Ben Elton

The instant Sunday Times bestseller ‘What Have I Done? snaps, crackles and pops with wit, bravado and glorious Ben-ness. A triumph’ – Stephen Fry ‘A big life chronicled by truly the Upstart Crow of our generation’ – Dawn French Ben Elton has done everything and worked with everybody. Now, in this frank, forthright, and hugely entertaining book, he tells the whole story. Discover the truth behind iconic hits like The Young Ones, Blackadder, and We Will Rock You. Relive the pioneering stand-up of Saturday Live that birthed a comedy revolution. From being the BBC’s youngest-ever sitcom writer to his most recent, critically acclaimed stand-up tour, Ben reveals unique insights into his groundbreaking work. He talks honestly about his relationships with brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, and occasional foes. His life off-screen has been just as challenging and funny as it has been on, and he unpacks it all with wit, insight, and of course, a ‘little bit of politics’. For decades, Ben’s been making people laugh, think, and getting on plenty of wicks - these are the uncensored stories. ‘Funny and fascinating, it’s a story of triumph and disaster and is the closest you’ll get to understanding where great comedy comes from’ – David Mitchell 'Bloody marvellous' – Jo Brand What Have I Done? was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller w/e 11/10/2025.

What has Ben Elton done?He’s written the most eagerly anticipated show business autobiography of the year. That’s what.And prior to that? Well he’s pretty much done everything and worked with everybody and now he’s telling the whole story in one unputdownable volume. Sixty-five years in the making, this frank, forthright and hugely entertaining autobiography takes a deep dive into Ben’s life and times, both private and public. He reveals the true stories behind iconic hits such as The Young Ones, Blackadder and We Will Rock You, his pioneering routines hosting Saturday Live, which birthed a revolution in stand-up comedy, and so much more. Ben recounts his life and uniquely varied career from his Catford childhood and being the BBC’s youngest ever sitcom writer at twenty-one right up to the present day, with yet another hit sitcom, Upstart Crow; a surprise late-life BAFTA; and his most critically acclaimed stand-up comedy show to date.Alongside unique insights into his ground-breaking work, Ben talks honestly and compellingly about his personal and professional relationships with two generations of brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, occasional foes, and the times in which they all lived. And Ben’s life has been just as challenging, rewarding and funny off screen as it has been on. He unpacks it all with wit, insight and complete honesty. And of course, there’s a ‘little bit of politics’.For forty-five years Ben’s been making a lot of people laugh, a lot of people think and getting on quite a lot of people's wicks. All of which means he has a lot of stories and he tells them unvarnished and uncensored – he’s sharing his truth as they say these days, and he’s up to his neck in it!

24 fevralja 1920 goda v Berline rozhdajutsja dva mladentsa, kotorym suzhdeno stat bratjami. V tot zhe den v Mjunkhene sozdana partija, kotoraja vskore odnogo iz nikh vozneset, a drugogo postaraetsja unichtozhit vmeste s ikh roditeljami i millionami drugikh ni v chem ne povinnykh ljudej. S pervykh chasov zhizni bratja nerazluchny. Oba pokhozhi na svoikh evrejskikh roditelej, khotja sovsem ne pokhozhi drug na druga, oni dazhe ne znajut, chto odin iz nikh priemysh, - kak i ne znajut, chto odin iz nikh ne evrej. Roditelej ne volnujut voprosy krovi: eto ikh deti, i oni ikh ljubjat. Otets igraet po dzhazovym klubam, mat lechit bolnykh, zhizn v Germanii, ele prikhodjaschej v sebja posle Velikoj vojny, potikhonku nalazhivaetsja. Paul i Otto vmeste rastut, vmeste druzhat s odnoj devochkoj, vmeste vljubljajutsja v druguju. No kogda k vlasti prikhodjat natsisty, zhizn menjaetsja neobratimo i strashno. V strane, gde vnezapno vazhnee vsego okazyvajutsja krov i proiskhozhdenie, deti, dva nemtsa i dva evreja, chi istorii perepleteny s rozhdenija i navsegda, vynuzhdeny mnogim zhertvovat, chtoby vyzhit samim i spasti ljubimykh. Novyj roman Bena Eltona, pronzitelnyj i nezhnyj, o tom, chem gotovy pozhertvovat ljudi radi vyzhivanija - svoego i ljubimykh. Roman o tom, kto oni est na samom dele, na chto sposobny, kem ne zakhotjat stat ni za chto na svete. O tom, chto im delat s kazhdodnevnoj nenavistju, s neotstupnoj pamjatju, s neutikhajuschej bolju - i kak iz etogo vsego poroj prorastajut odinochestvo, strakh i zhestokost, a poroj - dobrota, i mudrost, i schaste. V etoj istorii est smekh i slezy, uzhas i izumlenie, nezhnost i zlost, vernost i predatelstva.

