Nigel Planer

Nigel Planer was born in London and educated at the prestigious Westminster School. He then went to Sussex University to study African and Asian Studies. However, he left after a year and decided to pursue his love of theatre. He trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Planer performed at The Comedy Store in a double-act with Peter Richardson, which led to him becoming known to television audiences as Neil in The Young Ones (1982), the dim, unclean but lovable hippie with a fondness for Hawkwind, Marillion and Steve Hillage. The role's popularity even led to Planer releasing a cover of Traffic's 1967 single "Hole In My Shoe" in character as Neil. His cover, released in July 1984, reached number two on the UK singles chart and led to Planer making appearances on Top of the Pops (1964) and Australia's Countdown (1974). Planer also recorded an album called "Neil's Heavy Concept Album", although this failed to chart. In November 1984, Planer even made an appea