The Daily Mail is a British, daily middle-market^[2] tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.^[3]

First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun.^[1] Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the daily paper were launched in 1947 and 2006 respectively. The Daily Mail was Britain's first daily newspaper aimed at the newly literate "lower-middle class market resulting from mass education, combining a low retail price with plenty of competitions, prizes and promotional gimmicks",^[4] and the first British paper to sell a million copies a day.^[5]

It was, from the outset, a newspaper for women, being the first to provide features especially for them,^[6] and is the only British newspaper whose readership is more than 50% female.^[7][8][9]

The Daily Mail has had substantial and controversial political positions over its history, including accusations of warmongering before World War I. Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook were instrumental in launching the United Empire Party in 1929 which sought a British Empire trading block. Rothermere was sympathetic to the fascist movement in Great Britain until 1934, when the British Union of Fascists held a rally where violence occurred.

Overview[link]

The Mail was originally a broadsheet, but switched to a compact format^[10] on 3 May 1971, the 75th anniversary of its founding. On this date it also absorbed the Daily Sketch, which had been published as a tabloid by the same company. The publisher of the Mail, the Daily Mail and General Trust, is currently a FTSE 250 company and the paper has a circulation of around two million which is the third-largest circulation of any English language daily newspaper and one of the highest in the world.^[11]

Circulation figures according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations in July 2011 show gross daily sales of 2,050,132 for the Daily Mail.^[12] According to a December 2004 survey, 53% of Daily Mail readers voted for the Conservative Party, compared to 21% for Labour and 17% for the Liberal Democrats.^[13] The main concern of Viscount Rothermere, the current chairman and main shareholder, is that the circulation be maintained. He testified before a House of Lords select committee that "we need to allow editors the freedom to edit", and therefore the newspaper's editor was free to decide editorial policy, including its political allegiance.^[14] The Mail has been edited by Paul Dacre since 1992.

History[link]

Early history[link]

The Daily Mail, devised by Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe) and his brother Harold (later Lord Rothermere), was first published on 4 May 1896. It was an immediate success. It cost a halfpenny at a time when other London dailies cost one penny, and was more populist in tone and more concise in its coverage than its rivals. The planned issue was 100,000 copies but the print run on the first day was 397,215 and additional printing facilities had to be acquired to sustain a circulation which rose to 500,000 in 1899. Lord Salisbury, 19th-century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dismissed the Daily Mail as "a newspaper produced by office boys for office boys."^[15] By 1902, at the end of the Boer War, the circulation was over a million, making it the largest in the world.^[16][17]

With Harold running the business side of the operation and Alfred as Editor, the Mail from the start adopted an imperialist political stance, taking a patriotic line in the Second Boer War, leading to claims that it was not reporting the issues of the day objectively.^[18] From the beginning, the Mail also set out to entertain its readers with human interest stories, serials, features and competitions (which were also the main means by which the Harmsworths promoted the paper).

In 1900, the Daily Mail began printing simultaneously in both Manchester and London, the first national newspaper to do so (in 1899, the Daily Mail had organised special trains to bring the London-printed papers north). The same production method was adopted in 1909 by the Daily Sketch, in 1927 by the Daily Express and eventually by virtually all the other national newspapers. Printing of the Scottish Daily Mail was switched from Edinburgh to the Deansgate plant in Manchester in 1968 and, for a while, The People was also printed on the Mail presses in Deansgate. In 1987, printing at Deansgate ended and the northern editions were thereafter printed at other Associated Newspapers plants.

In 1906, the paper offered £1,000 for the first flight across the English Channel and £10,000 for the first flight from London to Manchester. Punch magazine thought the idea preposterous and offered £10,000 for the first flight to Mars, but by 1910 both the Mail's prizes had been won. (For full list see Daily Mail aviation prizes.)

The paper was accused of warmongering before the outbreak of World War I, when it reported that Germany was planning to crush the British Empire. Northcliffe created controversy by advocating conscription when the war broke out.^[19] On 21 May 1915, Northcliffe wrote a blistering attack on Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War. Kitchener was considered a national hero, and, overnight, the paper's circulation dropped from 1,386,000 to 238,000. 1,500 members of the London Stock Exchange ceremonially burned the unsold copies and launched a boycott against the Harmsworth Press. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith accused the paper of being disloyal to the country.

