Editing Philip Pope

{{short description|British actor and composer}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_place       = [[England]] 
| occupation        = Composer
| alma_mater        = [[New College, Oxford]]
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
'''Philip R. J. Pope''' is a British composer and actor.

==Education==

He was educated at [[Downside School]] and [[New College, Oxford]].<ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/441/60b Philip Pope], Linkedin.com.</ref>

==Performer ==
Pope appeared in the [[Oxford Revue]] in [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] in 1978 and 1979, both with [[Angus Deayton]].<ref>[http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/sta/search/resultspe.cfm?NID=48612&EID=18210&DID=&AID= Philip Pope, Scottish Theatre Archive]</ref> He performed in the [[BBC]] radio comedy series ''[[Radio Active (radio series)|Radio Active]]'' (1980–87) and has also starred in a number of television comedy series, including ''[[Who Dares Wins (TV comedy)|Who Dares Wins]]'' (1983–88), ''[[Chelmsford 123]]'' (1988–90), ''[[Round the Bend]]'' (1989–91) and ''[[KYTV (TV series)|KYTV]]'' (1989–93). He made guest appearances in ''[[Blackadder]]'' as the painter Leonardo Acropolis and Horatio Nelson, and in ''[[Shelley (television programme)|Shelley]]'' as pop star Hobo. Pope also appeared as Tony Angelino, the singing [[dustman]], in the ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' episode "[[Stage Fright (Only Fools and Horses)|Stage Fright]]", in 1991.

Pope toured the UK as a member of the cast of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series Live'', for which he was also musical director.<ref>[http://www.hitchhikerslive.com/], Stage show official site {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127124808/http://www.hitchhikerslive.com/|date=27 January 2012}}</ref> Pope portrayed several minor parts in the original radio series, as well as the subsequent adaptations of the later novels.

Pope appeared in the radio series ''[[Old Harry's Game]]'' (1995–2009), and he has performed as a singer with the [[Thame]] Chamber Choir.<ref name=BBC>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/dirkgently/philip_pope.shtml|website=BBC Radio 4 Comedy|title=Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency – Philip Pope|access-date=8 October 2021}}</ref>

==Composer==
With [[Richard Curtis]], Pope co-wrote the [[Hee Bee Gee Bees]]' single "Meaningless Songs" (the B-side of which was "Posing in the Moonlight"), released in 1980 to parody the style of a series of disco hits by [[The Bee Gees]]. The Hee Bee Gee Bees went on to record two albums spoofing numerous acts including [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]], [[Michael Jackson]], [[The Police]], [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]] and [[Supertramp]]. Pope also wrote or co-wrote many comic songs for ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' and ''[[Spitting Image]]'', the latter of which included the British Number 1 hit single "[[The Chicken Song]]", for which [[Grant Naylor|Rob Grant and Doug Naylor]] wrote the lyrics. Along with [[Simon Franglen]], Pope wrote the main theme for ''Round the Bend'', a three-series children's comedy produced by [[Yorkshire Television]] for [[CITV]], and later shown on [[Channel 4]] and [[Nickelodeon]].

Pope has also composed a large amount of music for radio and television, including the theme tunes for ''[[Through the Keyhole]]'', ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'', ''[[KYTV (TV series)|KYTV]]'', ''[[My Hero (UK TV series)|My Hero]]'' and ''[[Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul]]''. He was the musical director and composer for ''[[The Fast Show]]'', as well as the popular BBC children's programmes ''[[Words and Pictures (TV programme)|Words and Pictures]]'', ''[[Fimbles]]'' and ''[[The Roly Mo Show]]''. Pope also provided the voice for the characters of Yugo and Migo from ''[[The Roly Mo Show]]''.

Pope has scored numerous dramas and comedy-dramas for television, including ''[[Ted & Ralph]]'', ''Midnight Flight'', ''Crazy for A Kiss'', ''Hospital!'' and ''Margery & Gladys'' as well as the film ''[[Kevin & Perry Go Large]]'' (2000).

He was invited to arrange [[Snow Patrol]]'s "Run 12" remixed by [[Jacknife Lee]], to which he contributed additional guitar.

On 5 October 2004, Pope featured in an episode of the radio series ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Quintessential Phases|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', entitled "Fit the Fifteenth", as one of three aliens from the planet of Krikkit. They sang a song called "Under the Ink Black Sky", which Pope wrote and performed.

On 13 February 2013, Pope and his wife Rosie appeared on [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]]'s ''From The Heart'', a programme about organ donation and which featured their 20-year-old son Will, who was seriously unwell with a failing heart, had only months to live, and was in desperate need of [[heart transplantation]]. He finally obtained a new heart in a successful operation, and was slowly nursed back to health by his family.

In 2002, Pope and [[Jules de Jongh]] did stage productions with Iain Lauchlan at Imagine Theatre in Coventry.

In 2007, Pope composed the music for the radio adaptations of ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]''<ref name=BBC/> and its sequel, ''[[The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (radio serial)|The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul]]''.

In 2014, Pope appeared in ''[[The Life of Rock with Brian Pern]]'' as Mike Philips.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0691171}}
*[https://www.air-edel.co.uk/representation/philip-pope/ Air-Edel Associates]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Philip}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People educated at Downside School]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:British composers]]
[[Category:British male television actors]]
[[Category:The Hee Bee Gee Bees members]]
[[Category:British male comedians]]
[[Category:British satirists]]
[[Category:British parodists]]
[[Category:British satirical musicians]]
[[Category:Parody musicians]]
[[Category:English comedy musicians]]