Mark Steel is a British socialist and comedian. He has been a member of the Socialist Workers Party since his late teens. He has written and performed several radio and television series for the BBC.

He wrote a column for The Guardian between 1996 and 1999. He was sacked by that newspaper (according to him because The Guardian wanted to "realign towards Tony Blair". The Guardian deny this.) In 2000 he started writing a weekly column for The Independent which appears every Thursday.

He is the author of several books.

In 2000 he took part in the London Assembly elections on behalf of the London Socialist Alliance (a pre-cursor to the Socialist Alliance) in the Croydon & Sutton constituency, he received 1,823 votes (1.5 per cent of the vote).

Table of contents
1 Radio programmes Mark Steel has contributed to or appeared on
2 Television programmes Mark Steel has contributed to or appeard on
3 Books Mark Steel has written
4 External links

Radio programmes Mark Steel has contributed to or appeared on

  • The Good Human Guide BBC Radio 2(1985). Contributing writer.

  • Extra Time BBC Radio 5 . Presenter. Sports programme.

  • The Mark Steel Solution BBC Radio 5 (1992) BBC Radio 4 (1994, 1995, 1996). Co-writer (with Pete Sinclair) and presenter. In this show he would prepose a bizarre theory to improve life in Britain (for example criminals should be recruited as high courts judges, everyone born in England should be deported, and everyone should be forced to be gay for two years).

  • Late Edition BBC Radio 4 (1995). Regular panellist on this satirical talk show.

  • The Mark Steel Revolution (1998) [BBC Radio 4]. Writer and presenter. In this series he explained the history of various revolutions (French revolution, American Civil War) in a manner that was historically accurate but also comedic in intent.

  • The Mark Steel Lectures (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003) BBC Radio 4. Writer and presenter. Similar in style to The Mark Steel Revolution except this programme dealt with the lives of historical figures (including Karl Marx, Napoleon, Muhammed Ali, Billie Holiday, Che Guevara, Hannibal, W. G. Grace and Charlie Chaplin . The first series was subtitled Englishmen who changed history. All subsequent series were subtitled people with a passion.

  • The News Quiz BBC Radio 4 several occasions from the late 1990s onwards. Guest panellist on this satirical news based panel game.

  • Loose Ends BBC Radio 4. Interviewee.

  • Midweek BBC Radio 4. Interviewee.

  • Excess Baggage BBC Radio 4. Interviewee.

There are plans for a new BBC Radio 4 series called Dedicated Troublemaker.

Television programmes Mark Steel has contributed to or appeard on

  • Red Dwarf BBC 2 (1989). Playing Ski-man in episode 'Timeslides.

  • Loose Talk (1994). Guest.

  • The Late Jonathan Ross (1996). Guest.

  • Does China Exist. (1997).

  • If I Ruled the World BBC2 (1998). Guest panellist.

  • Lamarr's Attacks (2000) BBC2. Guest.

  • Never Mind the Buzzcocks BBC2 (2000, 2001). Guest panellist on this satirical music based panel game.

  • Have I Got News for You BBC 1 (2002, 2003). Guest panellist on this satirical news based panel game.

  • Question Time BBC 1 (2003) . Guest panellist on discussion show.

  • The Mark Steel Lectures BBC 4 (2003). Writer and Presenter. Television version of his radio programme of the same title. Produced in association with The Open University.

Books Mark Steel has written

External links