Jon Holmes

Early life

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Holmes was raised in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, having been adopted at one month old. He attended Canterbury Christ Church College, where he graduated with a joint degree in English with radio, film and television. During his time there, he presented on the student radio station C4 Radio, wrote, directed and performed in student revue shows, and later became a presenter on Canterbury local radio station KMFM Canterbury (then CTFM).

Early career

Holmes began his broadcasting career while working in sound and lighting at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. During this time, he submitted comedy demo tapes to BBC Radio, leading to his first commission, Grievous Bodily Radio. Initially developed for BBC Radio 1 before moving to BBC Radio 4, the sketch show was written and performed by Holmes and Andy Hurst in 1997. The pair later presented The Jon & Andy Show on Power FM between 1998 and 2000, winning the Gold Entertainment Award at the 2000 Radio Academy Awards.

In 1998, Holmes became a regular writer and performer on BBC Radio 4's The Now Show, appearing on the programme until 2016. During his time on the show, he became affectionately known as "the short one".

Holmes was also a regular writer for BBC Radio 4's The 99p Challenge, the spoof panel game hosted by Sue Perkins, which ran from 1998 to 2004. He also appeared as a panellist on the programme in 2003 and 2004.

Radio

In January 2000, Holmes joined the writing team of BBC Radio 4's satirical impressions programme Dead Ringers. In 2001, the programme won the British Comedy Award for Best Radio Comedy, a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award and the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Radio Programme. It was adapted for BBC Two in 2002, where it ran for seven series until 2009, before returning to BBC Radio 4 in 2014. In 2025, Holmes was asked to re-join the programme as producer following the death of creator Bill Dare, coinciding with its 25th anniversary and a nationwide UK tour. As of 2026, the programme has reached its 27th series.

From 2001 to 2002, Holmes presented a late-night programme on Virgin Radio. He was dismissed after the station was fined a record £75,000 by the Radio Authority following a series of controversial broadcasts, including "Swearing Radio Hangman for the Under-12s", in which Holmes persuaded a nine-year-old girl to spell out and repeat the phrase "soapy tit wank".

He worked on BBC Radio 4's Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, for which he received a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2007. From 2006 to 2010, he also presented Heroes – The Official Radio Show on BBC Radio 7, a companion programme to the BBC Two broadcast of the American drama series Heroes, which ran for 78 episodes.

From 2004 to 2005, he fronted The Milk Run, an experimental late-night sketch show for BBC Radio 1, blending comedy sketches with music and sound design as part of the station's Oneclick strand. From 2006 to 2012, he hosted a weekly Saturday show on BBC Radio 6 Music.

In November 2007, Holmes created the BBC Radio 4 satirical series Listen Against (a play on the BBC’s Listen Again service) which he co-presented with newsreader Alice Arnold. The programme ran for four series between 2007 and 2011, taking a surreal look into the week’s radio.

In October 2011, Holmes and Miranda Hart stood in for Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show. The pair attracted criticism from some listeners, prompting the BBC to defend the broadcasts, describing Holmes as "a highly experienced presenter" and emphasising the importance of introducing new talent to the network.

Company

Holmes founded Unusual Productions in 2010, an independent production company specialising in comedy, documentary and factual programming.

Since its formation, the company has produced programmes for the BBC and commercial broadcasters. Comedy productions include The Naked Week, Jeremy Vine: Agony Uncle, TheThe One Show Show, What? Seriously??, Off Script, Rockanory, Cool Skool Sketch Show, Cold Case Crime Cuts and We Forced a Bot to Write This Show and The Skewer. Its documentary and factual output includes Generation Shame, Jon Holmes Says the C-Word, The Island, Lost Voices, Fantasy Park: Fifty Years On, Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate, Father Figuring with Darren Harriott and Mary Bourke: Who Cares.

Following a successful pilot in 2019, BBC Radio 4 commissioned The Skewer as a full series, which debuted in January 2020. Created, written and produced by Holmes through unusual productions, the programme combines news, archive audio, music and sound design into a satirical audio collage of the week's events. Since its debut, The Skewer has received honours from the ARIAS, British Podcast Awards, Audio Production Awards, BBC Audio Drama Awards and the New York Festivals. In 2024, its BBC iPlayer television adaptation, The Skewer: Three Twisted Years, received a BAFTA nomination. As of 2026, the programme has reached its seventeenth series.

