SPITTING IMAGE
Steve Nallon is a founder member of the SPITTING IMAGE team and the only performer to have contributed to every series from 1984 right through to the 2020 revamp. Steve provided the voices for The Queen Mother, Roy Hattersley, Denis Healey, Malcolm Rifkind, Margaret Thatcher, David Attenborough, Shirley Williams, Enoch Powell, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Ted Heath, Leonard Rossiter, Harold Wilson, Alan Bennett and many more. When in 2015 SPITTING IMAGE created a puppet of the then Prime Minister David Cameron for the show NHS IN STICHES at the Hackney Empire, it was Steve who was invited to do the voice. Steve appeared as a special guest at the Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration of SPITTING IMAGE at the BFI (British Film Institute) and the interview was featured in the BBC Arena documentary WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SPITTING IMAGE? In 2020, when SPITTING IMAGE was revived on BritBox and ITV, Steve was asked to reprise his iconic Margaret Thatcher impression in a séance sketch. To borrow a phrase, 'The Lady is for Returning'!
THE THATCHER YEARS
It could be said that Steve Nallon's 'Thatcher Years' actually began in the 1970s when he performed a comedy impressionist act featuring Mrs T on the northern Working Men's Club Circuit in and around his native Yorkshire. This then grew during his time at university in the early 80s when Steve took several revues to the Edinburgh Fringe that included the now Prime Minister in full costume. Reviews from these shows led in 1983 to Steve auditioning for a new television series called SPITTING IMAGE, where he was offered the job of voice artist show on the spot. Throughout the 1980s, Steve's Margaret Thatcher became known, as THE TIMES put it, "as the industry standard". Steve appeared as Mrs Thatcher in numerous television series throughout that decade and beyond, and even today Steve is often called upon to voice the former Prime Minister when it is not possible to access original archive – for example, the Mark Strong movie thriller 6 DAYS. In recent years, Steve has made several appearances as Margaret Thatcher on stage, including the political drama DEAD SHEEP and the satirical comedy THE LAST TEMPTATION OF BORIS JOHNSON both produced at the Park Theatre in north London.
COMPUTER MOTION CAPTURE
During his many years on SPITTING IMAGE, Steve Nallon developed the specialist skills and techniques required to become an accomplished puppeteer. In the 1990s, these talents, together with his exceptional ability to come up with endearing comic character voices, were much sought after in television and film, resulting in numerous credits on such shows as CATS' EYES (BBC), THE SPOOKS OF BOTTLE BAY (ITV), THE HOUSE OF GRISTLE (BBC), THE WILD BUNCH (C4), THE DAN AND DUSTY SHOW (ITV), WHAT'S UP DOC? (ITV) and CRAZY COTTAGE (ITV) plus puppet work on the film MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND. All this led to Steve becoming a Computer Motion Capture performer for companies such as Centroid and Headcaster, where he was the body character for various video games and Apps. Even as early as 1988 Steve had appeared on the BBC science series TOMORROW'S WORLD as a performer in a feature looking at the first experimental work in this area that later was to become known as Mo-Cap (Motion Capture).
CHARACTER PUPPETEER
Combining the puppeteering skills developed during his many years on SPITTING IMAGE with his natural talent for comedy voices, Steve Nallon was in much demand as a puppet performer in the 1990s. During that decade, Steve created numerous fun characters for over a hundred television shows that today are remembered fondly by the Millennial Generation. These include Jimmy the Cat in CATS' EYES (BBC),The Duchess of Dingledale, Daffy Spook and Lily in THE SPOOKS OF BOTTLE BAY (ITV), Vera Gristle in THE HOUSE OF GRISTLE (BBC), P.T. Panther and Pablo in THE WILD BUNCH (C4), Dusty in THE DAN AND DUSTY SHOW (ITV), Cassie in WHAT'S UP DOC? (ITV) and Vera, the Mad Cuckoo in CRAZY COTTAGE (ITV). Steve also worked for Jim Henson Productions with puppet work on the film MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND. In 2018, Steve returned to puppeteering as a Remote Control Operator on the cult Netflix series THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE produced by Henson's.
