Philip Pope

Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. Education He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. Performer Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978 and 1979, both with Angus Deayton. He performed in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Radio Active (1980–87), alongside Helen Atkinson-Wood, Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins and Michael Fenton Stevens, which later led to the television series KYTV. Fenton Stevens is credited with telling the joke (written by Perkins) about Ringo Starr not being the best drummer in the Beatles, frequently misattributed to John Lennon or Jasper Carrott. It was broadcast on Radio Active on 15 September 1981. Though Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn initially claimed that it was Pope who said the line, Fenton Stevens later clarified that it was actually him. He also told Beatles fan Andrew Dixon that the cast initially thought it was a real joke that the Fab Four had told themselves. He has also starred in a number of television comedy series, including Who Dares Wins (1983–88), Chelmsford 123 (1988–90), Round the Bend (1989–91) and KYTV (1989–93). He made guest appearances in Blackadder as the painter Leonardo