Acclaimed comedy writer and legal expert Clive Coleman will address 350 of the Highlands’ business leaders at a flagship Inverness Chamber of Commerce event.
Clive, the BBC’s legal correspondent and one of the UK’s leading comedy writers, will be guest speaker at the prestigious Highland Business Dinner on 22 May in the Drumossie Hotel.
A former barrister and principal lecturer in law, his recent credits include the hit play ‘Young Marx’, about the young Karl Marx, starring Rory Kinnear and directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner, which opened London’s new Bridge Theatre in 2017.
His film ‘The Duke’, about the 1961 theft of Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery, starring Dame Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent, is due for release in late 2020.
Other credits include ‘Chambers’, his Radio 4 and BBC1 sit-com about barristers, starring John Bird and Sarah Lancashire; ‘Dead Ringers’, ‘Spitting Image’, and ‘Alas Smith and Jones’. His radio credits include ‘Weekending’, ‘The News Huddlines’ and his sit-com ‘Spending My Inheritance’, starring Kris Marshall.
Clive has also written television drama on the ITV series ‘The Bill’, on which he has acted as a legal consultant on court-based storylines. In 1992, Clive won the prestigious BBC Radio Light Entertainment Contract Writers Award and in 1998, he was presented with the BBC’s inaugural Frank Muir Award, for outstanding comedy writing.
As BBC legal correspondent since 2010, Clive has worked on major legal stories across television news and radio, appearing regularly on the ‘Today’ programme, Five Live, ‘Breakfast’, The News Channel and BBC news bulletins.
From 2004–2010, he presented the BBC’s flagship legal analysis programme ‘Law in Action’ on Radio 4, a role for which, in 2009, he won the Bar Council’s Legal Broadcasting Award. Clive has presented many other television and radio programmes for the BBC including ‘Panorama’ (BBC1), ‘Profile’ (R4), ‘Pick of the Week’ (R4) and ‘The Cases That Changed Our World’ (R4).
He has also been a columnist on The Times and written for The Guardian and The Independent. He has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law and is an honorary bencher of the Middle Temple.
Paula Nicol, Inverness Chamber’s Deputy Chief Executive & Head of Events, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Clive as the guest speaker at this year’s Highland Business Dinner.
“As one of the UK’s top comedy writers, Clive’s combination of analytical, broadcasting and writing skills have cemented his reputation as a renowned after dinner speaker where the focus is always sharp, intelligent and witty.”
Clive continues a long line of high-profile speakers at the Highland Business Dinner, one of the most significant events in the Highlands’ business calendar. Principal Partners at the event are Highlands & Islands Enterprise and HighNet Telecoms, while Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highland return at Partner level.
In recent years, those who have addressed the gathering include Jon Snow, James Naughtie, Andrew Neil, John Simpson, Hazel Irvine and Cathy Newman.