| Name | Geoffrey Perkins |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Geoffrey Howard Perkins |
| Birth date | February 22, 1953 |
| Birth place | Bushey, Hertfordshire, England |
| Death date | August 29, 2008 |
| Death place | London, England |
| Years active | 1972 – 2008 |
| Occupation | Comedy writer, producer and performer |
| Baftaawards | Best Comedy Programme or Series1995 Father Ted |
| Spouse | Lisa Braun (m. 1986-2008) |
In mid-1977, Perkins produced the first series of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for BBC Radio 4, taking over from pilot-producer Simon Brett. Perkins assisted the notoriously slow writer in finishing the scripts, before John Lloyd "was drafted in to write large sections of the later episodes." Prior to its leap from the revue to the radio, the production toured and appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, after which it was picked up by BBC Radio 4 for a pilot called The Oxford Revue Presents Radio Active. Radio Active, "which poked fun at the amateurishness of some local radio broadcasting,"
Perkins, with Deayton, wrote much of the series and later saw it transferred to BBC2 television as the Grand Prix and Silver Rose of Montreux-winner KYTV. and returned to the BBC as BBC Television's Head of Comedy, requesting his contract stipulated "his continued role as a programme producer," as well as overseeing the department. In this role, he was able to pursue a more hands-on role in the "creative side of programme-making."
Perkins died from injuries after an accident involving a lorry in Marylebone High Street, London, on 29 August 2008. A coroners' inquest in April 2009 revealed that Perkins had suffered from an undiagnosed case of channelopathies, which caused his heart to stop suddenly. The inquest ruled that Perkins had likely already died when he fell under the wheels of the lorry. The coroner recorded that he died from "natural causes".
On 5 September 2008 Perkins' last production for the BBC and Tiger Aspect - the second series of Harry and Paul - was aired. The first show was dedicated to his memory. In place of the usual closing credits, the show featured a short tribute to him and concluded with an out-take of Perkins forgetting his lines in a sketch absent from the transmitted series.
The recipients of both the BAFTAs awarded on 27 April 2009 to Harry and Paul for Best Comedy Programme and to The IT Crowd for Best Situation Comedy dedicated their awards to Perkins.
Category:1953 births Category:2008 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:20th-century writers Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Category:BBC people Category:BBC radio producers Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in England Category:English comedy writers Category:English television actors Category:English television executives Category:English television writers Category:Road accident deaths in England Category:Hat Trick Productions
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