Steven McNicoll is a Scottish actor, playwright and comedian.
McNicoll was born in Edinburgh. He is probably best known for his work in TV comedy. He co wrote and starred in seven series of the BBC sketch show Velvet Soup on radio and later television which earned him a BAFTA nomination. He is also known to viewers for playing the young Rab C Nesbitt in the series of the same name which stars Gregor Fisher. He also appears as Bra's Jeff in Donald McLeary and Sanjeev Kohli's Sony Award winning BBC Radio 4 sitcom Fags, Mags and Bags.
McNicoll has co written several plays for stage and radio.
In 2001, his play for BBC Radio 4, There Are Such Things, about the life and career of horror movie legend, Bela Lugosi, won the Hamilton Deane Award for best dramatic presentation from the Dracula Society. Prior to that, in 1997, as writer and actor, McNicoll was a co-recipient of The Herald Angel Award for the stage play Empty Jesters. In 2005, Scottish cultural magazine the List nominated him at number 69 in their Hot 100 List which celebrated those who had made the biggest cultural impact in Scotland that year. In 2007, he starred as Sammy Fox in the critically acclaimed BBC TV comedy series Legit, which was nominated for a Rose D'or.
On stage, McNicoll has appeared in a huge variety of roles. In 2003 he received the Leon Sinden Award for best supporting actor in Tony Roper's classic comedy/drama The Steamie. In 2005 he received plaudits for his portrayal of Oliver Hardy opposite Barnaby Power in the Tom McGrath play Laurel and Hardy, which was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and later transferred to the Olympia Theatre Dublin. The same year he was nominated for best supporting actor at the Theatrical Management Association awards for his portrayal of Cliff, opposite David Tennant as Jimmy Porter in Look Back In Anger which premiered at the Royal Lyceum Theatre and then transferred to the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 2009, McNicoll co starred with Andy Gray in The Mystery of Irma Vep, again at The Royal Lyceum, in a co production with Perth Theatre. Later the same year, he also starred, along with Gordon Kennedy Colin McCredie and Sara Crowe in Tim Firth's comedy musical The Corstorphine Road Nativity at The Festival Theatre. In November 2010, McNicoll's play 'The House' was premiered at Oran Mor in Glasgow. McNicoll also appears regularly at the Kings Theatre, Glasgow in the annual Christmas pantomime. On radio he has worked extensively for the BBC, writing and acting in over a hundred plays and series for Radio 3 and 4.
| Date | Title | Role | Director | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2003 | The Life Trainer | Chaz | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 28 October 2003 | The Time Between Two Tides | Loan Shark/Operator | Gaynor Macfarlane | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 8 January 2004 | Bampot Central | Constable McLaren | Lu Kemp | BBC Radio 3 The Wire |
| 21 August 2008 | Sex for Volunteers[1] | Joe | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 23 July 2010 | No Help When Dead[2] | Baxtet | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio Scotland Drama |