BBC Knowledge - A Little Knowledge
BBC Knowledge Presenters
Mark Dolan
Meeting the world's tallest, hairiest or smallest people and the richest, cleverest and strongest kids are all in a days work for Mark Dolan.
While he is best known as the presenter of the documentary series The World's...and Me, where he travels the globe meeting the world's most extraordinary people, it was Mark's passion for comedy that kick-started his broadcasting career.
While earning his living as a radio producer, Dolan started as a stand-up comedian in 2000 and initially found fame on British television with The Richard Taylor Interviews which he both wrote and starred in. The series, in which unsuspecting applicants found themselves being interviewed by the boss from hell, became a landmark of stunt television. He also hosted the hit satirical comedy show Balls Of Steel and continues to work as a stand-up, radio presenter, writer and broadcaster.
- Mark is in his own words 'absurdly tall'. At 6'5" he says he feels great empathy for the people he meets who are a bit different physically.
- He claims meeting physically unusual people has taught him about "the fortitude of the human spirit, the strength that human beings have...these people have a steely will, determination and strength."
- He was most fascinated by the tall women, particularly as he had never previously met a woman taller than him. The first woman towered over him leading him to reflect "when I hugged her, my head was actually on her chest, it was exciting - a personal goal achieved, to be nestled in a woman's bosom without having to kneel down".
- He is a poor dancer and rather wobbly on a bike.
- He had a hit stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with I'm Here to Help! in which the audience submit their real life problems at the beginning of the show to be solved by Mark, the rest of the audience and his mother on the phone.
- In his first year as stand-up he got to the final of a major UK comedy competition sponsored by broadcaster Channel 4. Not only did it mark the first time in his life when he allowed himself to consider comedy as a career option, it also paved the way for a long-running relationship with the channel.
- He has often been compared with Louis Theroux but while appreciative of the comparison he says they are two very different people.
- He was born in London where he lives with his wife and son. He is a very hands on dad and finds being way from his family the only downside of his job.
- Mark says his desire to perform comes from "a strange mixture of an appetite for attention mixed with shyness."
- His heroes are David Letterman, Woody Allen and Elton John.
