Richard Coles
- English
- Musician, journalist, actor and clergyperson
Press clippings
Channel 4's satirical news show The Last Leg managed to look as if it was whitewashing the spycops over Christmas, infuriating victims.
Compered by comedian Adam Hills, The Last Leg's Christmas edition guests included the Reverend Richard Coles, who told its panel his brother was "a spycop in the 1980s, it's a subject of an inquiry right now".
Andy Coles was one of the policemen who infiltrated left-wing and environmental activist 19-year-old woman into a sexual relationship while undercover in animal rights groups in 1992; Coles told the inquiry he slept in a hed with "Jessica" (a pseudonym) but denied a sexual relationship.
Coles was posing as a 24-year-old single activist when he was in fact a 31-year-old married policeman. He managed other spycops, writing a "tradecraft manual" that recommended officers consider "fleeting and disastrous" sexual affairs with activists as part of their cover. Since 2015, spycops have been the subject of a public inquiry.
While Richard Coles said his brother's "shaggy hair and piercings" ade him think he was having a "mid-life crisis" rather than infiltrating groups, others panellists made Bond jokes - and the spycops' gross sexual misbehaviour went unmentioned.
The campaign group representing spycops' victims, Police Spies Out of Our Lives, responded angrily to the programme, while Jessica contacted Channel 4 and Last Leg production company Open Mike via her lawyers, demanding a right of reply. Neither Channel 4 nor the show has so far responded.
Private Eye, 8th January 2025Politicians and comedians pay tribute to Janey Godley
Nicola Sturgeon hails "a force of nature, and one of the funniest people I have ever known".
Chortle, 2nd November 2024Michael Palin on life after losing his wife: "A great sort of emptiness comes in"
Aged 80, the comedian, actor, writer, traveller and national treasure is embarking on a new journey after the death of Helen, his wife of 57 years. He tells Richard Coles how he's trying to find humour amid the grief.
Richard Coles, The Times, 16th September 2023Richard Coles announces 2023 tour
Reverend Richard Coles will tour his live show Borderline National Trinket between September and December 2023.
British Comedy Guide, 10th May 2023The Windsors returning for new series and King's Coronation special
The Windsors is returning for a fourth series, as well as a special episode to mark King Charles's Coronation, Hadyn Gwynne who plays Camilla has revealed, with cameras set to start rolling shortly ahead of the Coronation in May.
British Comedy Guide, 30th January 2023TV review: Stand Up And Deliver, Part Two, C4
It was always going to be tough to top last week's hilarious, compelling opening episode in which five comics mentored five non-comics to prep them for a stand up gig, but this second show in which we see those gigs does a pretty good job. Stand by for more moments that you can only watch through your fingers.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 4th March 2021Stand Up & Deliver: review by Victoria Coren Mitchell
When Channel 4 tried to teach stand-up comedy, a funny thing happened...
Victoria Coren Mitchell, The Telegraph, 27th February 2021Stand Up and Deliver, Channel 4 review
Comedians teach celebrities the art of stand-up.
Veronica Lee, The Arts Desk, 26th February 2021Stand Up And Deliver, C4 review
I don't know if the best celeb comic gets a prize, but Jason Manford deserves an award for patience above and beyond the call of duty.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 26th February 2021Stand Up & Deliver review
Never laughed at a Tory? That could change.
Carol Midgley, The Times, 26th February 2021