Hugh Dennis

Early life

Peter Hugh Dennis was born in Kettering on 13 February 1962, the son of schoolteacher Dorothy Mary (née Hinnels) and Anglican priest John Dennis. His older brother, John Jr., is a diplomat who has served as the British Ambassador to Angola and the British Representative to Taiwan. He grew up in the Mill Hill suburb of London as his father was appointed vicar of the local John Keble Church soon after his birth. His father later became the Bishop of Knaresborough and then the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

Dennis was educated at private University College School in London. During his time at UCS, he played rugby with Will Self and was head boy in his final year. He went on to read for the Geographical Tripos as an exhibitioner at St John's College, Cambridge. His thesis was titled "The Spatial Distribution of Elementary Education in 19th-century Wakefield". He also joined the Footlights, where he first met Steve Punt and club president Nick Hancock, and the trio collaborated on a number of projects besides the annual revue. In 2016, Dennis said that he was approached by MI5 agents whilst at Cambridge University and attended a preliminary interview to join them; he decided that he did not want to take the option any further, particularly after being told during the interview that the job would require him to "do people over".

After graduating with a first class honours degree, Dennis worked for Unilever for six years in the marketing department while performing comedy with Punt at venues including The Comedy Store in London at weekends. Whilst at Unilever, Dennis became a brand manager of Lynx deodorant. His time at Unilever came to an end when he and Punt had their BBC Radio 1 show The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which they had created alongside David Baddiel and Rob Newman, commissioned for BBC Two. Dennis was put on sabbatical by Unilever, as rehearsals for the show were to take place on a weekday, but he never returned to the company and instead chose to pursue comedy full-time as a result of the show's success.

Dennis uses his middle name Hugh as his stage name because the actor Peter Dennis was already a member of the performing arts union Equity.

Career

As an impressionist, Dennis did voices for Spitting Image and appeared with Punt as resident support comics on two TV series hosted on the BBC by Jasper Carrott. He has also provided voiceover for several adverts, including Tango's controversial 1991 advertisement Orange Man.

Dennis also appeared twice as a contestant on the topical panel show Have I Got News for You, including one opposite former schoolmate Self. Punt and Dennis's radio career includes over a decade of performing Punt and Dennis, It's Been a Bad Week, The Party Line and the satirical radio comedy show, The Now Show. On The Now Show, Dennis was originally in a line-up including Punt, Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Marcus Brigstocke. He is friends with Chris Morris and has had cameos on Brass Eye as well as doing the narration for the CBBC show Sam and Mark's Guide to Dodging Disaster.

In December 2009, Dennis joined Oz Clarke in presenting the 60-minute Christmas special Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas broadcast on BBC Two. In December 2010 the pair returned for a four-part series called Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar, which puts them in a competition to create a bar featuring only local British food and drinks.

Dennis has starred in a number of sitcoms, including My Hero, in which he played obnoxious GP Piers Crispin. From 2007 to 2014, he starred in Outnumbered, a semi-improvised sitcom based around family life and won a BAFTA nomination in the comedy category for the 2009 Christmas special. On Radio 4 he also featured in the sitcom Revolting People which, like Outnumbered, was co-written by Andy Hamilton.

Besides his regular television work, Dennis was a panellist on Mock the Week and appeared in every episode since its premiere in 2005, with the exception of a special episode of the programme that was broadcast as part of David Walliams' 24 Hour Panel People. He is a regular guest on various BBC-broadcast comedy panel game shows such as They Think It's All Over, Would I Lie To You?, QI and has guest hosted Have I Got News for You. In 2011, Dennis hosted the short-lived improvisational comedy series Fast and Loose.

Beginning on 16 February 2012, Dennis and Julia Bradbury hosted a four-part BBC One documentary series The Great British Countryside. From October 2014 to December 2023, Dennis played Toby in the long-running sitcom Not Going Out.

In 2016, Dennis appeared as the Bank Manager in the BBC Three series Fleabag, acting alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the first, fourth, and final episodes of series 1.

In February 2021, Dennis started presenting The Great British Dig on More 4.

In the 2021 Bond film No Time to Die, Dennis cameoed as scientist Dr Hardy in an MI6 laboratory.

Personal life

Dennis lives in London, having previously resided near Chichester. He married Miranda Carroll in 1987 but they divorced in 1993. He married Catherine Abbot-Anderson in 1996, and they had a son and a daughter before divorcing in 2015. In June 2018 it was confirmed he was in a relationship with his Outnumbered co-star Claire Skinner. In 2025 it was revealed the couple had married in 2022.

