David Earl

David Geoffrey Earl is a British actor and comedian, known for his comedy character Brian Gittins. He has featured in several projects associated with Ricky Gervais, most notably as Kevin "Kev" Twine in the comedy-drama Derek, and in smaller roles in Extras, After Life and the film Cemetery Junction. Gervais considers Earl to be funniest person he knows. Earl also works frequently with comic Joe Wilkinson. Together they co-wrote and starred in the sitcom Rovers, and the comedy series The Cockfields. He also co-wrote and starred in the feature film Brian and Charles where he plays an isolated inventor who builds a robot. He is famous for his mid life crisis humour and constant threats of moving house and a new life.

Early life Earl was born in Crawley, West Sussex. Before undertaking acting roles, Earl worked as a gardener.

Comedy career One of Earl's earliest online videos featured him playing a character called Graham, which he sent to a friend who showed it to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. They liked the video and Gervais asked Earl to play an obsessive fan, based on the character from the video, who talks to Andy Millman in a pub in an episode of Extras. Around this time Earl played Tony Queen in the film The Penalty King.

Earl went on to create a number of online videos in character as Brian Gittins and played this role in the film Cemetery Junction. In 2012 a sitcom pilot entitled Gittins was broadcast on Channel 4. In the pilot Gittins works as a taxi driver: previously the character had been a cafe owner and this discrepancy is highlighted in an episode of the podcast Flatshare Slamdown, in which Earl appears as Brian. He releases regular Brian Gittins and Friends podcasts.

Another of Earl's characters is Steve "Cumbo" Cumberland, who features in a number of online videos, including a Channel 4 Comedy Blaps series, co-written with Brett Goldstein.

In 2011, Earl was revealed to be the person behind the popular Twitter account of Peter Thraft, a supposed sex therapist.

Filmography

Podcasts The Brian Gittins Show A live radio show hosted on Spreaker from 2012-2017, where Brian played the role of 'the worst radio presenter in the world'. Callers would Skype in from around the world, and these included David Edwards and Charles Petrescu.

Brian Gittins and Friends Brian, David Edwards and Charles Petrescu have a chat with various comedians. It started in 2016, with guests including John Kearns, Lolly Adefope, and Scroobius Pip.

Gossipmongers In 2019, David Earl, Joe Wilkinson and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called Gossipmongers, a weekly podcast to which listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In September 2020, without any public explanation from Earl or Wilkinson, Hillstead was removed from the podcast.