Editing Tony Robinson (section)

==Acting career==
===Early career===
After drama school, he spent four years in [[repertory|repertory theatre]]<ref name=CFTp1976>[[Chichester Festival Theatre]] programme 1976.</ref> most notably at the [[West Yorkshire Playhouse]] in [[Leeds]]. Robinson won an Arts Council bursary to work as a director at the [[Midlands Arts Centre]], [[Birmingham]], and founded the Avon Touring Company, a [[Bristol]]-based community theatre company, with writer David Illingworth.<ref name="CFTp1976" /> He played a small role as student doctor Grace in the 1972–73 series of ''Doctor In Charge''.

Robinson appeared in the 1974–75 season at [[Chichester Festival Theatre]], as Angel Chicago in the [[Nativity of Jesus|nativity]] musical ''Follow The Star''. In the 1975 season, he appeared as Hovstad in [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s ''[[An Enemy of the People]]''. In 1976, he appeared as [[Feste]] in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', and as Majorin in ''Monsieur Perrichon's Travels''.<ref name=CFTp1976 />

In 1972, Robinson starred in the children's educational programme ''[[Sam on Boffs' Island]]'' and was later a presenter on ''[[Play Away]]''.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/titles/playaway.shtml Cult Classics], BBC TV</ref> He also appeared in the award-winning ''[[Horizon (British TV series)|Horizon]]'' documentary ''Joey'', and in the title role in the [[BBC]] production of ''The Miracle of Brother Humphrey''. He also appeared in the film ''[[Brannigan (film)|Brannigan]]'' starring [[John Wayne]],<ref name=CFTp1976 /> in which he shared two speaking part scenes with Wayne, playing a motorcycle courier who is pushed off a quay into the Thames by Wayne. He was also one of the team in the [[Channel 4]] comedy/satirical series ''[[Who Dares Wins (TV series)|Who Dares Wins]]'' in the early/mid-1980s. He was also seen in ''[[The Rag Trade]]'''s 1970s reboot.

===''Blackadder'' period (1983–1989)===
Robinson came to prominence in 1983 for his role in the British historical sitcom ''[[Blackadder]]'', as [[Edmund Blackadder]]'s [[dogsbody]] [[Baldrick]]. In the first series, broadcast as ''[[The Black Adder]]'', he was quite astute, while [[Prince Edmund (Blackadder)|his master]] was an idiot. Later series (''[[Blackadder II]]'', ''[[Blackadder the Third]]'', ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]'') moved the duo through history and switched the relationship: the [[Edmund Blackadder]] of ''Blackadder II'' was a brilliant schemer, whereas Baldrick had devolved into a buffoon whose catchphrase was "I have a cunning plan".

In addition to his acting on ''Blackadder'', Robinson also wrote and narrated several ''[[Jackanory]]''-style children's programmes, encouraged by [[Richard Curtis]].<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/765633.stm|title=Tony Robinson's Cunning Plan|work=BBC News |date=26 May 2000|access-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> Programmes in this style included ''[[Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden]]'' (continued in ''Fat Tulip Too''), ''[[Odysseus]]: The Greatest Hero of Them All'' (a retelling of the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'') and ''Blood and Honey'' (tales from the [[Old Testament]], filmed on location).

Robinson also performed within the BBC Radio 4 comedy ''[[Delve Special]]'' (1984–1987), written by Tony Sarchet.

===After ''Blackadder'' (1989–1999)===

After ''Blackadder'', Robinson became the narrator and one of the lead actors for the British animated series ''[[Nellie the Elephant (cartoon)|Nellie the Elephant]]'', based on the song of the same name. The series ran from 1989 until 1991 and was screened on [[CITV|Children's ITV]].

Robinson also provided voice-over for the cartoon short ''Free-Ranger'', an English child-scripted arts-funded production in 1989. Robinson also presented the early-Saturday evening series ''[[Stay Tooned! (TV programme)|Stay Tooned]]'' for [[BBC 1]], which featured a selection of classic [[Warner Bros.]] and [[MGM]] cartoons. In 1989, after attending a [[pantomime]] at Tyndale Baptist Church, [[Bristol]], which was based on the [[Robin Hood]] story but featuring Maid Marian as the lead role, he created the children's comedy series ''[[Maid Marian and her Merry Men]]'', a loose retelling of the legend of [[Robin Hood]] in which he appeared as the [[Sheriff of Nottingham]]. Four series were broadcast on [[BBC1]] from 1989 until 1994. In 1990 he appeared as "Shlomo Denkoviz" in an episode of ''[[Bergerac (TV series)|Bergerac]]'', entitled "My Name's Sergeant Bergerac" (Series 8, Episode 2).