When Kitchener died, the Mail reported it as a great stroke of luck for the British Empire^{[citation needed]}. The paper then campaigned against Asquith, who resigned on 5 December 1916.^[20] His successor, David Lloyd George, asked Northcliffe to be in his cabinet, hoping it would prevent him from criticising the government. Northcliffe declined.^[21]

Inter-war period[link]

As Lord Northcliffe aged, his grip on the paper slackened and he might have nothing to do with it for months at a time. But light-hearted stunts might enliven him, such as the Hat campaign in the winter of 1920. This was a contest with a prize of £100 for new design of hat—a subject in which Northcliffe took a particular interest. There were 40,000 entries and the winner was a cross between a top hat and a bowler christened the Daily Mail Sandringham Hat. The paper subsequently promoted the wearing of it but without much success.^[22] In 1922, when Lord Northcliffe died, Lord Rothermere took full control of the paper.

In 1919, Alcock and Brown made the first flight across the Atlantic winning a prize of £10,000 from the Daily Mail. In 1930, the Daily Mail made a great story of another aviation stunt, awarding another prize of £10,000 to Amy Johnson for making the first solo flight from England to Australia.^[23]

The Daily Mail had begun the Ideal Home Exhibition in 1908. At first, Northcliffe had disdained this as a publicity stunt to sell advertising and he refused to attend. But his wife exerted pressure upon him and he changed his views, becoming more supportive. By 1922, the editorial side of the paper was fully engaged in promoting the benefits of modern appliances and technology to free its female readers from the drudgery of housework.^[24] The Mail maintained the event until selling it to Media 10 in 2009.^[25]

On 25 October 1924, the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev Letter, which indicated that British Communists were planning violent revolution. This was a significant factor in the defeat of Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.^[26]

From 1923, Lord Rothermere and the Daily Mail formed an alliance with the other great press baron, Lord Beaverbrook. Their opponent was the Conservative party politician and leader Stanley Baldwin. By 1929, George Ward Price was writing in the Mail that Baldwin should be deposed and Beaverbrook elected as leader. In early 1930, the two Lords launched the United Empire Party which the Daily Mail supported enthusiastically.

A page from the Daily Mail Silver Jubilee Issue, 1935

The rise of the new party dominated the newspaper and, even though Beaverbrook soon withdrew, Rothermere continued to campaign. Vice Admiral Taylor fought the first by-election for the United Empire Party in October, defeating the official Conservative candidate by 941 votes. Baldwin's position was now in doubt but, in 1931, Duff Cooper won the key by-election at St George's, Westminster, beating the United Empire Party candidate, Sir Ernest Petter, supported by Rothermere, and this broke the political power of the press barons.^[27]

In 1927, the celebrated picture of the year Morning by Dod Proctor was bought by the Daily Mail for the Tate Gallery.^[28]

Lord Rothermere was a friend and supporter of both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, which influenced the Mail's political stance towards them during the 1930s.^[29][30] Rothermere's 1933 leader "Youth Triumphant" praised the new Nazi regime's accomplishments, and was subsequently used as propaganda by them.^[31]

Rothermere and the Mail were also editorially sympathetic to Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists.^[32] Rothermere wrote an article entitled "Hurrah for the Blackshirts" in January 1934, praising Mosley for his "sound, commonsense, Conservative doctrine".^[33] This support ended after violence at a BUF rally in Kensington Olympia later that year.^[34]

Post-war history[link]

On 5 May 1946, the Daily Mail celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Winston Churchill was the chief guest at the banquet and toasted it with a speech,^[35]

In reply, Lord Rothermere II had something to say about the newsprint shortages at that time for, while the Mail of 1896 was eight pages, the Mail of 1946 was reduced to just four.^[35]

The Daily Mail was transformed by its editor of the seventies and eighties, Sir David English. Sir David began his Fleet Street career in 1951, joining The Daily Mirror before moving to The Daily Sketch, where he became features editor. It was the Sketch which brought him his first editorship, from 1969 to 1971. That year the Sketch was closed and he moved to take over the top job at the Mail, where he was to remain for more than 20 years. English transformed it from a struggling rival selling two million copies fewer than the Daily Express to a formidable journalistic powerhouse, which soared dramatically in popularity. After 20 years perfecting the Mail, Sir David English became editor-in-chief and chairman of Associated Newspapers in 1992.

