Argument with Loose Women star and attack on “Tramp”

Alan Davies was once a television darling, appearing in the hugely popular BAFTA-winning crime series Jonathan Creek.

After leaving the show in 2016, he did less acting and instead appeared in several comedy panel shows, most notably QI. But why was the BBC prime-time drama ended early?

As Alan makes a guest appearance on Blankety Blank this weekend – alongside fellow panellists Lawrence Chaney, Jermaine Jenas, Desiree Burch, Roman Kemp and Scarlett Moffatt – ED! takes a look at his life and career over the years. Including a very public row with his girlfriend’s sister – a major player on Loose Women, after all – and his infamous attack on a “tramp”…

What is Alan Davies famous for?

Actor Alan Davies recently played George Gillian in the cast of McDonald & Dodds Season 3, Episode 1 titled Belvedere. But it was his first television role in several years…

As an actor, Alan is best known for his role as Jonathan Creek, which he played from 1997 to 2016. In the popular television series, Alan played the titular Jonathan Creek, a magician with a natural talent for solving puzzles. Working from his home in a converted windmill, he used his skills to solve impossible crimes and mysterious murders.

Alan starred in the television series alongside Caroline Quentin, but his ex-girlfriend Julia Sawalha also appeared in several episodes.

He had previously acted in many television shows, but it was Jonathan Creek that brought him television fame. Other notable television roles included Simon Treat in One for the Road, Russell Boyd in A Many Splintered Thing and Robert Gossage in Bob & Rose – in which he played Lesley Sharp’s lover.

In 2004, he played defense attorney Henry Farmer in The Brief. He later played Otto Clark in Hotel Babylon and Roland White in Whites.

From 2016 to 2018, he played the lead role in the Jo Brand sitcom “Damned”, which is set in a local authority social services department.

These days, however, Alan does less acting and restricts himself to comedy. Alan used to be a stand-up comedian and is now a regular panelist on QI, hosted by Sandi Toksvig. He is also a team captain on the quiz show Guessable and a regular guest on Taskmaster.

Why did Jonathan Creek end?

Jonathan Creek fans were quite disappointed to learn that Alan Davies would not be returning after nine years in the role of the character.

The show was so well received that it won a BAFTA for Best Drama in 1998. It also brought Alan Davies to wider attention. The series ran semi-regularly between 1997 and 2004 and even had a New Year’s special in 2009.

Further specials aired in 2010 with “The Judas Tree” and in 2013 with “The Clue of the Savant’s Thumb”.

However, it was not Alan Davies’ decision. In 2016, writer David Renwick announced that he would not be writing any more scripts for the series, blaming his age and the fact that he no longer felt “tempted” to work on television series.

He told Sunday’s Daily Star newspaper: “Jonathan Creek has always been difficult to write and develop. After more than 30 stories, I feel like it has burned me out.”

“And age is catching up with me. That’s the deciding factor. I got sick during the last season. I was doing half of the directing and then a bone marrow disease came along and I had to hand over the directing to someone else.”

He added: “I think I’ve had a pretty good run and I think I’ve had the best of it during this generation of comedy. The landscape has changed – I’m not tempted to be part of what television is today.”

The 70-year-old writer praised Alan for not pressuring him to return to the show. He said: “Alan Davies is very loyal to the show and would be very happy for me to reappear. He is very proud of what he has done. But he has been very kind about my decision not to write any more.”

When was Alan Davies with Julia Sawalha?

Alan Davies dated Absolutely Fabulous actress Julia Sawalha in the early 2000s. Although they appeared together in Jonathan Creek between 2001 and 2004 and attended several red carpets together, they were notoriously private.

In 2002, she had a falling out with her famous sister Nadia after attending her wedding. Julia and her boyfriend Alan were furious when pictures of Nadia’s wedding to TV executive Mark Adderley appeared in OK! magazine. In the pictures, Julia was seen with her boyfriend and comedian Alan Davies, who did not want to appear in the magazine.

Alan said at the time: “She sold these pictures of Julia and me without consulting us. I was furious.”

