John David Finnemore is a British comedy writer and actor. He wrote and performs in the radio series Cabin Pressure, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, and John Finnemore's Double Acts, and frequently features in other BBC Radio 4 comedy shows such as The Now Show. Finnemore has won more Comedy.co.uk Awards than any other writer.
Early life and education
John Finnemore was born in Reading to parents David and Patricia and has a younger sister, Anna. He attended Dolphin School in Berkshire, High Lea in Dorset and Poole Grammar School. At 19, he moved to Poland where he spent 6 months teaching English. He then studied English at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he wrote his dissertation on Thomas Hardy and graduated in 2000. He was a member of the Cambridge Footlights, becoming vice-president in his final year. After graduating, he performed in Sensible Haircut with the Footlights team at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000.
Career
Finnemore wrote the BBCRadio 4 sitcom Cabin Pressure and played the part of the "consistently cheery steward" Arthur. The sitcom aired for four series and a two-part finale between 2008 and Christmas 2014. He also writes a radio sketch show, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, which he performs with Simon Kane, Carrie Quinlan, Lawry Lewin and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. The first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011, and a special edition recorded at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was broadcast in 2012. Further series have followed annually. Finnemore has written extensively for other comedy shows, both on radio and TV, including That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Dead Ringers, Safety Catch, The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth. From 2009 to 2012, he co-wrote the podcast David Mitchell's Soap Box with Mitchell. He was a programme associate for 10 O'Clock Live. Finnemore has appeared on various BBC Radio 4 shows, including The Now Show,The Unbelievable Truth,I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue,Just a Minute, and The News Quiz. He also appeared as a minor character in Miranda Hart's television sitcomMiranda, in the episodes 'Teacher', 'Before I Die', 'The Dinner Party' and 'I Do, But to Who?'. Finnemore did voice-over for 24 Hours to Go Broke on Dave. In September 2011, Finnemore wrote a pilot episode for BBC One called George and Bernard Shaw, a sitcom starring Robert Lindsay and Richard Griffiths as an elderly gay couple. The show was not picked up for a full series. Finnemore writes John Finnemore's Double Acts, an anthology series of loosely connected two-handers. The first series of six episodes aired on Radio 4 from October 2015, and was released on CD in 2016. A second series of six episodes was broadcast in 2017. In March 2020, John Finnemore appeared as a space-shuttle pilot in episodes 7-9 of Armando Iannucci's American space comedy Avenue 5. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Finnemore uploaded videos to his youtube channel entitled "Cabin Fever" as his Cabin Pressure character Arthur Shappey. These would often involve games or puzzles for the viewer.
Awards
Cabin Pressure won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain 2011 award for Best Radio Comedy, and In 2014, it was awarded Silver for Best Comedy at the Radio Academy Awards. Double Acts won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain 2017 award for Best Radio Comedy. Finnemore has also won more Comedy.co.uk Awards than any other writer. When adding together shows for which Finnemore is the main writer and an additional writer, Finnemore's work has resulted in him winning 13 awards. Cabin Pressure was voted "Best British Radio Sitcom" in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Cabin Pressure was also voted "Comedy of the Year" in 2014 across TV and radio, making it the first radio show to be given the honour. John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was voted "Best British Radio Sketch Show" in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Finnemore has also written for other shows that have won Comedy.co.uk Awards such as That Mitchell and Webb Sound which was voted "Best British Radio Sketch Show" in 2009, 2010, and 2013; That Mitchell and Webb Look which was voted "Best British TV Sketch Show" in 2006 and 2009; and The Unbelievable Truth which was voted "Best British Radio Panel Show" in 2011.