The paper enjoyed a period of journalistic success in the 1980s, employing some of the most inventive writers in old Fleet Street including the gossip columnist Nigel Dempster, Lynda Lee Potter and sportswriter Ian Wooldridge (who unlike some of his colleagues—the paper generally did not support sporting boycotts of white-minority-ruled South Africa—strongly opposed apartheid). In 1982, a Sunday title, the Mail on Sunday, was launched (the Sunday Mail was already the name of a newspaper in Scotland, owned by the Mirror Group.) There are Scottish editions of both the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, with different articles and columnists. In 1992, the current editor, Paul Dacre, was appointed.

Scottish, Irish, Continental and Indian editions[link]

[edit] Scottish Daily Mail

The Scottish Daily Mail was published as a separate title from Edinburgh, starting in 1947.^[36] The circulation was poor though, falling to below 100,000 and the operation was rebased to Manchester in December 1968.^[37] In 1995 the Scottish Daily Mail was relaunched, and is printed in Glasgow. With a circulation in Dec 2009 of 113,771, it has the third-highest daily newspaper sales in Scotland.^[38]

Irish edition[link]

The Daily Mail officially entered the Irish market with the launch of a local version of the paper on 6 February 2006; free copies of the paper were distributed on that day in some locations to publicise the launch. Its masthead differs from that of UK versions by having a green rectangle with the word "IRISH", instead of the Royal Arms. The Irish version includes stories of Irish interest alongside content from the UK version. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Irish edition had a circulation of 63,511 for July 2007,^[39] falling to an average of 49,090 for the second half of 2009.^[40] Since 24 September 2006 Ireland on Sunday, the Irish Sunday newspaper acquired by Associated in 2001, was replaced by an Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday (the Irish Mail on Sunday), to tie in with the weekday newspaper.

[edit] Continental and Overseas Daily Mail

Two foreign editions were begun in 1904 and 1905; the former titled the Overseas Daily Mail, covering the world, and the latter titled the Continental Daily Mail, covering Europe and North Africa.^[41]

[edit] Mail Today

The newspaper entered India on 16 November 2007 with the launch of Mail Today,^[42] a 48-page compact size newspaper printed in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida with a print run of 110,000 copies. Based around a subscription model, the newspaper has the same fonts and feel as the Daily Mail and was set up with investment from Associated Newspapers and editorial assistance from the Daily Mail newsroom.^[43]

Libel lawsuits[link]

The Daily Mail has been involved in a number of notable libel suits. Among them are:

• 2001, February: Businessman Alan Sugar was awarded £100,000 in damages following a story commenting on his stewardship of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.^[44]
• 2003, October: Actress Diana Rigg awarded £30,000 in damages over a story commenting on aspects of her personality.^[45]
• 2006, May: £100,000 damages for Elton John, following false accusations concerning his manners and behaviour.^[46]
• 2009, January: £30,000 award to Dr Austen Ivereigh, who had worked for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, following false accusations made by the newspaper concerning abortion.^[47]
• 2010, July: £47,500 award to Parameswaran Subramanyam for falsely claiming that he secretly sustained himself with hamburgers during a 23-day hunger strike in Parliament Square to draw attention to the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.^[48]
• 2011, November: the former lifestyle adviser to Cherie Blair and Tony Blair, Carole Caplin received "substantial" libel damages over claims in the Mail that she was about to reveal intimate details about her former clients.^[49]

Editorial stance[link]

In the late 1960s, the paper went through a phase of being liberal on social issues like corporal punishment, but soon returned to its traditional conservative line. In Tony Blair's early years as Labour leader and then Prime Minister, the paper wrote positively about him and his reforms of the party.

The editorial stance changed to become critical of Tony Blair in his later years as Prime Minister, and the Mail endorsed the Conservative Party in the 2005 general election.^[50]

The paper is generally critical of the BBC, which it says is biased to the left.^[51] The Mail has also opposed the growing of genetically modified crops in the United Kingdom, a stance it shares with many of its left-wing critics.

