English actor, writer, stand-up comedian and television presenter Alexei Sayle made his screen debut in 1979 with the film ‘Repeater’. On television, he made his debut with the television special ‘Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights’ in 1981. The following year, he made regular stand-up appearances in ITV Central’s late-night alternative cabaret show ‘O.T.T.’ and played the role of Commissar Solzhenitsyn in ITV's six-part sitcom ‘Whoops Apocalypse’. Additionally, he also presented a documentary ‘The Private Life of the Ford Cortina’ (part of television series ‘Arena’). However, it was his portrayal of various characters in the BBC’s cult classic comedy sitcom ‘The Young Ones’ (1982-1984) that really gained him wide recognition. He wrote additional material for the series too. In 1983, he played a serious supporting role of Golodkin in the mystery thriller film ‘Gorky Park’. In 1985, he played the role of D.J. in the two-part serial (‘Revelation of the Daleks’) of the long-running television series ‘Doctor Who’, and portrayed the role of an officious motorcycle cop Perryman in the comedy film ‘The Supergrass’. From 1985 to 1993, he played various roles in the comedy television series ‘The Comic Strip Presents’. This included the episode ‘Didn't You Kill My Brother?’ (1988) wherein he starred in two leading roles of criminal brothers Carl and Stirling Moss. He also co-wrote the episode together with David Stafford and Pauline Melville.
In 1987, Alexei Sayle played the role of Melvin Coombes in the comedy thriller miniseries ‘Up Line’ and in 1989 made a cameo appearance as Sultan of the Hatay State in the action-adventure film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’. Meanwhile his sketch comedy show ‘Alexei Sayle's Stuff’ which he co-wrote and starred in, began in 1988 and continued till 1991 for a total of 18 episodes. The show was a huge success and was followed up by two similar shows – ‘The All New Alexei Sayle Show’ (1994-1995, 2 series) and ‘Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round’ (1998, 1 series). He co-wrote and starred in both of them and for the latter, even turned a producer. During this time, he also acted in miniseries ‘The Gravy Train’ (1990) and ‘Selling Hitler’ (1991); the comedy feature film ‘Carry on Columbus’ (1992), the romance comedy television movie ‘Sorry About Last Night’ (1995; also writer) and the television series ‘Paris’ (1994). In addition, he presented the television documentary ‘Great Railway Journeys of the World’ (1996, episode: ‘Aleppo to Aquaba’) and appeared as himself in the television series ‘Alexei Sayle's Comedy Hour’ (1997) too. In both of these, he also worked as a writer.
In the decade of 1980s and 1990s, Alexei Sayle acted in a number of other movies and television series. The films (including television movies) that he became a part of include ‘The Comic Strip’ (1981), ‘The Bride’, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ (both 1985), ‘Solarbabies’ (1986), ‘Siesta’, ‘The Love Child’, ‘Mister Corbett's Ghost’ (all 1987), ‘Jake's Journey’ (1988), ‘Reckless Kelly’, ‘Deadly Currents’ (both 1993), ‘Hospital!’, ‘Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest’ (both 1997) and ‘Swing’ (1999). Some of the television series wherein he acted include ‘Give Us A Break’ (1984), ‘Roland Rat: The Series’ (1986), ‘Ratman’ (1987), ‘Les Girls’ (1988), ‘4 Play’ (1991), ‘Lovejoy’ (1993), ‘Jackanory’ (1996) and ‘New Voices’ (1997). TV Miniseries that he acted in include ‘Wolcott’ (1981) and ‘The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling’ (1997).
Alexei Sayle continued working in both films and television in the 2000s. As an actor, his television appearances were in television miniseries ‘Arabian Nights’ (2000) and ‘Tipping the Velvet’ (2002) as well as in television series ‘Spine Chillers’ (2003), ‘Keen Eddie’ (2003-2004), ‘Bremner, Bird and Fortune’ (2005), ‘Annually Retentive’ (2006), ‘Marple’ (2009), ‘Horrible Histories’ (2010), ‘New Tricks’ (2012), ‘Holby City’ (2014), ‘Casualty’ (2021), ‘Mandy’ and ‘Dodger’ (both 2022). He was also seen in the 2004 television movie ‘The Legend of the Tamworth Two’ and presented the 2008 miniseries documentary ‘Alexei Sayle's Liverpool’ (also wrote 1 of the 3 episodes). Additionally, he also lent his voice in an episode (‘The Three Sisters Who Fell Into the Mountain: A Story from Norway’) of the fantasy animation series ‘Animated Tales of the World’ (2002) and narrated another television series ‘Olive the Ostrich’ (2011). In films, he played Police Officer Duncan in ‘Upstaged’ (2005), Barbarossa in ‘The Thief Lord’ (2006), Algy in ‘Gloves Off’ (2017), Bill in ‘Sometimes Always Never’ (2018) and Karl Marx in ‘How to Build a Girl’ (2019).