Ben Elton vozvraschaetsja, i opjat v svoem nesravnennom amplua satirika s kinematograficheskim zreniem. Ego novaja kniga - beskompromissnyj roman ob "epokhe oskorblennykh", v kotoruju my zhivem. My i ne zametili, kak milliony ljudej nachali kruglosutochno vyjasnjat otnoshenija, obizhatsja na to i na eto, oskorbljatsja po povodu, bez povoda i prosto dlja udovolstvija. V sotsialnykh setjakh nynche sploshnoe krovoprolitie. Sdvinuv vremja vsego na neskolko let vpered, Elton modeliruet vozmozhnoe razvitie sobytij v Britanii v blizhajshem buduschem, i po ego versii, krovoprolitie zaprosto mozhet vyplesnutsja iz provodov na trotuary. Skotlend-Jard, referendum po vykhodu Anglii iz sostava Korolevstva, mezhdunarodnye makhinatsii i vmeshatelstva v dela suverennykh demokratij, vse tsveta spektra gendernoj radugi, metoo, ubijstva, samoubijstva, internet, televidenie - vot lish nemnogie kheshtegi, po kotorym zapomnitsja etot roman. Elton ne daet poschady litsemeram vsekh mastej, kotorye, pokhozhe, zakhvatili politiku, sotsialnye seti, SMI i shou-biznes.

To brødres liv bliver ændret for altid, da 2. verdenskrig bryder ud, for den ene er jøde og den anden er arier.En dreng og hans adopterede bror, kommer i store problemer, da Tyskland går nazistiske forandringer i møde. Den ene fortæller deres skæbnesvangre historie i “To brødre”: En gribende historie om Nazityskland og de konsekvenser der fulgte med.Han bliver afhørt af den engelske efterretningstjeneste, og bliver nu tvunget til at mindes sin barndom, bror og alle deres oplevelser.“To brødre” er en fiktiv fortælling om krig, kærlighed og broderskab skrevet af Ben Elton.

Begging for forgiveness, assuring the public â??that is not who I amâ?. But if nobody is who they are anymore - then who the f##k are we?Ben Elton returns with a blistering satire of the world as it fractures around us.

Lost in a blizzard of hashtags, his already complex investigation is further impeded by the fact that he simply doesn't `get' a single thing about anything anymore. Get ready for a roller-coaster thriller, where nothing - and no one - is off limits.

"This does indeed deserve comparisons with Blackadder" Radio Times"A knockabout, well-researched take on the working and domestic life of Shakespeare." The GuardianIt’s the 1590s. William Shakespeare – brought to life on screen by the inimitable David Mitchell – is at the start of his career. But no one is taking him seriously. In London, he is mercilessly mocked by his rivals and at home in Stratford he is belittled by his sullen teenage daughter. Yet he is determined to find an ending for his newest creation Romeo and Juliet. Luckily, inspiration is forthcoming. The trials and tribulations of his closest friends and family reveal the plot twists he’d been missing. And not only for this famous tragedy but for many of his finest plays. With sparkling wordplay, hilarious gags and his trademark wit, Ben Elton celebrates the great William Shakespeare and reveals the startling stories behind the playwright’s best-known plays.

