Other Work
As a teenager, Murray was a drummer in the 'big band' at Bedford School., and also played percussion in the Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra. He played drums on the music for his Pub Landlord TV series and during an appearance by Phil Collins, they performed a duet. He also plays the drums for the rock cover band T-34 and appeared at the Download festival in 2010, returning once again in 2011.
In 2003, Murray appeared on an episode of the BBC's Time Commanders alongside Kate Silverton, Raji James and Ricky Groves.
In 2004, Murray appeared as a contestant in the first series of Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's cookery based reality show on ITV, and in 2005 appeared as a contestant on Comic Relief does Fame Academy on BBC One. Murray presented Al Murray's Road To Berlin on the Discovery Channel. This was a series about the last phase of World War II, taking him from the beaches of Normandy, through Arnhem and up the Rhine, ending in Berlin. In the series he drove around in a restored Willys Jeep, and interviewed survivors from both sides of the war. In the episode about Operation Market Garden he parachuted, together with veterans, from a plane, to commemorate the battle.
Murray has twice appeared in the An Audience with... format - a televised show where the audience is made up solely of his peers i.e. other actors, actresses, performers and media personnel. In 2005 he recorded An Audience with Al Murray for the ITV network, and this was shown on 19 March of that year; and on 27 October 2007 Another Audience with Al Murray was broadcast, by the same TV channel.
In 2007, Murray published the book The Pub Landlord's Book of British Common Sense. It consists of The Pub Landlord's "sage" advice, ie. opinions and views on a range of topics including James Bond actors, religion, politics, television, films and Churchill quotations.
Murray starred in Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder, a sketch show, which aired in early 2009.
In late 2010, Murray made a documentary on German culture for BBC4 Al Murray's German Adventure in which he sought to find a different side of the German nation than the one portrayed by his Pub Landlord character.
Also in 2010 Murray was a guest as a 'Star in the Reasonably Priced Car' on Top Gear.
Murray is the Patron of The Cambodian Children's Charity which is a development and relief charity for children in Cambodia.
Murray became the host of the BBC Radio 5 Live show 7 Day Sunday in March 2011, succeeding Chris Addison.
Murray has invented his own crisps branded 'Steak and Al Pie' as entered in a "crisp competition" hosted by Gary Lineker, used to raise money for Comic Relief. The other flavours were 'Jimmy Con Carne'(Jimmy Carr), 'Stephen Fry-Up'(Stephen Fry) and 'Frank Roast Dinner'(Frank Skinner). The winner was Stephen Fry-up (27%), with Al's in 2nd with 25%. The other two got 24% each.
Murray sat in for Dermot O'Leary Saturday show on BBC Radio 2 on 3 September 2011 and 26 November 2011.
On April 13 and July 26, 2012, Murray guest-hosted the 'Kermode and Mayo's Film Review' on BBC Radio 5 Live. On the latter, he exchanged places with critic Mark Kermode to review the comedy Ted.
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“There is no mystery in a looking glass until someone looks into it. Then, though it remains the same glass, it presents a different face to each man who holds it in front of him. The same is true of a work of art. It has no proper existence as art until someone is reflected in it—and no two will ever be reflected in the same way. However much we all see in common in such a work, at the center we behold a fragment of our own soul, and the greater the art the greater the fragment.”
—Harold C. Goddard (1878–1950)
“... actresses require protection in their art from blind abuse, from savage criticism. Their work is their religion, if they are seeking the best in their art, and to abuse that faith is to rob them, to dishonor them.”
—Nance O’Neil (1874–1965)