Dennis is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 2008 he received an Honorary fellowship from the University of Northampton. In 2024 he became the Chancellor of the University of Winchester.

In 2007 he took part in the L'Étape du Tour, cycling an open stage of the Tour de France for amateurs which was held in the mountains two weeks before the main event, completing it in 11 hours and 7 minutes. In 2011 he completed the Great South Run in Portsmouth, for the Alzheimer's Society. He is a supporter of Arsenal FC.

Filmography

Accolades

References

References

1. {England and Wales Birth Index 1916–2005}
2. Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1995, Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd, p. 297
3. (16 January 2015). "Hugh Dennis: My family values". [[The Guardian]].
4. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Angola". Government of the United Kingdom.
5. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Angola". Government of the United Kingdom.
6. (16 January 2015). "Hugh Dennis: My family values". [[The Guardian]].
7. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mmlx5 "Hugh Dennis"] [[Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series). Who Do You Think You Are?]] Episode 5 of 10, Series 9. Broadcast 12 September 2012.
8. (26 December 2009). "Hugh Dennis on working with the kids of Outnumbered". [[Daily Record (Scotland).
9. {{cite episode. (25 April 1997)
10. (16 February 2012). "Hugh Dennis: I'm a happy rambler". [[Radio Times]].
11. (14 June 2016). "Dara O Briain And Hugh Dennis Talk 150 Episodes Of Mock The Week {{!}} This Morning".
12. (February 2015). "Outnumbered's Hugh Dennis: 'It's not good for my image but I like cardigans".
13. (6 December 2010). "Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts". BBC.
14. (3 July 1994). "In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". [[The Independent]].
15. (23 June 2022). "Hugh Dennis On Spitting Image, Not Going Out And Starring In James Bond".
16. Hardwick, Viv. (7 April 2007). "A headline act". [[The Northern Echo]] (Newsquest North East).
17. Deans, Jason. (17 May 2004). "Spitting Image plans TV comeback". The Guardian.
18. Rampton, James. (3 July 1994). "Show people: In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis". The Independent.
19. (30 September 2003). "Impressions are back in fashion: The great pretenders". [[The Guardian]].
20. (17 November 2025). "‘People still blame me for their perforated eardrums’: how we made the Tango ads".
21. (20 December 2009). "Oz And Hugh Drink To Christmas". [[BBC]].
22. The BBC. (21 December 2010). "Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar". [[BBC]].
23. (17 August 2007). "Outnumbered Press Pack". [[BBC]].
24. "BAFTA Awards 2009". Bafta.org.
25. "The Show". Mock the Week.
26. "Hugh Dennis".
27. [https://www.channel4.com/press/news/hugh-dennis-present-great-british-dig-history-your-back-garden-more4 Hugh Dennis to present The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden on More4 ]; Channel 4
28. (2 October 2021). "Bond fans surprised by 'unlikely' cameo from British comedian in No Time to Die".
29. Heath, Jacob. (23 August 2021). "TV star Hugh Dennis' life in Chichester and how he almost became an MI5 spy".
30. "Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005".
31. "Image for Father and Son Day for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity".
32. (1 July 2018). "'Outnumbered' Actor Hugh Dennis Confirms Relationship With On-Screen Wife Claire Skinner".
33. Bashforth, Emily. (2 March 2025). "Outnumbered couple Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner secretly married in real life three years ago". [[Metro (British newspaper).
34. "Our members".
35. link. (18 July 2008 Northampton.ac.uk)
36. "Media Articles - University of Winchester".
37. (8 August 2007). "Punt and Dennis – The right stuff". Edinburghfestival.list.co.uk.
38. (30 October 2011). "Great South Run: £3m raised at Portsmouth event". BBC News.
39. (16 June 2013). "Hugh Dennis on being a 'complete idiot' around Hugh Laurie". Radio Times.
40. (17 March 2013). "Filming begins on ITV's Agatha Christie Marple adaptation, Endless Night". [[ITV (TV network).
41. (29 April 2014). "Can Comedy Playhouse save the British sitcom?". The Daily Telegraph.
42. (30 June 2017). "Hugh Dennis to narrate new CBBC comedy lifting lid on zoo animal antics".
43. "Hugh Dennis to present The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden on More4".
44. "Strawberry Blond TV wins double commission for Channel 4 and More4".
45. "Murder, They Hope".
46. "The Great Pottery Throw Down".
47. (5 October 2023). "'The Couple Next Door'".
48. "Two Men on a Bike".
49. "Beyond Paradise series 3 first look images and guest stars including Hugh Dennis and Caroline Quentin revealed".
50. "The British Comedy Awards – Past Winners".