Chris Jarvis (presenter)

Martin Christopher Jarvis (born 20 April 1970 in Romford, London) is an English actor, presenter and writer who has appeared on BBC television since 1992, apart from 2000–2002 when he was working with ITV and Channel 4. In 2019 he started a radio station for children called Little Radio.

Chris Jarvis
Born
Martin Christopher Jarvis

(1970-04-20) 20 April 1970
Romford, London, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationActor, presenter, writer, director, broadcaster, impressionist
TelevisionPlaydays
Fully Booked
Catchphrase
Jungle Run
Step Inside
CBeebies

Career

Early career

Chris Jarvis started his entertainment career as a presenter on Radio Orwell in Ipswich hosting a Saturday morning children's show. He also performed in cabaret and at Butlins.

He made his name in the early 1990s on Children's BBC, presenting from the "Broom Cupboard" alongside Zoe Ball and Josie d'Arby [1] as well as hosting his own shows like Look Sharp.[2] Chris wrote a lot of material for Children's BBC himself (including the mini soap opera Wood Lane TV) and created several memorable characters including "The Anorak". In 1997, Chris was part of The Friday Zone [3] (which was broadcast on Friday afternoons on BBC One for most of the children's slot) with Debra Stephenson, Peter Simon, Dominic Wood, Steve Rock and Emma Lee. They released a single called "Glasses" as a spin-off from the programme, to raise money for Comic Relief.[4]

He then hosted Fully Booked with Tim Vincent and Gail Porter for a few years.[5] He has appeared on many other TV shows including Short Change, Exclusive, Playdays and Soap Fever.[6]

CBeebies

Chris was one of the original line up of CBeebies presenters,[7] alongside Pui Fan Lee, Sidney Sloane, and Sue Monroe everyday. From March 2007 until his departure on 26 January 2009 he presented alongside Lee from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm with Discover and Do, then the Bedtime Hour from 6:00 pm and again on BBC Two in the mornings. He also starred in Step Inside as Mr Mopple and voiced characters in Underground Ernie. In 2009, he and Lee left the channel’s main presentation to create Show Me Show Me.

Show Me Show Me is still broadcast on CBeebies today.[8] The first 40 half-hour episodes were broadcast on the CBeebies channel, BBC One and BBC Two from Monday 6 July 2009 every weekday at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm. Series 5 was filmed on location near Manchester in 2013.

Chris and Pui regularly appear in other CBeebies shows including Justin's House and the annual Christmas shows; in 2012 Chris wrote Jack and the Beanstalk and played Dame Trott. He has also appeared in productions of Shakespeare plays that have aired on CBeebies playing Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Alonso in The Tempest.

Since 2010, Chris and Pui have toured the UK with The Chris and Pui Roadshow.[9]

Besides Show Me Show Me he also presents CBeebies Stargazing with Maggie Aderin-Pocock and has presented the CBeebies Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.

Acting

As an actor Chris Jarvis has appeared in The Demon Headmaster and ChuckleVision, and played Mr Mopple in early CBeebies story-telling programme Step Inside.[6] He also presented Maths Mansion.

Music

Jarvis hosts family concerts for the London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.[10]

He has been seen playing piano, guitar, glockenspiel and bell-ringing on Show Me Show Me.

Pantomime

Jarvis has appeared in pantomimes professionally every year since 1995, and prior to that had performed in several as an amateur.[11] Since 2001, he has written and directed many of these pantomimes as well.[3]

Jarvis has been involved with several televised pantomimes on CBeebies, including 2012’s Jack and the beanstalk which he wrote and starred Dame Trot, 2011's Strictly Cinderella which he co-wrote, and starred in as Baron Hardup,[15] 2010's Aladdin (in which he plays Emperor Sho Mee) [11] and 2009's Jack & Jill (which he wrote and appeared in a cameo).[16][17]

Personal life

Chris Jarvis was born in Romford, London, and lives in Billericay.[18]

He is the godfather to one of Pui Fan Lee's sons.[19]

He is 5'9" tall.[20]

Filmography
List of acting and presenting performances in film and television
Title Year Role Notes
The Broom Cupboard 1993–1997 Himself (presenter)
Wood Lane TV 1995–1997 Actor / Writer
The Anorak 1994–1996 Actor
Look Sharp 1994–1995 (2 series) Presenter
Get Your Own Back 1995 Himself
Playdays 1995 (2 series) Presenter
Short Change 1998 Presenter
Fully Booked 1998–2000 (2 series) Presenter
To Me, To You! 1996, 1998 Himself
The Friday Zone 1997 Himself (presenter) CBBC
The Demon Headmaster Takes Over TV 1997 Himself TV film, played a fictionalised version of himself
The Demon Headmaster 1998 Your Wildest Dreams host
Mr Wymi 1998 Hacker tracker
ChuckleVision 1998 Head page
ChuckleVision Comic Relief Special 1999 Music Mogul
Night Fever 1999-12-18 Himself
Catchphrase 2000–2002 Himself (voice-over)
Dream Street 1999–2002 Hot Rodney, Amber & Scarlet
Jungle Run 2001–2002 Himself (presenter)
Maths Mansion 2001 Sad Man/Bad Man
Step Inside 2002 Mr Mopple
CBeebies 2002–2009 Presenter Presented links between programmes
Planet Cook 2004-2005
Underground Ernie 2006 Circle & City Voice role
Show Me Show Me 2009 – present Himself (presenter)

References
  1. "BBC - Archive - The CBBC Broom Cupboard - In the Broom Cupboard". www.bbc.co.uk.
  2. "Look Sharp - UKGameshows". www.ukgameshows.com.
  3. "DS Icon: Chris Jarvis". 29 January 2010.
  4. spacepootv (19 February 2009). "CBBC Comic Relief '97 - Chris Jarvis - Glasses" – via YouTube.
  5. Saturday Mornings – Summer Replacements Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Chris Jarvis". IMDb.
  7. "reasons to love cbeebies (part one)".
  8. "BBC - CBeebies - Page not found". Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2017. Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. "Chris Jarvis and Pui Fan Lee". www.chrisandpui.com.
  10. "BBC Orchestras and Choirs". BBC Music Events.
  11. "BBC - Press Office - Aladdin: Chris Jarvis plays Emperor Show Mee". www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. sarahjaynecooper (24 December 2008). "Cinderella 08/09 - Swansea Grand Theatre" – via YouTube.
  13. Bournemouth Echo – Su Pollard and Chris Jarvis launch Bournemouth panto Tuesday 6 October 2009
  14. Bournemouth International Centre – Jack and the Beanstalk Archived 3 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  15. "Strictly Cinderella, CBeebies Christmas Panto - BBC - CBeebies". BBC.
  16. Hodgkinson, Will; Skegg, Martin; Nicholson, Rebecca (17 December 2009). "CBeebies Christmas Pantomime - In the Spirit of Diaghilev - Heston's Christmas Feast - Comedy Showcase: Girl Friday - Watch this" – via www.theguardian.com.
  17. "BBC - Press Office - Network TV Programme Information BBC Week 50 The CBeebies Christmas Pantomime Feature".
  18. Jarvis, Chris. "@jemjemz I'm originally from Essex. Grew up in Billericay and Brentwood. I shall pass on your compliment to Pui Fan - thank you".
  19. Jarvis, Chris. "@SarahLLockley Pui has a fantastic son already - a born entertainer if ever I met one :) (proud Godfather)".
  20. Jarvis, Chris. "People always expect me to be about 6 ft 6 because of the height difference. I'm actually 5'9".
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