Bigger image

More to explore...

  • The-Burning-Swift-Shadow-Skye-Book-Three
  • The-Broken-Raven-Shadow-Skye-Book-Two
  • The-Good-Hawk-Shadow-Skye-Book-One

Joseph Elliott

As an adult

I was born and raised in Bristol and then studied English Literature and Drama at the University of Manchester. After graduating, I moved to London to do an MA in performance at Central School of Speech and Drama. For the last ten years, I’ve been working as an actor, predominantly in comedy and children’s television. I’m probably best known for playing a pirate in the BAFTA-winning CBeebies series, Swashbuckle, for which I also write a lot of the scripts. In 2017, I co-created, wrote and starred in InterNOT, a comedy sketch show commissioned by the BBC, which parodies the bizarre world of YouTube. I’m also part of the writing team for BBC’s Class Dismissed and The Amelia Gething Complex. I’ve always had an ambition to write a novel, but it wasn’t until I broke my foot and was forced out of work, that I started taking it more seriously. When not writing or acting, I love painting, snorkelling and playing board games

As an author

When I first started writing, I used to go to the café in my local ASDA because the tea was only 69p… It was noisy, but I quite liked the buzz – it helped me concentrate. Now, my favourite place to write is in my flat in east London; it has an amazing view of huge evergreen trees filled with birds. When I need a change of scene, I usually write in my local library.

Nine things we didn’t know about Joseph

  1. My favourite colour is turquoise.
  2. As a child, I had four hamsters which I called Magic, Magic 2, Magic 3 and Rags.
  3. I love all insects except mosquitos, which make me very stressed. I can’t sleep if I know there’s a mosquito in the room.
  4. My favourite books growing up were The Animals of Farthing Wood series, Robin Jarvis’ The Deptford Mice and The Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix.
  5. I’m a big food lover – favourites include Mexican, Greek and Indian. And Italian. And Thai. Okay, I like all food. But no meat – I’m proudly vegan.
  6. My first ever role as an actor was as an ugly sister in a school production of Cinderella, age 7.
  7. I love singing along to music, but don’t know any words to any songs, so always just make them up.
  8. I’m a firm believer that houmous goes well with everything.
  9. I have a phobia of cheese graters.

Bear Logo