Bridget Christie

Christie grew up in Gloucester in the south-west of England, the youngest of nine siblings born to parents from the west of Ireland: her father, Peter Christie, was from Boyle in the north of County Roscommon, while her mother, Mary Anne (née Kelly), was from Manorhamilton in the north of County Leitrim. {{Cite news |title=Bridget Christie: 'I'm glad there's misogyny – it turned my career around' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/bridget-christie-i-m-glad-there-s-misogyny-it-turned-my-career-around-1.2593971 |access-date=2023-11-16 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}} 'Bridget Christie on brain fog, flirting, and why she won't be taking a lover: "My heart is full. I am open to it, but I'm not looking for it"' (The Guardian, 29 March 2025). https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/mar/29/bridget-christie-brain-fog-flirting-not-taking-a-lover-tv-show-the-change Her parents had met in London, before moving to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, when her father got a job with Wall's ice-cream. Two of her siblings later served in the RAF.

Christie attended St Peter's Roman Catholic High School in Gloucester, leaving at the age of 15 without qualifications.{{cite podcast|author=Jarlath Regan|edition=122|work=An Irishman Abroad|title=Bridget Christie|publisher=SoundCloud|date=16 January 2016|url=https://soundcloud.com/an-irishman-abroad/bridget-christie-episode-122|accessdate=25 January 2016}} In 1994, she won a three-year scholarship to study drama at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) in Wandsworth, London.{{cite web|url=http://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/what-on-earth-is-bridget-christie|website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk|title=What On Earth Is Bridget Christie?|access-date=17 June 2022}}

Christie appeared in theatre productions and adverts before she began stand-up in 2004. She was one of the finalists in the Funny Women Awards that year, won by Zoe Lyons. She was described by the show's founder Lynne Parker as "one of the most influential funny women who has ever entered our competition".{{Cite web |last=Guide |first=British Comedy |date=2016-04-18 |title=Funny Women Awards |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/feature/funny_woman_awards/ |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=British Comedy Guide |language=en}}

Her debut BBC Radio 4 series, Bridget Christie Minds the Gap, was broadcast in April 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r6lr4|work=BBC Radio 4|title=Bridget Christie Minds The Gap {{!}} Series 1|access-date=17 June 2022}} A second series was broadcast in January 2015,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04y4kcd|work=BBC Radio 4|title=Bridget Christie Minds The Gap {{!}} Series 2|access-date=17 June 2022}} followed by a third, Bridget Christie's Utopia, in January 2018.

{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b09s0hvn|title=Bridget Christie's Utopia|access-date=17 June 2022}} The three series were well received and won the Best Radio award at the 2014 Chortle Awards{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2014/03/26/19850/bridget_does_the_double_at_the_chortles|work=Chortle|title=Bridget does the double at the Chortles|date=26 March 2014|access-date=17 June 2022}} and the 2014 Rose D'Or International Broadcasting Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/2014/10/newsletter-october-27th-2014|website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk|title=Newsletter – October 27th 2014…|access-date=17 June 2022}}

Her debut book, A Book for Her, was published in July 2015{{cite book|title=A Book for Her|first=Bridget|last=Christie|publisher=Random House|date=July 2015|isbn=978-0099590842}} to acclaim from The Daily Telegraph{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-100-books-for-christmas|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=The 100 best books of 2015|first=Iona|last=McLaren|date=20 November 2015|access-date=17 June 2022}}{{subscription required}} and The List{{cite news|url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/76151-best-comedy-literature-to-buy-this-christmas|work=The List|title=Best comedy literature to buy this Christmas|date=9 November 2015|access-date=3 January 2017|archive-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104000418/https://www.list.co.uk/article/76151-best-comedy-literature-to-buy-this-christmas/|url-status=dead}} and The Observer.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/20/bridget-christie-book-for-her-review-hybrid-writing-performance|work=The Guardian|title=A Book for Her by Bridget Christie review – a hybrid of writing and performance|first=Viv|last=Groskop|date=20 July 2015|issn=0261-3077|access-date=17 June 2022}} The paperback was released in February 2016 and the Spanish version in Barcelona in March 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/06/26/22746/un_libro_para_ella!|work=Chortle|title=Un libro para ella!|date=26 June 2015|access-date=17 June 2022}}

Christie has written for The Sunday Times, The Times, The Independent and The Observer. She had a weekly column in Guardian Weekend magazine from October 2015 to March 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/bridget-christie|work=The Guardian|title=Profile: Bridget Christie|access-date=17 June 2022}}

In 2015, she won a Red Magazine Women of the Year Award{{cite web|url=https://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/red-women-of-the-year/a520565/winners-2015|work=Red Magazine|title=Heroines, trailblazers, pioneers: the Red Women of the Year winners|first=Natasha|last=Lunn|date=12 October 2015|access-date=17 June 2022}} and a Marie Claire Women at the Top Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/work/women-at-the-top-awards-42785|work=Marie Claire|title=Women At The Top Awards: Here's What We Learned In One Inspiring Night|date=2 October 2015|access-date=17 June 2022}}

