Carl Gorham started in the comedy duo Gorham and Swift with Amanda Swift in the late 80's. They did three series of their own show on BBC Radio 2 and 4. Carl then started writing sketches for various TV and radio shows including Hale and Pace (ITV) and In One Ear (BBC Radio 4).

He co-wrote the primetime sitcom Just a Gigolo for ITV starring Tony Slattery - the show was nominated for a best new comedy award at the British Comedy Awards of 1993. In 1994, Carl worked at Sony Studios in LA with the writers of the Fox hit show Married With Children and later adapted the show for the UK. In 1995 he co-wrote the primetime sitcom Agony Again for BBC1 starring Maureen Lipman.

Between 1996 and 2001 he created, co-wrote and produced three series of the adult animated sitcom, Stressed Eric for BBC2. It won numerous awards including two British Animation Awards, an Indie Award and two New York TV Festival Awards. It was also the first animated comedy series to be shown in primetime on NBC in the US for 35 years.

Stressed Eric was Carl’s first experience working with animation, but felt he wanted to achieve the sort of feel that he had seen in Duckman. He developed a pilot script which was commissioned by the BBC and the animation was created by Klasky Csupo of Rug Rats fame. Stressed Eric was written and the dialogue recorded in the UK, but the rest of the animation production took place abroad with Klasky Csupo developing the animation concepts in the US, actual animation in Korea and then back to America for post production; Carl oversaw the process in both the UK and US.

Between 2002 and 2004 Carl co-wrote and produced 52 episodes of the animated show Meg and Mog for CITV with , a series that was nominated for a BAFTA. In 2005 he wrote and produced the adult animated show, Deadsville for Channel 4 and wrote a new comedy drama, Security for BBC Scotland. More recently he's been working on several new animated projects and a new live action sitcom for comedian David Mitchell as well as redeveloping Stressed Eric for the US market with Aardman animation.

Carl’s Advice:

1.    Be yourself – believe in your idea.  If you believe and trust in your piece the audience will also.  Be persistent beyond any measure - take the long view – it may take some time to get your idea into production, you cannot always set time limits.

2.    Be different - in what you present and the way you present it. Television has arguably succumbed to a somewhat jaded palette. Put yourself in the shoes of the people receiving it.  Make it exciting, interesting and new.

3.    Be thorough - in your design and episode structure think about the kind of questions people may ask you about your idea.  Will you be able to deliver what it claims to be?

4.    Do your research - understand the market and what is already out there.