On international affairs, the Mail broke with the establishment media consensus over the 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia. The Mail accused the British government of dragging Britain into an unnecessary confrontation with Russia and of hypocrisy regarding its protests over Russian recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence, citing the British government's own recognition of Kosovo's independence from Russia's ally Serbia.^[52]

Melanie Philips, once known as a voice for The Guardian and New Statesman, moved to the right in the 1990s and writes for the Daily Mail, covering political and social issues from a conservative perspective. She has defined herself as a liberal who has "been mugged by reality".^[53]

Famous stories[link]

On 7 January 1967, the Mail published a story, "The holes in our roads", about potholes, giving the examples of Blackburn where it said there were 4,000 holes. This detail was then immortalised by John Lennon in the Beatles song "A Day in the Life", along with an account of the death of 21-year-old socialite Tara Browne in a car crash on 18 December 1966, which also appeared in the same issue.^[54]

In 1981, the Daily Mail ran an investigation into the Unification Church, nicknamed the Moonies, and branded them "the church that breaks up families" in the article, which accused them of brainwashing converts. The Unification Church, which always denied brainwashing, sued for libel and lost heavily. A jury awarded the Mail a record-breaking £750,000—then the biggest libel payout. In 1983 the paper won a special British Press Award for a "relentless campaign against the malignant practices of the Unification Church."

On 16 July 1993 the Mail ran the headline "Abortion hope after 'gay genes' finding";^[55] this headline has been widely criticised in subsequent years, for example as "perhaps the most infamous and disturbing headline of all" (of headlines from tabloid newspapers commenting on the Xq28 gene).^[56]

The Mail campaigned on the case of Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager who was murdered in a racially motivated attack in Eltham, London in April 1993. On 14 February 1997, the Mail led its front page with a picture of the five men accused of Lawrence's murder and the headline "MURDERERS", stating that it believed that the men had murdered Lawrence and adding "if we are wrong, let them sue us".^[57] This attracted praise from Paul Foot and Peter Preston.^[58] However, other journalists have criticised the Mail′s coverage, contending that it was very late to change its stance on the reporting surrounding Lawrence's murder, with the newspaper's earlier focus being the alleged opportunistic behaviour of anti-racist groups ("How Race Militants Hijacked a Trajedy", 10 May 1993) with very little coverage of the case (20 articles in three years).^[59][60]

On 9 October 2009 the Mail ran the headline "Hunger striker's £7m Big Mac: Tamil who cost London a fortune in policing was sneaking in fast-food".^[61][62] The article stated that "Scotland Yard surveillance teams using specialist monitoring equipment had watched in disbelief" as Parameswaran Subramaniyan, a Tamil hunger striker protesting outside the Houses of Parliament, covertly broke his fast by secretly eating McDonald's burgers. When a request for an apology and retraction of this story was refused, Mr Subramanyam issued proceedings against the paper.^[63] In court, the newspaper's claim was shown to be entirely false; the Met superintendent in charge of the policing operation confirmed there had been no police surveillance team using the "specialist monitoring equipment". As a result, on 29 July 2010, Mr Subramanyam is understood to have accepted damages of £47,500 from the Daily Mail. The newspaper also paid his legal costs, withdrew the allegations and apologised "sincerely and unreservedly" for the distress that had been caused.^[64]

A 16 October 2009 Jan Moir article on the death of Stephen Gately,^[65] which many people felt was inaccurate, insensitive, and homophobic, generated over 25,000 complaints, the highest number of complaints for a newspaper article in the history of the Press Complaints Commission.^[66][67] Major advertisers such as Marks and Spencer responded to the criticism by asking for their own adverts to be removed from the Mail Online webpage around Moir's article. The Daily Mail removed all display ads from the webpage with the Gately column.^[68]

On June 13 2011, a study by Dr Matt Jones and Michal Kucewicz^[69] on the effects of cannabinoid receptor activation in the brain was published in the Journal of Neuroscience^[70][69][71] and the British medical journal The Lancet.^[72] The study was used in articles by CBS News,^[73] Le Figaro,^[74] Bild^[75] and others. In October 2011, the Daily Mail printed an article citing the research, titled "Just ONE cannabis joint can bring on schizophrenia as well as damaging memory." UK political party Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR), which campaigns for ending drug prohibition, criticised the Daily Mail,^[76] and contacted Dr Matt Jones, author of the study, who said he was "disappointed but not surprised" at the Daily Mail's reporting, and clarified: "This study does NOT say that one spliff will bring on schizophrenia".^[76] Dorothy Bishop, professor of neuroscience at Oxford University, in her blog awarded the Daily Mail the "Orwellian Prize for Journalistic Misrepresentation",^{[77][78][79][80]} calling the Daily Mail's article "the worst misrepresentation of a scientific article in a national newspaper."^[81] The Daily Mail was the sole nominee for the award, with Bishop commenting: "I'm pleased not to have had more nominations this year: it suggests that, despite all the grumblings about science journalism, the field is in rude health." The Mail later changed the article's headline to: "Just ONE cannabis joint 'can cause psychiatric episodes similar to schizophrenia' as well as damaging memory."^[82][83]