In May 2016, Christie recorded her debut screen stand-up special, Stand Up for Her (Live from Hoxton Hall), produced by Baby Cow Productions. It was released direct to Netflix on 31 March 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/04/01/27212/bridget_christie_comes_to_netflix|work=Chortle|title=Bridget Christie comes to Netflix|date=1 April 2017|access-date=17 June 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/3791/news-bridget-christie-live-show-netflix|work=Beyond The Joke|title=News: Bridget Christie Live Show On Netflix|first=Bruce|last=Dessau|date=1 April 2017|access-date=17 June 2022}}

She has written and performed 13 solo shows.{{Cite web |last=Christie |first=Bridget |title=Bridget Christie - Comedian, Actress, Mother, Clown. {{!}} Shows |url=https://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/shows/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk |language=en}} The majority originated at the Edinburgh Festival and include A Bic for Her, An Ungrateful Woman and her Brexit-themed Because You Demanded It, which was The Guardian{{'}}s No 1 Comedy of the Year 2016.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/dec/13/top-10-comedy-of-2016-brian-logan|work=The Guardian|title=Brian Logan's top 10 comedy of 2016|first=Brian|last=Logan|date=13 December 2016|access-date=17 June 2022}}

In 2020, she was a finalist for Best Scripted Comedy (Longform) in the BBC Audio Drama Awards.

Christie's TV appearances include comedy programmes It's Kevin (BBC Two), QI, The Omid Djalili Show (BBC One), Harry Hill's Little Cracker (Sky), Anna and Katy (Channel 4), The Culture Show (BBC Two), Mel & Sue (ITV), Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (Dave). and Have I Got News for You (BBC One) for which she was nominated for a 2014 British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comic,{{cite web|url=http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/nominees-2014.aspx|work=The British Comedy Awards|title=Winners 2014|access-date=17 June 2022}} the Alternative Comedy Experience (Comedy Central), Room 101 (BBC One), Cardinal Burns (Channel 4), Celebrity Squares (ITV), This Week (BBC One) and Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule (ITV). In 2020 she appeared in BBC1's comedy Ghosts as Annie, a ghost who said four words. She reprised the role in 2022.

Christie was a contestant in series 13 of Taskmaster (Channel 4), which first aired in April 2022.

Christie's first television series The Change was broadcast on Channel 4 from 21 June 2023.{{Cite web |last=Christie |first=Bridget |title=Bridget Christie - Comedian, Actress, Mother, Clown. {{!}} The Change! Starts tomorrow (21st June) |url=https://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/2023/06/the-change-starts-tomorrow-21st-june/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Watch The Change {{!}} Stream free on Channel 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-change |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.channel4.com |language=en}} In the show, Bridget plays Linda, who finds a new lease of life when she learns she is undergoing menopause and heads to the forest on a journey of self-discovery. The Change was produced by Lisa Mitchell and executive-produced by Christie, Nerys Evans and Morwenna Gordon. The second series premiered on Channel 4 on 25 March 2025. {{cite web|first=Hollie|last=Richardson|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/25/tv-tonight-bridget-christies-superb-menopause-comedy-is-back|website=The Guardian|date=2025-03-25|title= TV tonight: Bridget Christie's superb menopause comedy is back|accessdate=2025-03-25}}

Work for BBC Radio 4 and others includes Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Miranda Hart's House Party, It's Your Round, Sarah Millican's Support Group, The Fred MacAulay Show, Dan Tetsell's The 21st Century for Time Travellers, The Now Show, Kerry’s List, It's Not What You Know, Dilemma, French and Saunders' Christmas Show, and The Casebook of Max and Ivan. In 2019 she became curator of the museum on the Radio 4 series The Museum of Curiosity.

First broadcast in 2021, her four-part series for BBC Radio 4, Mortal, won the 2022 BBC Audio Drama Award. Mortal was a series about life and death which she recorded herself from home during Covid lockdown.{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Steve |title=BBC Audio awards for Bridget Christie and John-Luke Roberts : News 2022 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/03/25/50428/bbc_audio_awards_for_bridget_christie_and_john-luke_roberts |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=www.chortle.co.uk |language=en}}

In her 2018 BBC Radio 4 show Utopia, Christie addressed world events – Kim Jong-un, the melting polar ice caps, the Brexit negotiations and Nick Knowles singing a cover of The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun”. It was recorded in front of a studio audience at the BBC Radio Theatre. Christie was joined by special guests Mike Christie, Leyla Hussein, Sister Agatha & Fran Blockley.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Bridget Christie's Utopia, Series 1, Disengage |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09qfv98 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Christie |first=Bridget |title=Bridget Christie - Comedian, Actress, Mother, Clown. {{!}} Bridget Christie's Utopia |url=https://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/radio-audio/bridget-christies-utopia/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk |language=en}}

In 2013, Bridget's first BBC radio series was broadcast on Radio 4, covering her personal take on feminism, asking why it became a dirty word and whether women still need it, featuring token man Fred MacAulay. A second series was released in 2015,{{Cite web |title=Go Faster Stripe |url=https://www.gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/w.cgi?showfull=47758 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.gofasterstripe.com}} followed by a Christmas Special, Bridget Christie's Christmas List.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Bridget Christie's Christmas List |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s9s00 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}

Christie has been guest on the podcasts Danielle Ward's Do The Right Thing, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown, Jarlath Regan's An Irishman Abroad, Stuart Goldsmith’s The Comedian’s Comedian, The Adam Buxton Podcast, The Penguin Podcast with Richard E. Grant, Literary Death Match, Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, and Spotify podcast We Need to Talk About.