Julia insisted she had “no idea they were doing an OK! exhibition,” adding, “I didn’t want to talk to her.” In fact, the sisters didn’t speak to each other for two years, finally reconciling when Julia and Alan split up.

Later, in January 2004, tabloids reported that Julia and Alan had married. However, both parties denied this and took legal action against the reports. They separated soon after.

Who is Alan Davies’ wife?

Alan is now happily married to his wife Katie Maskell. The couple married in 2007, several years after he separated from Julia Sawalha. This time, Alan avoided a romantic relationship with someone in the public eye.

Katie Maskell is an author and former literary agent. The 46-year-old won the £5,000 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize in 2010 for her book “The Great Hamster Massacre”.

The couple met backstage at a QI taping in 2005 and got engaged six months later. They have been married for 17 years following their wedding in 2007, at which Bill Bailey was best man.

Does he have kids?

Alan and his wife Katie have three children.

Their first child, Suzie, was born in 2009, followed two years later, in 2011, by their son, Robert.

Their last child, Francis, was born in 2016.

Alan describes sexual abuse by father

Television star Alan Davies has written several books, including two autobiographies. The second, entitled Just Ignore Him (published in 2020), details the sexual abuse he suffered as a boy.

In shocking passages in the book, Alan reveals that he was abused by his own father between the ages of 8 and 13. Tragically, his mother died of leukaemia when he was just six, leaving him alone with his paedophile father.

Roy Davies would visit his son in his bedroom when his other two children were asleep and ask him to change out of his pajamas. It was, says Davies, “a silent, librarian harassment.” The first time it happened, his father warned him, saying, “This is our special hug. You must never tell anyone about this hug.”

Alan Davies also told how his father would print out pictures of little boys and hide them in his wardrobe. It was not until he was 51 that Alan went to the police.

After he came forward as an adult, the police and CPS accepted his allegations of abuse, but did not prosecute his father, Roy Davies, because he was too old and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Reflecting on it later, he wrote, “I had what I needed. The CPS document said they believed me, not him.”

Did Alan Davies attack a tramp?

In late 2007, The Times and The Daily Telegraph reported that Alan Davies had bitten a homeless man on the ear. The report said that the comedian had just left the wake of BBC producer Verity Lambert at the famous Groucho Club at 2am.

In an interview with the Times two years after the incident, Alan said: “He was not a tramp. He was an angry, horrible asshole. He called me (peep) several times. Or if not him, then it was his mate. And yes, I did attack him and yes, I did it in a way that turned out to be amusing.”

After the incident, the Groucho Club barred him from entering the venue. Alan later admitted to drinking too much. As reported by the Evening Standard, he said: “I was very upset and emotional. I drank heavily over many hours. Far too much, actually, and much more than normal, but it was an exciting day.”

The man, a certain Paul McElfatrick, said Alan bit for a full 13 seconds. The attack was allegedly provoked when Paul tried to shake Alan’s hand and called him “Jonathan Creek.”

Paul said he approached Alan Davies and called him by his TV character’s name, which apparently made him angry. He explained: “He almost spat out the words: ‘My name is Alan. You know my name – Alan. What’s my name? I’m Alan.’ Then suddenly he grabbed my left ear.

“It was incredibly painful. I was screaming and my eyes were watering. He was holding on and bleeding.”

He said the biting lasted about 13 seconds: “Afterwards I was shaking with fright. I still can’t sleep on that side of my head.”

Paul McElfatrick, a former store employee, did not press charges against the actor.

How old is Alan? Where is he from?

Alan Roger Davies was born on March 6, 1966 in Loughton, England.

He is currently 58 years old.

Alan spent his childhood in Chingford. He attended Staples Road School in Loughton and was privately educated at Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green. After graduating from Loughton College of Further Education, he studied drama and theatre studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

In 2016 he completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Read more: As Blankety Blank returns with Bradley Walsh, these old game shows deserve a comeback too

Alan Davies will appear on Blankety Blank on BBC One on Saturday 29 June 2024 at 8.20pm.

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