On 3 April 2012 the freelance journalist Samantha Brick wrote an article on the Daily Mail website titled "There are downsides to looking this pretty': Why women hate me for being beautiful".^[84] The article went 'viral' on social media websites and Brick trended globally on Twitter.^[85] The piece attracted 1.5 million hits on the newspaper's website and over 5,000 readers left comments, both positive and negative.^[86]

Supplements and features[link]

Regular cartoon strips[link]

• Garfield
• I Don't Believe It (discontinued)
• Odd Streak
• The Strip Show
• Chloe and Co. (by Knight Features)
• Up and Running (by Knight Features)
• The Gambols (Sunday, in the Cartoons section)
• Fred Basset
• Peanuts (Sunday, in the Cartoons section)

Current cartoon strips that are in the Daily Mail include Garfield which moved from the Daily Express in 2006^{[citation needed]}and is also included in The Mail on Sunday. I Don't Believe It is another 3/4 part strip, written by Dick Millington.^{[citation needed]} Odd Streak and The Strip Show, which is shown in 3D are one part strips. Up and Running is a strip distributed by Knight Features and Fred Basset follows the life of the dog of the same name in a two part strip in the Daily Mail since 8 July 1963.^[89] The Gambols are another feature in the Mail on Sunday.

The long-running Teddy Tail cartoon strip, was first published on 5 April 1915 and was the first cartoon strip in a British newspaper.^[90] It ran for over 40 years to 1960, spawning the Teddy Tail League Children's Club and many annuals from 1934 to 1942 and again from 1949 to 1962. Teddy Tail was a mouse, with friends Kitty Puss (a cat), Douglas Duck and Dr. Beetle. Teddy Tail is always shown with a knot in his tail.^[91][92]

Year Book[link]

The Daily Mail Year Book first appeared in 1901, summarizing the news of the past year in one volume of 200-400 pages. Among its editors were Percy L. Parker (1901–1905), David Williamson (1914–1951), G. B. Newman (1955–1977), Mary Jenkins (1978–1986), P.J. Failes (1987), and Michael and Caroline Fluskey (1991).

Online media[link]

The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday publish most of their news online in a service called the Mail Online, which is viewed daily by nearly 3 million users.^[93] Most of the site can be viewed for free and without registration, though some services require users to register. Registration is free.

Contributors[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

Notable regular contributors (present)[link]

Past writers[link]

• Paul Callan
• William Comyns Beaumont (left in 1903 to create The Bystander)
• Anthony Cave Brown (worked from mid-1950s to mid-1960s, won "Reporter of the Year" award in 1958)
• Vernon Bartlett MP
• Nigel Dempster
• Daniel Farson
• Percy Izzard Gardening and country life correspondent for over 50 years.
• Lt Cdr Ralph Izzard (Writer for the Mail beginning in 1931 and continued contributing until his death in 1992, with the only interruption being his service in British Naval Intelligence during WWII.)
• Paul Johnson (left the Mail in 2001)
• Sir John Junor
• Lynda Lee-Potter (wrote for the Mail from 1967 until her death in 2004)
• William Le Queux
• Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin
• Vincent Mulchrone
• Keith Waterhouse
• Valentine Williams (1883–1946) (General news correspondent and, during the First World War, chief of the Daily Mail war service. Later a popular mystery novelist.^[94])
• Peter Wildeblood (the paper's former royal correspondent diplomatic editor, was prosecuted for homosexuality in a high profile trial in the 1950s)
• Herbert Wrigley Wilson
• Ian Wooldridge

Political allegiance[link]

The Daily Mail is a traditional supporter of the Conservative Party, although it did back Tony Blair's New Labour in the 2001 general election.^[95]

Editors[link]

1896: S. J. Pryor

1899: Thomas Marlowe

1922: W. G. Fish

1930: Oscar Pulvermacher

1930: William McWhirter

1931: W. L. Warden

1935: Arthur Cranfield

1939: Bob Prew

1944: Sidney Horniblow

1947: Frank Owen

1950: Guy Schofield

1955: Arthur Wareham

1959: William Hardcastle

1963: Mike Randall

1966: Arthur Brittenden

1971: David English

1992: Paul Dacre

Source: ^[96]

