Detailed Biographes:

Mathew Horne
Ben

When Summerdown merges with neighbouring Wattkins Comp, the existing teachers – Ben, Damien and Ewan – don’t exactly help to make the transition easy for their new colleagues.

Mathew Horne, one half of the acclaimed comedy double act Mat and MacKinnon joins the cast as Ben. “Ben is an uber neurotic hypochondriac atheist RE teacher. Always the pessimist he sees his own mortality in every situation. Damien (Daon Broni) loves playing on Ben’s neuroses by relentlessly winding him up. Whereas Ewan (Lee Williams) is a little more gentle with him.”

Having made a childish pact with Damien not to speak to Lindsay (Vicky Hall) and Penny (Tamzin Malleson), Ben is actually the first to cave in, but he’s definitely not going to reveal what he teaches. When Lindsay eventually does find out, Ben sets about convincing her that he’s not a Christian, “I teach this bollocks. I don’t believe it.”

“I first watched Teachers when I was at college and have always been a huge fan of the show so it’s amazing to now be in it and to have the challenge of playing someone as emotionally flawed as Ben. One of the highlights of filming for me, has been doing the stunts – there’s been lots of falling over and little bits of slapstick, which I have really enjoyed being involved in.”

Mathew is best known as a stand-up comedian and part of the comedy double act Mat and MacKinnon, but most recently appeared in the comedy series The Catherine Tate Show on BBC2. “Live comedy is the most terrifying thing I have ever done, nothing could ever be as scary as stand-up.”

Mathew also appears in the forthcoming feature film Vanity Fair starring Reece Witherspoon. Last year he starred in the Channel 4 comedy 20 Things To Do Before You’re 30, and has previously appeared in Noble and Silver, A-Z of Politics, Cancun and Reputations.

As a writer, he has written material for Alistair MacGowan and Johnny Vaughan and for a number of shows including The Catherine Tate Show, Alistair MacGowan’s Big Impression, Velvet Soup and The Live Floor Show. On stage, he has also appeared in The Catherine Tate Show, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Buried Child, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Blue Remembered Hills, Amadeus and Hamlet.

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