Iain’s Biography
Originally from Scotland, now living in London, 27 year old Iain Lee has been with the show from day one. Iain obtained 7 GCSE's at school before taking 2 A-levels. Iain studied Psychology at Windsor and Maidenhead College in 1993. At college Iain was in a band on drums. Despite the student looks and the Doc-Martins the band never made in big time (imagine him wearing that now!) Also at college, Iain came in to lectures rather worse for wear, but hey, so did I so there’s hope for me too! Oh, sorry, Iain was ill. Supposedly..?
After he left college a man (in more ways than one??!!) he did stand-up comedy and also wrote ideas for Paul McKenna's hypnotism show. Iain's mum bought him a Ford Fiesta while he was doing stand-up comedy. The dark blue 1993 mark 3 vehicle nearly killed him, which may have pleased some people. He then picked up a job on Horizon, a local radio station. It was on this job he was spotted and invited to apply for the presenting job on The 11 O'Clock Show.
Iain is the Scottish form of Ian and he is apparently proud of his Scottish heritage. One thing, is it me or does he not sound Scottish? Anyway, Iain lives in London now in a flat with former 11 Show colleague MacKenzie Crook, who has yet to do anything major since leaving the show. For The 1998 and 1999 Channel Four Political Awards Iain was commissioned to do several vox-pop street reports on MPs. These were like those he does on the Show and included identifying politicians in 98 and naming Scottish MSPs in '99.
Iain started out co-presenting the first series of the 11 O'Clock Show along with Fred MacAulay and Brendon Burns. In Series 2, Iain Lee became the main presenter with Daisy Donovan promoted from researcher to his sidekick and MacKenzie Crook appearing frequently in sketches. Series 3 saw another promotion for Miss Donovan, and now Iain and Daisy have a roughly equal share of the workload and this has continued into Series 4. Towards the end of Series 4, Iain has started to conduct celebrity interviews with a difference. In the last three weeks of the series we have seen a talking computer interviewing Eric Hall and Joanne Guest, and Rufus the dog interviewing Keith Harris and Orville the Duck. Of course, Iain was supplying the voices, but he made the interviews very funny, especially with his adlibbing.
Iain’s Awards/Achievements
The 11 O'Clock Show, of course
1996 Horizon radio show
1998 & 2000 Political Awards 1998 and 1999 respectively vox-pops
Jan 1999 Guest on They Think It’s All Over
Current Radio show on XFM.
Iain Himself
After initially not being too impressed by Iain and his lack of mixing with the audience, Iain has since shown to me that either I was wrong or he has changed. At the Series 4 final show, Iain was more than willing to greet people, pose for photographs and sign autographs. He also, along with Daisy, made an effort to look out for me, as they have visited my site, and was impressed by it. I thought it was mighty decent of them both.
Very funny, not afraid to put down anyone (especially Daisy) purely to raise laughter at the tapings.
Iain’s Future?
Hopefully, more of the same in a fifth series, but not even Iain nor Daisy know if there will be one yet. Apart from that, who knows? I bloody don’t, otherwise I would have put it here.
My Opinions
Overall Ability – Very good. Iain is an experienced presenter, having performed on shows prior to The 11 O’Clock Show. He is a good professional who delivers and adlibs well. He is funny, and is always at hand with a put down or comment in the studio when the cameras aren’t rolling or something goes wrong.
Interviews – Although not up to the same quality as Daisy Donovan’s interviews, his are none the less very good. His street interviews almost always generate laughs and degenerate into talking about sex, cocks and wanking. He is very good in studio interviews too, where either by design or accident he tends to ask more questions than Daisy. His recent computer and dog interviews were funny. However, his best are his vox pops, where he perplexes and makes fools of someone by twisting what they are saying.
Studio Work – Excellent. Despite having very little in the way of scripted rehearsals, Iain rarely makes a mistake. He has also developed a strong working relationship with Daisy and the pair work very well together.
Comic Value – Good. However, where as Daisy can get laughs from just about anything, most of Iain’s laughter comes from references to cocks, sex, wanking or homosexuality.
Sex Appeal – Hmm, difficult for me, considering I’m a man and not gay. Most of the females I’ve spoke to that like the show don’t think much of Iain Lee in a sexual manner, but there are a few out there that do take a fancy to him. I wouldn’t go with him though…
Height – Shit me, he’s like a fucking skyscraper! Dwarfs Daisy and she is by no mean short. And he’s the first man where I’ve spoke to his chest. He’s that fucking tall!
Obesity – Yeah, right. Put him behind an erect hosepipe and you would only see him because he’s so tall.
Guts – Brave, no question about that. Often talks to men about wanking and homosexuality even to the point of calling complete strangers gays. No sexual act or expletive stays in Iain’s mind, they all come out. Also not afraid to talk sexual with the ladies he interviews too.
Fan Support – Decidedly average. Way behind Daisy and Ricky Gervais in popularity. I think he’s a bit too smug for most people’s liking. Plus he doesn’t have Daisy’s looks either.
And Apparently… - There have been far too many references on the show that he is a lanky twat and a bender to not believe them…
My Final Thought – TV’s Mr The 11 O’Clock Show, he has been on screen throughout the whole run of the show, which cannot be said about anyone else. It would be a surprise if he left now, but I feel it would be far easier to replace him than it would Daisy. If it were to happen, I’d try Chris Morris (unlikely he’d agree), Paul Whitehouse, Ricky Gervais, Jason Priestly or Ben Miller. If he did leave though, the show would seem strange initially.
After initially not being impressed by him personally, he has since shown me he is a decent bloke, and I felt a bit special when he complimented me on my work on this site. A big thank you Iain.
Pictures, Other Pages & Back Home
Some lanky twat
Face it, we'd all swap places with him...
Daisy Donovan
Ali G
Ricky Gervais
Paul Garner
Alex Lowe
Other current reporters
Past presenters & reporters
11 Show home
An amused lanky twat
