Published on 09 February 2023
Visiting Professor David Quantick, an award-winning writer, cultural commentator and best-selling author, now has another accolade to his name
David has been named a winner in the 17th Comedy.co.uk Awards 2022, recognising the best television and radio of the previous year.
David picked up the prize for Best Radio Sitcom: Whatever Happened To Baby Jane Austen? Starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, this BBC Radio 4 comedy by CPL Productions focuses on two sisters who have avoided each other for decades but are forced together once more.
David, who began his professorship with the University of Sunderland in 2019, as part of the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, offering his support and advice to budding writers, says: "I am totally delighted that Whatever Happened To Baby Jane Austen? has won this award because the British Comedy Guide is the home of quality comedy appreciation. Thanks to everyone who liked the show and voted for it!
"Winning an award for writing a radio show is important to me because as well as being a great honour it also highlights improved importance of being a writer in different contexts. As a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland, I always stress the importance of variety and flexibility in writing."
Congratulating David on his latest success, Lee Hall, Head of School of Media and Communications said: "David is an uncompromising comedy genius, so it's no surprise he has won another accolade.
"It makes us enormously proud to have him as a Visiting Professor who inspires our students to find their voice and go all out for a career doing something they love."
As a television writer, David Quantick has honed his skills on some of the biggest programmes to grace our screens.
From The Thick of It and The Day Today, to Brass Eye and TV Burp, to name but a few, David has become one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed screen writers of recent years.
Taking up a Visiting Professorship with the University means students get the opportunity to learn first-hand from a writer who has been at cutting edge of comedy, television, music, fiction and non-fiction writing for a generation.
An award-winning writer on HBO's Veep, he also penned the critically-praised Sky Arts Playhouse, Snodgrass. As a radio writer, he created Radio 4's One and Radio 2's The Blagger's Guide.
As well as a series of music books and the official biography of Eddie Izzard, David wrote the Sunday Times best-seller Grumpy Old Men and has written for over 50 magazines and newspapers, from The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph to NME and Q.