Television

Holmes' television writing credits include Dead Ringers (BBC Two, 2002–2009), Channel 4's political satire Gash (2003), ITV's The Impressionable Jon Culshaw (2004), V Graham Norton (2002–2003), Time Trumpet (2006), Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, The Harry Hill Show, Top Gear and Unwrapped (2009). He also appeared in The Impressionable Jon Culshaw and Unwrapped. Holmes was part of the writing team for CBBC's Horrible Histories, for which he won two BAFTA Awards in 2010.

Holmes' presenting and performing credits include co-presenting the fifth series of Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show (2002) alongside Sarah Alexander, BBC Three's The State We're In, Gash, Dave's Crackanory and Channel 4's UKIP: The First 100 Days, in which he played Nick Tesla.

Publications

Holmes's first book, Status Quo and the Kangaroo, was published by Penguin in 2007 before being released in Australia, Canada, the United States, India and Russia.

His second book, Rock Star Babylon, was published in 2008. Holmes subsequently toured the UK with a live show based on this book, including a run at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in which Stephen Fry provided the voice of the footnotes. Thirteen years later, stories from Rock Star Babylon, including Status Quo and the Kangaroo, were adapted into the Absolute Radio comedy series Rockanory. Produced by Holmes through unusual productions and co-written with Gareth Ceredig, the series featured performances by Shaun Keaveny, Jon Culshaw and Jake Yapp.

In 2009, Holmes co-authored The Now Show Book of World Records with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, followed by The History of the World Through Twitter with Mitch Benn.

His comedy memoir, A Portrait of an Idiot as a Young Man, was published in 2015.

Holmes has also written as a columnist for The Sunday Times and contributed to publications including The Guardian, The Times and the Radio Times.

Advocacy

In 2023, Holmes was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His experience formed the basis of the BBC Radio 4 documentary Jon Holmes Says the C-Word, in which he explored his diagnosis and treatment while encouraging more open conversations about men's health.

Since his diagnosis, Holmes has become an advocate for prostate cancer awareness. Through interviews, public speaking and media campaigns, he has encouraged men to seek testing and discuss their health more openly. In 2026, he partnered with GenesisCare to launch The Big C QuizCast, a campaign designed to help prostate cancer patients better understand their treatment options following diagnosis.

Sporting career

Before establishing himself in broadcasting, he enjoyed a brief career as a competitive trampolinist. Representing Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, he reached the men's individual final, where he narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth. His routine, noted at the time for its technical difficulty and unusually composed execution under pressure, was widely praised despite a small deduction on landing that ultimately proved decisive

Selected awards and nominations

2000 – Gold Entertainment Award, Radio Academy Awards (The Jon & Andy Show).

2001 – British Comedy Award for Best Radio Comedy, Gold Sony Radio Academy Award and Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Radio Programme (Dead Ringers).

2004 – Nominated for the Rose d'Or for The Impressionable Jon Culshaw.

2006 – Nominated for a Channel 4 Political Award for The Now Show.

2007 – Sony Radio Academy Award for Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive.

2010 – Two BAFTA Awards as part of the writing team for Horrible Histories.

2019 – Silver, Best Comedy Producer, Audio Production Awards (The Skewer pilot).

2020 – The Skewer won Gold at the New York Festivals, Gold at the Audio Production Awards (Best Comedy Producer), Bronze at the Audio Production Awards (Best Sound Design) and Silver at the British Podcast Awards. It was also nominated for Best Comedy and Best Use of Sound at the BBC Audio Drama Awards and for a Chortle Award.

2021 – The Skewer won Gold for Best Comedy at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, Gold for Best Comedy and Silver for Best New Show at the ARIAS, Gold for Best Radio Podcast at the British Podcast Awards, Gold in the Comedy, Sound Art and Innovation categories at the New York Festivals, and Gold (Sound Design) and Bronze (Comedy) at the Audio Production Awards. Cold Case Crime Cuts was shortlisted at the New York Festivals.

2022 – The Skewer won Gold for Best Comedy at the Radio Academy ARIAS for the second consecutive year. Cold Case Crime Cuts won Best Comedy at the British Podcast Awards, while The Skewer and Rockanory won six awards between them at the New York Festivals, including Comedy, Innovation, Sound Design, Comedy Podcast and Script. Cold Case Crime Cuts, Rockanory and The Skewer were also nominated at the Radio Academy ARIAS, and Cold Case Crime Cuts received a VoiceOver Award nomination.