Also in 1994, Robinson played a minor part in an episode of the television series ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'', called "[[List of Minder episodes#One Flew Over the Parents' Nest|One Flew Over the Parents' Nest]]", in which he played a character called "Willie the Weed".

===1999–2010===
In 1999, Robinson returned to star as Baldrick in a one-off short film in the ''Blackadder'' series, made to celebrate the new millennium. Entitled ''[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]]'', it was screened in the [[Millennium Dome]] throughout 2000 and was later aired on [[BBC One]] in 2002.

Robinson also contributed the voiceover for the television series ''[[Airline (1998 TV series)|Airline]]'' screened from 1999 and focusing on the daily routine of [[EasyJet]] staff at a selection of airports. The series was made for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and is often repeated today on [[Sky Real Lives]], [[Sky One]], [[Sky Two]], Sky Three (now [[Sky Mix]]), and [[ITV2]]. Robinson worked as the narrator for six of the remaining nine series until 2006 when it ended.

''Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out'', a largely improvised one-man stage show, followed in early 2005 and included a mix of the many themes from his career for which Robinson is famous. The show was later released on DVD.

In addition to telling his own stories, Robinson narrated the abridged [[audiobook]] versions of [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novels. [[Nigel Planer]], [[Celia Imrie]], and [[Stephen Briggs]] narrated the unabridged versions. He also provided the voicing for several characters in the videogame ''[[Discworld (video game)|Discworld]]''. He followed on this ''Discworld'' work by playing a role in the live action television dramatisation of ''[[Terry Pratchett's Hogfather|Hogfather]]'', broadcast on [[British Sky Broadcasting|Sky]] over the Christmas season in 2006.

Robinson also presented [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]]'s ''[[Friendly Guide to Classical Music]]'' which aired on a Sunday at 4pm. The whole 16-episode series was repeated on 26 December 2006. He revealed on the [[BBC Radio 2]] feature "Tracks of My Years" that his favourite songs are: "I Can Help" by [[Billy Swan]], "Bleeding Love" by [[Leona Lewis]], "Chasing Cars" by [[Snow Patrol]], "Beautiful" by [[Christina Aguilera]], "Unfinished Sympathy" by [[Massive Attack]], "[[Tangled Up In Blue]]" by [[Bob Dylan]], "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" by [[Beverley Knight]], "This Woman's Work" by [[Maxwell (singer)|Maxwell]], "[[He's So Fine]]" by [[the Chiffons]], and "Falling Slowly" by [[the Frames]].

In 2007, Robinson narrated television advertisements for [[Honda]], in the humorous style of ''[[Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden]]''. The advertisements feature plastic cars with expressive faces (similar to ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]''). He also did voiceovers for cleaning products [[Domestos]] and [[Vanish (stain remover)|Vanish]] from 2007 until 2009. Also in 2007, Robinson visited 30 towns in Britain and Ireland with ''A Cunning Night Out''.

In July 2009, Robinson appeared in the light-hearted BBC1 series ''[[Hotel Babylon (BBC series)|Hotel Babylon]]'' as a sly hit-man named Arthur Barnes. The character is knocked unconscious by a flying bottle expertly lobbed by the hotel manager during a showdown in the lobby.<ref name="Hotel Babylon">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ldxcb#synopsis |title=BBC1 Programmes – Hotel Babylon Episode 3: 'The team joins a treasure hunt around the hotel.' |publisher=Bbc.co.uk  |access-date=21 April 2010}}</ref>

=== 2010–present ===

In September 2013, Robinson played the Fool in the Gala Performance of [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[King Lear]]'' at [[the Old Vic]] in London, directed by [[Jonathan Miller]] .<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bookings.oldvictheatre.com/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=16151 |title=The Old Vic {{pipe}} King Lear |publisher=Bookings.oldvictheatre.com |access-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195502/http://bookings.oldvictheatre.com/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=16151 |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, Robinson played the title role in a touring production of ''The Hypochondriac'', [[Richard Bean]]'s new translation of Molière's ''[[The Imaginary Invalid|Le malade imaginaire]]'', directed by [[Lindsay Posner]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/page/3009/The-Hypochondriac/890|title=The Hypochondriac—What's On—Theatre Royal Bath|work=Theatre Royal Bath|access-date=23 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023220653/http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/page/3009/The-Hypochondriac/890|archive-date=23 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2016 and 2017, Robinson played the antagonist 'Daddy' in [[Man Down (TV series)|Man Down]] alongside Greg Davies and Roisin Conaty.

In 2019, Robinson guested in the episode 'The Dig' in Series 5 of the ITV comedy [[Plebs (TV series)]] as an Archaeologist called Daedalus Graeco.