Production

Jon Plowman

Born 1953-07-04 · Welwyn Garden City, England United Kingdom

Plowman was educated in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire and at University College, Oxford, where was a member of the University College Players and made friends with others who went on to establish successful careers in comedy. One, Mel Smith, directed Plowman in a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. After Oxford, Plowman followed Smith to the Royal Court Theatre, where he met the director Lindsay Anderson. Plowman worked in theatre for a while, then joined Granada TV. He was responsible for producing and commissioning programmes produced in-house at the BBC, of which the greatest successes include The Office and French & Saunders. Plowman became Head of Comedy in October 2005, and oversaw the BBC's in-house comedy production, but no longer commissioned programmes. In June 2007, Plowman announced he was quitting his post at the BBC after 27 years. He decided to become a freelance producer for other shows and hoped to carry on his relationship with the BBC, continuing to create programmes "for them and elsewhere." In December 2003, The Observer named him in its list of the '50 Funniest or Most Influential People in British Comedy'. On 14 March 2006, he was honoured with the 'Judges' Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Television' at the Royal Television Society awards. Later he moved into the world of theatre. He co-produced Lucky You, the Carl Hiaasen best-seller that premiered as a theatre production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008.

Acting credits

Fry and Laurie Reunited poster
6.8

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie reunite for a TV special to mark the 30th anniversary of their partnership.

Fry and Laurie Reunited

2010

British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves poster
5.7

Documentary celebrating the British sitcom and taking a look at the social and political context from which our favourite sitcoms grew. We enjoy a trip through the comedy archive in the company of the people who made some of the very best British sitcoms. From The Likely Lads to I'm Alan Partridge, we find out the inspiration behind some of the most-loved characters and how they reflect the times they were living in.

British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves

2016

The Vicar of Dibley: Inside Out poster
NR

Dawn French and Richard Curtis take viewers on a joyful stroll down memory lane as they look back at their favorite Dibley moments, and for the first time, tell the definitive story of the making of the show. The pair are joined by a host of guest stars and celebrity fans including Kylie Minogue, Hugh Bonneville, and Joanna Lumley, as well as writer Paul Mayhew-Archer, producer Jon Plowman, and James Fleet (Hugo Horton).

The Vicar of Dibley: Inside Out

2021

Absolution poster
6.5

At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.

Absolution

1978

Bottom: Exposed poster
5.5

Adrian Edmondson gives a first-hand account of making the hit show "Bottom" with the late, great Rik Mayall. His account comes alongside contributions from a host of the show's cast, crew and fans.

Bottom: Exposed

2024

No artwork available
6.5

Movie with some of the greatest brittish comedians such as Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese.

The Funny Blokes of British Comedy

2005

imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter poster
7.0

imagine... profiles the UK’s most successful double act of the last 40 years, French & Saunders, exploring a brand of comedy based on satire, silliness and, above all, friendship.

imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter

2023

Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out poster
8.0

A star-studded retrospective reunites the lead cast for the first time since 2016 to rampage down memory lane revealing how the show was made, pay tribute to much-missed cast member June Whitfield, and celebrate its ground-breaking influence on female comedy.

Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out

2024

Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule poster
7.5

Comedian Rik Mayall died suddenly on 9 June 2014. Mayall's blend of rocket-fuelled physical comedy, surrealism, subversive satire and pompous punk wit left a body of work that spanned four decades. Mayall's characters include the Black Country's investigative nerd Kevin Turvey, Felicity Kendal-adoring student and 'People's Poet' Rik in The Young Ones, ruthless MP Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman, seedy loser Richie in Bottom and larger-than-life characters Robin Hood and flying ace Lord Flashheart from Blackadder. Narrated by Simon Callow, this programme salutes Rik Mayall and celebrates his part in the UK's comedy history using rare and unseen archive footage. It also features contributions from people who knew or admired him, including Michael Palin, Simon Pegg, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle, Christopher Ryan, Tim McInnerny, Jools Holland, Ruby Wax and Greg Davies.

Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule

2014

Mama Jack poster
6.0

Set in Cape Town, South Africa Mama Jack is the story of Jack Theron, an ordinary person working on a film set. However, his movie producer boss hates him and wants to remove him from the production of the film. In a bid to get rid of Jack, the producer spikes his drink with a drug at a glamorous function, and before long Jack has got himself on the wrong side of the law. While on the run, Jack turns to his friend, a make-up artist, who turns him into "Mama Bolo". Mama Bolo soon finds “herself” employed by the producer’s fiancée, Angela. A series of deceptions and misunderstandings pile up and comic mayhem ensues with Jack Theron becoming another character, Doctor Donald, a tramp from Scotland.

Mama Jack

2005

Mel Smith: I've Done Some Things poster
4.0

A tribute to British comedian Mel Smith, who died in July 2013, aged 60, featuring home video footage, rare archive material and many classic sketches. Far more than a comic actor, Smith also wrote and edited a host of celebrated TV comedies in the 1980s and 90s. He was a theatre and film director, and as a TV producer he was responsible for several innovative comedy series. Friends and colleagues, including Griff Rhys Jones, John Lloyd and Richard Curtis, talk about Smith's talents, both in front of- and behind the camera. The programme also traces his time at Oxford and, before that, Latymer Upper School, where Smith's talents were first spotted.

Mel Smith: I've Done Some Things

2013

Wogan: Now You're Talking poster
NR

A celebration of the life and work of much-missed broadcasting legend. With the help of old friends, colleagues and fellow broadcasters, cameras chart Terry Wogan's rise from Dublin bank clerk to national treasure.

Wogan: Now You're Talking

2021

Behind the camera

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie poster
5.3

Edina and Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamour, living the high life they're accustomed to; shopping, drinking and clubbing around London's trendiest hotspots. Blamed for a major incident at an uber fashionable launch party, they become entangled in a media storm and are relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the glamorous playground of the super-rich, the French Riviera, they hatch a plan to make their escape permanent and live the high life forever more!

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

2016

Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout poster
7.3

Eddy and Patsy prepare to go on a skiing holiday to hopefully indulge in the jet-setting lifestyle of the international celebrity elite when Saffy is proposed to by her stuffy, upper-class boyfriend, Paolo. Eddy hits the slopes and has a near death experience where God appears to her and tells her it's not yet her time. When Eddy comes to, she waits for a sign that she should get involved in Saffy's wedding. As she returns to the house, it appears all hell has broken loose- relatives piling up, practically squatting, and Saffy about to lose her mind. Eddy calms her by throwing money at her as they bond together, planning Saffy's dream wedding. What could go wrong?

Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout

1996

The Devil of Christmas poster
NR

A director talks about his old horror film. It's Austria, Krampusnacht, December 1977. The Devonshires arrive at the alpine chalet for a holiday. The caretaker, Klaus, tells them about a local legend of Krampus, the Devil of Christmas.

The Devil of Christmas

2016

Mirrorball poster
8.0

Vivienne Keill and Jackie Riviera are a couple of aging stage actresses who live in vertically adjacent flats. The two are of questionable talent, and their careers seem to be at a standstill. During the course of the pilot, Vivienne has the opportunity to be cast in a new show but delivers a horrifying rendition of the standard "Send in the Clowns", thanks in part to Jackie's off-kilter advice.

Mirrorball

2000

The Vicar of Dibley: In Lockdown poster
6.0

The nation's favourite vicar muses upon lockdown, social distancing, masks and absent friends.

The Vicar of Dibley: In Lockdown

2020

The Best of French & Saunders poster
NR

A compilation of all the best sketches from Britain's favourite female comedy double-act. They are all here - the music numbers, Hollywood spoofs, the uncannily perceptive mickey-taking of our various - and particularly female - obsessions, and much, much more.

The Best of French & Saunders

2002

Smashie and Nicey's Top of the Pops Party poster
7.0

On New Year's Day 1964, Jimmy Savile ushered in a revolution in television broadcasting - a weekly show devoted to the pop charts. In the first of an evening of programmes marking the 30th anniversary of Top of the Pops, Smashie and Nicey (Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse) pay tribute to this triumphant survivor from the days when the Beatles topped the chart with I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Three poptastic decades surrender their fab sounds, their hits and their haircuts, for our nostalgic enjoyment - from the Moptops to Take That, from the Stones to Madonna.

Smashie and Nicey's Top of the Pops Party

1994