Line #20 Creator/ChrisMorris


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chrismorris.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:Chris Morris on typically modest form.]]
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4	Christopher J Morris (born 15 June 1962 in Colchester, England) is an acclaimed English actor, writer, producer, composer and director whose best-known work is probably the satirical current affairs programme ''Series/BrassEye'', in which he fooled a Member of Parliament into asking the House of Commons to ban a fictional drug and tricked pudgy rocker Music/PhilCollins into representing a fake anti-paedophile campaign called "Nonce Sense".
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6	Morris's career began as a radio presenter on Greater London Radio, but he was soon at work on the satirical news show ''On The Hour'', which he co-wrote with occasional collaborator Creator/ArmandoIannucci and a number of other writers. He also starred in it as stern anchorman "Christopher Morris" and various other characters. This was then adapted for television as ''Series/TheDayToday'', with Morris reprising his roles. That was followed by ''Brass Eye'', a semi-[[SpinOff spin-off]], and the dark "ambient comedy" radio programme ''Blue Jam'' (later adapted for television as ''Series/{{Jam}}'').
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8	His penchant for [[BlackComedy pitch-black humour]] and fearless {{parody}} of public figures made him something of a televisual ''enfant terrible'' for a time, particularly after the 2001 ''Brass Eye'' paedophile special was attacked for supposedly making fun of paedophilia and child abuse (it was ''actually'' satirising the media's then-preoccupation with sensationalised paedophile stories, and the subsequent bouts of civil unrest that they caused). In one notable case, ''The Daily Star'' published an article attacking the "paeodphile comedy" opposite [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star-1.jpg a photograph of then-15-year-old singer Charlotte Church]] [[{{Hypocrite}} in which it commended the size of her breasts]].
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10	It didn't exactly help him that once, in a fit of pique at Creator/Channel4 bureaucracy, he inserted a subliminal message in a ''Series/BrassEye'' episode attacking Channel 4 bigwig Michael Grade (the words "Grade Is A Cunt" were displayed onscreen for [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Grade.gif a single frame]]).
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12	Morris' comedy seems to have taken a calmer route afterwards, with 2005's ''Series/NathanBarley'' being a relatively conventional sitcom satirising shallow media halfwits in London's Hoxton area. However, despite extensive publicity, it was a ratings disaster and alienated some members of Morris's fandom, who derided it for attacking easy, harmless targets and -- perhaps more damningly -- for not being particularly funny, though in later years it has been {{vindicated\|ByHistory}} for predicting the rise of social media.
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14	He has also directed two feature films: ''Film/FourLions'', a comedy about Islamic suicide bombers, and ''Film/TheDayShallCome'', a satire about a number of real-life FBI sting operations.
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16	He also once recorded a spot-on parody of Music/ThePixies called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqzF7NdoXI "Motherbanger"]], which was handed out with free copies of the ''NME'' in 1992.
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18	!!Selected filmography:
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20	* ''Series/TheDayToday'' (producer/writer/actor, 1994)
21	* ''Series/BrassEye'' (producer/writer/actor, 1997-2001)
22	* ''Series/{{Jam}}'' (producer/writer/actor, 2000)
23	* ''Series/NathanBarley'' (producer/writer, 2005)
24	* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' (actor, 2006-2007)
25	* ''Film/FourLions'' (writer/director, 2010)
26	* ''Film/TheDayShallCome'' (co-writer/director, 2019)

Context Creator / ChrisMorris