See also[link]

• Daily Chronicle, a newspaper which merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle and was finally absorbed by the Daily Mail
• 1910 London to Manchester air race

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daily Mail

• Mail Online

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Charlie Brooker
Brooker at the 2011 Royal Television Society Awards
Born	Charlton Brooker (1971-03-03) 3 March 1971 (age 41) Reading, Berkshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Polytechnic of Central London
Occupation	Broadcaster, writer, columnist, comedian, critic
Years active	1998–present
Religion	None (Atheist)[1]
Spouse	Konnie Huq (2010–present)

Charlton "Charlie" Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British journalist, screenwriter and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism. He presents TV shows Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, wrote a review column for The Guardian newspaper and currently writes a comment piece each Monday for The Guardian supplement G2, and is one of four creative directors of comedy production company Zeppotron. His five-part horror drama Dead Set for E4 earned him a nomination for a BAFTA. Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column,^[2] and the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009. He is co-presenter of 10 O'Clock Live on Channel 4. He has also presented the documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life on BBC Two and created the Channel 4 satirical drama trilogy Black Mirror (writing and co-writing Episodes 1 and 2 respectively).

Early life and education[link]

This section requires expansion.

Brooker was born in Reading, Berkshire ^[3], growing up in the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire^[4]. He first worked as a writer and cartoonist for Oink!, a comic produced in the late-1980s.^[5]

After attending Wallingford School, Brooker attended the Polytechnic of Central London (which became the University of Westminster during his time there) – studying for a BA in Media Studies. He did not graduate because his dissertation was written on video games, which was not an acceptable topic.^[5][6]

Career[link]

[edit] PC Zone

Brooker wrote for PC Zone magazine in the mid-1990s. Aside from games reviews, his output included the comic strip "Cybertwats" and a column titled "Sick Notes", where Brooker would insult anyone who wrote in to the magazine and offered a £50 prize to the "best" letter.

In February 1998, one of Brooker's one-shot cartoons caused the magazine to be pulled from the shelves of many British newsagents. The cartoon was titled "Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo" and professed to be an advert for a theme park created by a Teutonic psychologist for children to take out their violent impulses on animals rather than humans. It was accompanied by photoshopped pictures of children smashing the skulls of monkeys with hammers, jumping on a badger with a pitchfork, and chainsawing an orang-utan, among other things. The original joke was supposed to be at the expense of the Tomb Raider games, known at the time for the number of animals killed, but the original title, "Lara Croft's Cruelty Zoo", was changed for legal reasons.

In October 2008, Brooker and several other ex-writers were invited back to review a game for the 200th issue. Brooker reviewed Euro Truck Simulator.

SuperKaylo[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2011)

A number of Brooker's artworks were available to the public on his website. This body of work is drawn both from the commissions of his various patrons, and began as a paper comic that was sold to customers at Brooker's former workplace CeX. In addition to its counter presence, Brooker sold issues to mail order customers when they called up to place orders for games.

One aspect of the SuperKaylo site was a series of recorded phone conversations, that had originally started from a commissioned featured for PC Zone on technical support phonelines. Brooker took things further than this half serious investigation, when in 1999 he called up the then editor of Edge magazine, Jason Brookes. Pretending to be an angry father, he phoned up enraged by an advert that had appeared in a previous issue for CeX, one that Brooker himself had written and drawn.

TVGoHome[link]

From 1999 to 2003 he wrote the satirical TVGoHome website,^[7][8] a regular series of mock TV schedules published in a format similar to that of the Radio Times, consisting of a combination of savage satire and surreal humour and featured in technology newsletter Need To Know. A print adaptation of the site was published by Fourth Estate in 2001. A TV sketch show based on the site was broadcast on UK digital station E4 the same year.^[9]

Newspaper columns[link]

Brooker began writing a TV review column titled "Screen Burn" for The Guardian newspaper's Saturday entertainment supplement The Guide in 2000, a role he continued through to October 2010.