It�s the 1st of June 1914 and Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier and celebrated adventurer is quite literally the loneliest man on earth. A war that will begin with a single bullet. But can a single bullet truly corrupt an entire century? And, if so, could another single bullet save it?

Berlin 1920Two babies are born. Two brothers. And the brothers are faced with an unimaginable choice....Which one of them will survive?Ben Elton's most personal novel to date,Two Brothers transports the reader to the time of history's darkest hour.

For amiable City trader Jimmy Corby money was the new Rock n' Roll. If he hadn't met Monica he would probably have ended up either dead or in rehab. But Jimmy was as lucky in love as he was at betting on dodgy derivatives, so instead of burning out, his star just burned brighter than ever.

Imagine a world where everyone knows everything about everybody. Where 'sharing' is valued above all, and privacy is considered a dangerous perversion.Trafford wouldn't call himself a rebel, but he's daring to be different, to stand out from the crowd. In his own small ways, he wants to push against the system. But in this world, uniformity is everything. And even tiny defiances won't go unnoticed.Ben Elton's dark, savagely comic novel imagines a post-apocalyptic society where religious intolerance combines with a sex-obsessed, utterly egocentric culture. In this world, nakedness is modesty, independent thought subversive, and ignorance is wisdom.A chilling vision of what's to come? Or something rather closer to home?

Chart Throb.The ultimate pop quest. Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner. And that's Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show. Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Calvin and his fellow judges (the nation's favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves.Ben Elton, author of Popcorn and Dead Famous returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows.Chart Throb. One winner. A whole bunch of losers.

Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder. Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him. Ben Elton’s tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle? As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes ever more blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth. "Riveting action scenes bristle with a queasy energy … unputdownable and disgustingly realistic" Sunday Telegraph "Elton writes a good crime story with lots of twists and excitement." Henry Sutton The Mirror "A work of formidable imaginative scope … the writing is so good, the language so surprisingly subtle and the characters so beautifully delineated" Daily Telegraph

Killed in the name of oil and steel. How did the ultimate freedom machine end up paralysing us all? How did we end up driving to our own funeral, in somebody else's gravy train?Deborah and Geoffrey know, but they have transport problems of their own, and anyway, whoever it was that murdered the city can just as easily murder them.

Stark is a secret consortium with more money than God, and the social conscience of a dog on a lawn. What's more, it knows the Earth is dying. Deep in Western Australia where the Aboriginals used to milk the trees, a planet-sized plot is taking shape. Aboriginals who have lost their land, not much against a conspiracy that controls society.

With old friends like these, who needs enemies? It's a question mild mannered detective Edward Newson is forced to ask himself when, in romantic desperation, he logs on to the Friends Reunited website in search of the girlfriends of his youth. Newson is not the only member of the Class of take back '88 who has been raking over the ashes of the past. As his old class begins to reassemble in cyberspace, the years slip away and old feuds and passions burn hot once more.Meanwhile, back in the present, Newson's life is no less complicated. He is secretly in love with Natasha, his lovely but very attached sergeant, and failing comprehensively to solve a series of baffling and peculiarly gruesome murders. A school reunion is planned and as history begins to repeat itself, the past crashes headlong into the present. Neither will ever be the same again.In Past Mortem, Ben Elton - previous winner of The Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Popcorn - delivers both a heart-stopping thriller and a killer comic romance.

The war on drugs has been lost but for want of the courage to face the fact that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From pop stars and princes to crack whores and street kids. From the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime. HIGH SOCIETY is a story or rather a collection of interconnected stories that takes the reader on a hilarious, heart breaking and terrifying journey through the kaleidoscope world that the law has created and from which the law offers no protection.

Bruce shoots movies. Wayne and Scout shoot to kill. In a single night they find out the hard way what's real and what's not, who's the hero and who's the villain. The USA watches slack-jawed as Bruce and Wayne together resolve some serious questions. Does Bruce use erection cream? Does art imitate life or does life simply imitate bad art? And most of all, does sugar-pie really love his honeybun?