memoriam video for those from the world of Doctor Who who have left us this year. It usually goes up early evening on New Year’s Eve on my blog and on my You Tube channel (link top right of this website page).
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 run down of science fiction based obituaries on Radio 4 Extra, in two parts – Christmas Day and New Year’s Day 2023. There’ll be some Charles Dickens, MR James and John Hurt War Doctor adventures as part of the line-up of festive thrills and spills.
“Oh, and incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home.”
I will also be on the telly around Christmas but I’m not going to tell you what I’m in – it’s a nice little surprise (if me popping up in things unannounced is your idea of a nice little surprise). In fact, I will be on the BBC in some form or another for three days running – 23rd, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. How jollyI am also currently filming some episodes of a long running TV drama (no, not that one) which will be on early in the New Year.
I have been recording guest appearances on some lovely podcasts recently. So Hamster with a Blunt Penknife is here, Looks Unfamiliar (for a second time – it’s here), Something Who (talking about The Android Invasion here) and The Bad Wilf Podcast (here) all have me banging on right now.
Looking for David is a documentary which sees me on the track on Doctor Who‘s first script editor, the mercurial David Whitaker and is on the forthcoming Season 2 Doctor Who Blu-ray box set which was recently launched at the BFI (I was there!) and is, as they say, OUT NOW! SFX Magazine have kindly dubbed me “dependably sympathetic” (I’ll take it!) in their lovely review of the documentary which seems to be going down very well.
I go Looking for David on the next Blu-ray set
XS Malarkey – my award winning, Manchester based comedy club – celebrated 25 years of mirth making at the end of September, meaning I’ve been MC there for over half of my life! We had James Acaster, Jordan Brookes, Helen Bauer, Will Duggan and Tadiwa Mahlunge for the birthday bash and Joe Lycett described us as the “best comedy club in the world”. There’s an article about the birthday here and we continue with the mirth making every Tuesday until the week before Christmas. Then we are back in the New Year.
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 have clocked up over 300, 000 downloads across 200 episodes which I am told is very good (we launched two years ago this month – blimey)! 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.