From the autumn of 2005, he wrote a regular series of columns in The Guardian supplement "G2" on Fridays called "Supposing", in which he free-associated on a set of vague what-if themes. Since late October 2006 this column has been expanded into a full-page section on Mondays, including samples from TVGoHome and Ignopedia, an occasional series of pseudo-articles on topics mostly suggested by readers. The key theme behind Ignopedia was that, while Wikipedia is written and edited by thousands of users, Ignopedia would be written by a single sub-par person with little or no awareness of the facts.^[10]

On 24 October 2004, he wrote a column on George W. Bush and the forthcoming 2004 US Presidential Election^[11] which concluded:

The Guardian withdrew the article from its website and published and endorsed an apology by Brooker.^[12] He has since commented about the remark in the column stating:

Brooker left the "Screen Burn" column in 2010. In the final column,^[14] he noted how increasingly difficult he found it to reconcile his role in mainstream media and TV production with his writing as a scabrous critic or to objectively criticise those he increasingly works and socialises with. Longtime covering contributor Grace Dent took over the column. He continues to contribute other articles to The Guardian on a regular basis.

Television[link]

From 1999 to 2000, Brooker played hooded expert 'the Pundit' in short-lived show Games Republic hosted by Trevor and Simon on BSkyB.

In 2000, Brooker was one of the writers of the Channel 4 show The Eleven O'Clock Show and a co-host (with Gia Milinovich) on BBC Knowledge's The Kit, a low-budget programme dedicated to gadgets and technology (1999–2000). In 2001, he was one of several writers on Channel 4's controversial Brass Eye special on the subject of paedophilia.

In 2003, Brooker wrote an episode entitled "How to Watch Television" for Channel 4's The Art Show.^[15] The episode was presented in the style of a public information film and was partly animated, and gave advice on how to view television.

Together with Brass Eye's Chris Morris, Brooker co-wrote the sitcom Nathan Barley, based on a character from one of TVGoHome's fictional programmes. The show was broadcast in 2005 and focused on the lives of a group of London media 'trendies'. The same year, he was also on the writing team of the Channel 4 sketch show Spoons, produced by Zeppotron.

In 2006, Brooker began writing and presenting his signature television series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on BBC Four, a TV review programme in a similar style to his Screen Burn columns in The Guardian. After an initial pilot series of three editions in April of that year, the programme returned in the autumn for a second run of four episodes plus Christmas and Review of the Year specials in December 2006. A third series followed in February 2007 with a fourth broadcast in September 2007, followed by a Review of the Year in December 2007. The fifth series started in November 2008 and was followed by another Review of the Year special. This series was also the first to be given a primetime repeat on terrestrial television (BBC Two), in January 2009.

Screenwipe's format mostly consists of two elements. The first is the playing of clips from other television shows – both mainstream and obscure – interspersed with shots of Brooker, sitting in his living room,^[16] delivering witty critiques on them. The second is where Brooker explains, again with a slice of barbed humour, the way in which a particular area of the television industry operates. Also occasionally present are animations by David Firth and guest contributions, which have included the poetry of Tim Key, and segments in which a guest explains their fascination with a certain television show or genre.

Brooker has regularly experimented with Screenwipe, with some editions focusing on a specific theme. These themes have included American television, TV news, advertising and children's programmes. (The last of these involved a segment where Brooker joined the cast of Toonattik for one week, playing the character of "Angry News Guy".) Probably the most radical departure from the norm came with an episode focused on scriptwriting, which saw several of British television's most prominent writers interviewed by Brooker.

As per the development of his career with The Guardian, a similar show called Newswipe, focusing on current affairs reportage by the international news media, began on BBC Four on 25 March 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010. He has also written and presented the one off special Gameswipe which focused on video games and aired on BBC Four on 29 September 2009.

Brooker has appeared on three episodes and one webisode of the popular BBC current affairs news quiz Have I Got News for You. He appeared on an episode of the Channel 4 panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Would I Lie To You?. In December 2006 reviewed two games written by the presenters of VideoGaiden, on their show. He also made a brief appearance in the third and final instalment of the documentary series Games Britannia, discussing the rise and popularity of computer games.

Brooker wrote for the BBC Three sketch show Rush Hour.

In 2009, Brooker began hosting You Have Been Watching, a panel comedy TV quiz on Channel 4 which discusses television. A second series was broadcast the following year.