• Who Am I? (2021/2023)
• What Now? (2018)
• Mortal (2016/2017)
• A Book for Her (2015)
• An Ungrateful Woman (2014)
• A Bic for Her (2013)
• War Donkey (2012)
• Housewife Surrealist (2011)
• Bridget Christie / A Ant (2010)
• My Daily Mail Hell (2009)
• The Court of King Charles II – The Second (2008)
• The Court of King Charles II (2007)
• The Cheese Roll (2006)

• White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Edinburgh Fringe (2011)
• Celebrity Autobiography, Edinburgh Fringe (2010) and Leicester Square Theatre
• The School for Scandal, Edinburgh Fringe (2009)

• Would I Lie to You? (2024)
• Taskmaster series 13 (2022)
• Ghosts (2019–2022)
• Sky Comedy Christmas Shorts (2015)
• It's Kevin (2013)
• Anna & Katy (2013)
• Cardinal Burns (2012)
• Little Crackers (2011)
• The Omid Djalili Show (2009)

• Marie Claire – Women at the Top Awards 2015 – winner
• Red magazine Women of the Year Awards 2015 (Creative) – winner{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/03/16/22040/acaster_and_christie_do_the_double|title=Acaster and Christie do the double|work=Chortle|date=16 March 2015|access-date=17 June 2022}}
• South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Comedy for A Bic for Her (2014) – winner{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25915834|work=BBC News|title=Tracey Emin and Arctic Monkeys win South Bank awards|first=Michael|last=Osborn|date=27 January 2014|access-date=17 June 2022}}
• Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show with A Bic for Her (2013) – winner{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23808788|work=BBC News|title=Bridget Christie wins Foster's Edinburgh comedy award|first=Steven|last=Brocklehurst|date=24 August 2013|access-date=17 June 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://wih.web.ox.ac.uk/people/bridget-christie|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511082035/https://wih.web.ox.ac.uk/people/bridget-christie|archive-date=11 May 2018|publisher=University of Oxford|work=Women in Humanities|title=Bridget Christie}}
• Funny Women Best Show Fringe Award for The Court of King Charles II (2007) – winner{{cite web|url=http://www.downstairsatthekingshead.com/showartist.aspx?ArtistID=2633|work=Downstairs at the King's Head|title=Bridget Christie|access-date=17 June 2022}}

Christie is a Catholic.{{Cite news |title=Bridget Christie: 'I'm glad there's misogyny – it turned my career around' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/bridget-christie-i-m-glad-there-s-misogyny-it-turned-my-career-around-1.2593971 |access-date=2023-07-26 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-06-14 |title=Interview: Bridget Christie On New Series The Change |url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/13630/interview-bridget-christie |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Beyond The Joke |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Christie |first=Bridget |title=Bridget Christie - Comedian, Actress, Mother, Clown. {{!}} Housewife Surrealist |url=https://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/shows/housewife-surrealist/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=www.bridgetchristie.co.uk |language=en}} She suffers from trypophobia.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Christie and comedian Stewart Lee married in 2006,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/stewart-lee-beware--this-man-may-be-only-joking-9179085.html|work=The Independent on Sunday|title=Stewart Lee: Beware – this man may be only joking|first=James|last=Hanning|date=9 March 2014|access-date=17 June 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/aug/19/stewart-lee-bridget-christie-comedy-couples-standup-sarah-millican-edinburgh|work=The Guardian|title=Take my husband: Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie and the rise of comedy couples|first=Brian|last=Logan|date=19 August 2014|access-date=17 June 2022}} and had two children before separating amicably in 2021.{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Steve |title=Stewart Lee and Bridget Christie have split |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2023/08/05/53739/stewart_lee_and_bridget_christie_have_split |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www.chortle.co.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Woodcock |first=Zara |date=2023-08-08 |title=Stewart Lee splits from wife after 20 years as he 'moves on' with younger comic |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/stewart-lee-splits-wife-after-30652606 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.bridgetchristie.co.uk/ Official website]
• {{IMDb name|id=3438370|name=Bridget Christie}}
• {{British Comedy Guide|people|bridget_christie}}

{{Edinburgh Comedy Award winners}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Bridget}}

Category:1971 births

Category:Actresses from Gloucestershire

Category:Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts

Category:English people of Irish descent

Category:English stage actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:English women comedians

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at St Peter's High School, Gloucester

Category:Writers from Gloucester

Category:English Roman Catholics

Category:British television writers

Category:British television actors

Category:British stand-up comedians

Category:English stand-up comedians

Category:English women television writers

Category:Comedians from Gloucestershire

Category:Actors from Gloucester