Tom Binns is a British writer, actor, stand-up comic, television presenter and radio presenter.
Binns was nominated at the Edinburgh Festival for the Edinburgh Comedy Award 2007 - as the hospital radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury.
As well as writing comedy sketches, his role as a radio presenter is often referred to, due to his behaviour on the radio programme, The Tom Binns Breakfast Show on London-based Xfm, which led to three complaints being filed with Ofcom and a £50,000 fine given to Xfm. At the time, this was the largest fine levied by the authority. In his show, Binns was very critical of the new Blair government and shortly before the complaints were lodged, Capital Radio were approached by representatives of the Blair government requesting that he be removed from the schedule. The fine was based on the use of coarse sexual innuendo when discussing a bestial pornography video with a listener. The comments only led to complaints when the show was edited and rebroadcast by Xfm in a weekend compilation show.[1] Capital Radio decided not to sack Binns but in a meeting shortly after the fine was issued the Radio Authority made it clear to Capital Radio that this would have a negative impact on the decision to renew the XFM licence.
Aside from working at Xfm London, Binns has also worked at several other radio stations with similar positions on Radio 1, Virgin, BRMB and GLR, either as himself or his Hospital Radio Character, Ivan Brackenbury, as well as on Virgin Radio and has hosted talk shows on Talksport UK, Hallam FM, Sheffield and Key 103, Manchester.
Besides writing comedy for television and radio Binns has appeared on other television shows, such as RI:SE, Bullrun, Oblivion and as a writer on Trigger Happy TV, which he gained recognition for as he earned "The best comedy moment" and "TV moment of 2001" awards. His first television appearances were Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (BBC2), Friday Night Armistice (BBC2) and Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun, and has gone on to further appear in the Channel 4-based late night sports talk show Under the Moon, with Danny Kelly and stage appearances at the Bloomsbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre.
Tom has written a deeply ironic book How to Get Famous - A Cynical Guide.[2] Although he has recorded many pilots for TV shows, including his own chat show on Channel 5 and the UK version of Hollywood Squares, Binns has failed to break through into mainstream British media.
He appears in the BBC MI5 drama Spooks (Episode 6 Series 6), Series 3 of the IT Crowd on Channel 4, and, in character as Ivan Brackenbury, on BBC Radio 2 as part of The Jason Byrne Show and his own one off special.
Tom presented one of the "E4 Laughs at Edinburgh" podcasts, showcasing the best comedy talent from the Edinburgh Festival 2008.
In December 2009, Binns was fired from BRMB by its owners Orion Media after he cut short the Queen's Christmas Message. The Message was played into his show in error instead of the expected two minute news bulletin. Binns joked, "Two words bore-ring". He then went on to joke that British Monarchy can't be as good for tourism as some people claim because "the French executed theirs and people still visit France". He then played a George Michael record with the link "from one Queen to another" [3][4]
Binns has received several accolades:
List of if.comedy and Perrier comedy award winners