On 6 May 2010, Brooker was a co-host of the Channel 4 alternative election night, along with David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr and Lauren Laverne.^[17] The telethon was interspersed with contributions from Brooker, some live in the studio but mostly pre-recorded. Notably, an "Election Special" of You Have Been Watching and two smaller segments in an almost identical style to Screenwipe (the only noticeable difference being that Brooker was sitting in a different room). Brooker described the experience of live television as being so nerve-wracking he "did a piss" during the broadcast.^[18] A spin-off series, 10 O'Clock Live, started in January 2011 with the same four hosts.^[19]

Brooker's "2010 Wipe", a review of 2010 in the style of Screenwipe/Newswipe/Gameswipe, was broadcast on BBC2 on 27 December 2010, and a new documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life started on BBC 2 on 25 January 2011. He has co-written a feature-length spoof crime drama along with Daniel Maier for Sky1 called A Touch Of Cloth (due early 2012).^[20]

Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe, an hour-long review show of 2011, was broadcast on BBC Four on 30 December 2011.^[21][22] It was repeated on BBC Two on 3 January 2012.

Dead Set[link]

Brooker wrote Dead Set, a five part zombie horror thriller for E4 set in the Big Brother house.^[23] The show was broadcast in October 2008 to coincide with Halloween and was repeated on Channel 4 in January 2009 to coincide with Celebrity Big Brother, and again for Halloween later that year.^[24] It was produced by Zeppotron, which also produced Screenwipe.

Brooker told MediaGuardian.co.uk it comprised a "mixture of known and less well known faces" and "Dead Set is very different to anything I've done before, and I hope the end result will surprise, entertain and appall people in equal measure." He added that he has long been a fan of horror films and that his new series "could not be described as a comedy". "I couldn't really describe what it is but it will probably surprise people," Brooker said, adding that he plans to "continue as normal" with his print journalism.

Jaime Winstone starred as a runner on the TV programme, and Big Brother presenter Davina McCall guest starred as herself.^[25] Dead Set received a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Serial.^[26]

Black Mirror[link]

In December 2011, Brooker's Black Mirror a three-part television drama series aired on Channel 4 to largely positive reviews.^[27][28][29] As well as creating the show, Brooker wrote the first episode and co-wrote the second with his wife Konnie Huq.

The series is produced by Zeppotron for Endemol. Regarding the programme's content and structure, Brooker noted, "each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy."^[30]

An Endemol press release describes the series as "a hybrid of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world", with the stories having a "techno-paranoia" feel.^[31] Channel 4 describes the first episode as "a twisted parable for the Twitter age".^[32]

Brooker explained the series' title to The Guardian, noting: "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The "black mirror" of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone."^[30]

Radio[link]

Beginning on 11 May 2010, Brooker presented a 5-part BBC Radio 4 series celebrating failure titled So Wrong It's Right, in which guests compete to pitch the worst possible ideas for new franchises and give the 'most wrong' answer to a question. Also featured are guests' recollections about their own personal life failures and their complaints about life in general in a round called 'This Putrid Modern Hell'. Guests have included David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Josie Long, Frank Skinner and Richard Herring.^[33] The second series began airing on 10 March 2011.^[34] A third series has been commissioned for broadcast in May 2012.^[35] In common with Screenwipe's use of a Grandaddy track (A.M. 180) from the album Under The Western Freeway as its theme tune, So Wrong It's Right uses another track from the same album, Summer Here Kids.

Personal life[link]

Brooker became engaged to former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq after dating for 9 months, having met whilst filming an episode of Screenwipe.^[36][37] They married on 26 July 2010 at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.^[38][39] On 23 March 2012 Huq gave birth to their first child, Covey Brooker Huq. ^[40]

Brooker is an atheist and contributed to The Atheist's Guide to Christmas.^[41]

Brooker has become an avid running enthusiast, running for up to an hour every day.^[42]

Awards[link]

Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his Guardian column, where the judges described Brooker as "edgy, entertaining and wonderfully surreal, he has the explosive writing skills that can turn your thinking upside down. A definite destination read and a jewel of a column. Acerbic, nasty, spiteful, yet clearly in love with every subject he writes about at the same time. Must read stuff".^[2] He won Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009 and the Royal Television Society award 2010 for Best Entertainment Programme (Newswipe), beating The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. His show (Newswipe) won Best Comedy Entertainment Show at the 2011 British Comedy Awards.

Publications[link]

• TV Go Home, 2001 (rescanned reprint in 2010) (ISBN 1-84115-675-2)
• Unnovations, 2002 (rescanned reprint in 2011) (ISBN 1-84115-730-9)
• Screen Burn, 2004 (ISBN 0-571-22755-4)
• Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline, 2007 (ISBN 9780571238415)
• The Hell of it All, Charlie Brooker, 2009 (ISBN 9780571229574)^[43]

References[link]