THE BIG ODYSSEY
In 2002, Steve created the one-man show STEVE NALLON'S BIG ODYSSEY which premiered to rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was followed by a successful UK national tour in 2003. The concept was simple: tell Homer's ODYSSEY with a cast of celebrity voices playing all the iconic characters of the tale. "Intelligent, witty, this is high class top shelf stuff... You don't have to have read the poem to understand what's going on, as Nallon provides an excellent running commentary, where his love of the epic comes shining through," said THREE WEEKS. "Keep[s] his audience enthralled throughout... an enormous wealth of uncanny impersonations up his sleeve... plenty of hearty chuckles to hold the attention," according to FEST. "If Steve Nallon were a Greek god – and he says himself it would be pushing the magic of theatre to its limits – he would be Proteus, the god who could change shape... " "STEVE NALLON'S BIG ODYSSEY is an amiable way to spend an hour with one of impressionism's old masters." THE STAGE.
STEVE NALLON'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
Following the success Steve's one-man show THE BIG ODYSSEY, the actor and impressionist went on to create STEVE NALLON'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, a contemporary reinvention of Lewis Carroll's brilliant tale of imagination and madness. Reviews again were excellent: "Will make you see both Alice and the real world in a new light but, best of all, it's simply a joy to watch," said the METRO. "Armed only with his voice, charm and an enviable feel for his story, impressionist Steve Nallon launches into one of the most magical re-tellings you will see of Lewis Carroll's surreal classic… Magically paced and vividly presented, Nallon's impressions find unexpected humour in material that is already eternally comic," according to THE STAGE. "When he finds a voice which suits his skills, the whole thing takes off: his legendary Thatcher, of course; a poised Penelope Keith; a touching John Gielgud; a gimlet-eyed Anne Robinson; a stammering Woody Allen; a hilarious Patricia Routledge and a perfect Alan Bennett." BUXTON FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW. The show premiered at the Buxton Festival Fringe in 2004, where it won the prestigious Best Comedy Award, went on to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and subsequently had a short run at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London.
STEVE NALLON'S CHRISTMAS CAROL
Steve Nallon's third one-man, his festive version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, had a critically acclaimed sell-out run at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre for the Christmas season 2003/4. Adaptors often find a scene in the Dickens original that gives them the theme for their show and for Steve this was Scrooge's imaginative world of play when a boy that somehow died as life took its toll. Scrooge was the dreamer who stopped dreaming. Or at least until that magical Christmas Eve. Reviews were excellent. "The most remarkable thing about Steve Nallon's hilarious one-man show at The Door, is how closely he has based the narrative on Charles Dickens's original and how well it captures the atmosphere, flavour and intention of the story," said THE STAGE. "STEVE NALLON'S CHRISTMAS CAROL is like a great big box of chocolates: plenty of variety, each morsel a gentle delight, equally good on your own or sharing with friends and firm favourites regularly popping up… a totally delightful couple of hours," according to REVIEW GATE. "It's difficult not to admire Nallon's unflagging energy and the show's mad, whirlwind invention. Nallon knows how to charm an audience and his CHRISTMAS CAROL is not only a feel-good romp, but a triumph of talent over special effects." The METRO
I'M NO ANGEL
In 2006, Steve Nallon created the comedy character 'Lottie Wainwright (Deceased)', who Steve has described as "the most 'lively' ghost imaginable!" Lottie's hard Victorian up-bringing in Yorkshire meant she missed out on much and so now she has returned to earth to make sure everyone lives life to the full – "When time comes to read the Will, it should say just one thing: 'Being of sound mind... I spent the lot!'" But Lottie's tough background makes her ever the hardnosed realist – "The Bible may say, ‘The lion shall lie with the calf', but I tell you something, luv... that calf isn't going to get much sleep!" – with a unique take on modern life – "Young people dream of ‘iPods', but I tell you, the only thing I took to bed was hunger, a candle and a mouse-trap!" Lottie Wainwright (Deceased) made appearances at the Doncaster Hothouse Festival, The Manchester Library Theatre, The Komedia in Brighton and Bath, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Comedy Camp in Soho, plus that great home of Music Hall The Hackney Empire and the celebrated Royal Vauxhall Tavern. A full length show, I'M NO ANGEL, featuring our Lottie, was performed at the Haslemere Festival and later had a successful run at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in 2008.
