Mark Dolan

Dolan grew up above the Sir Robert Peel public house in Kentish Town, with his landlord father, mother Diane, brother and two sisters. Dolan is proud of his background and often refers to his childhood on his GB News show.{{Citation |title=Mark Dolan's Take at 10 {{!}} How do we save the great British pub? | date=7 October 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp5yw1Y7sbk |access-date=2023-07-15 |language=en}}

Dolan attended University College School and the University of Edinburgh, where he received an MA in politics. Whilst an undergraduate at Edinburgh, he performed in the improvisational comedy troupe The Improverts.{{cite news|title=Fringe Q&As: Mark Dolan on his new stand up show Life Hacks|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/14655755.Fringe_Q_As__Mark_Dolan__on_his_new_stand_up_show__Life_Hacks/|work=The Herald|location=Glasgow |date=2 August 2016}}

Dolan started as a stand-up comedian in 2000.

In 2017 Dolan returned to radio, presenting a breakfast show on Fubar Radio, an online radio station based in London.{{cite web |url=http://fubarradio.com/shows/mark-dolan-eats-the-news/ |title=Mark Dolan Eats the News |website=Fubar Radio|date=17 May 2016 }}

In 2019, Dolan joined Talkradio, where he presented Drivetime from 4pm to 7 Monday to Friday, Saturday nights 10pm to 1am and Sundays 8pm to 10pm. He left the station in July 2021 to join rivals, GB News.

In September 2020, at a time in the COVID-19 pandemic when the wearing of face coverings was compulsory in shops and on public transport in the United Kingdom, Dolan cut up a face mask during a Talkradio broadcast,{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak | title=Mask use in the context of COVID-19 | date=1 December 2020| website=WHO}} calling the masks "wretched, godawful, damned, blinking, uncomfortable, scientifically empty, and useless".Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/Vurv270Uv0I Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200905073104/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vurv270Uv0I&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vurv270Uv0I| title = Mark Dolan cuts up his face mask live on air: "Wearing a mask is the new woke" | date = 4 September 2020 | via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} Dolan's fellow talkRADIO host Jamie East quit the station when Dolan went unpunished by station bosses.{{cite web |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/talkradios-jamie-east-quits-after-presenter-cuts-up-face-mask-on-air/ |title=Talkradio host quits after fellow presenter cut up face mask on air |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=28 September 2020 |website=Press Gazette}} Presenter Piers Morgan and doctor Hilary Jones criticised his actions on Good Morning Britain as behaviour that could "cost lives".{{cite web|title=Piers Morgan condemns talkRADIO host Mark Dolan for cutting up face mask: 'People may die because he did that'|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/piers-morgan-mark-dolan-talkradio-coronavirus-face-mask-b695100.html|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|editor=Ellie Harrison|date=30 September 2020}} The next month Dolan clarified that he followed all government rules on mask wearing, but considered the science around them to be "flaky".{{cite news |last1=Fordy |first1=Tom |title=Mark Dolan's war on Covid tyranny: 'Wearing a mask is an act of virtue signalling' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/mark-dolans-war-covid-tyranny-wearing-mask-act-virtue-signalling/ |access-date=13 August 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=1 October 2020}}

Dolan first came to the public's attention in 2002 after writing and performing in a Comedy Lab entitled 'The Richard Taylor Interviews'.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_richard_taylor_interviews/|title=The Richard Taylor Interviews|date=15 January 2003|publisher=IMDb}}

Dolan was the host of Channel 4 show Balls of Steel, which he presented from 2005 to 2008. He was also the presenter of the TV documentary series The World's ...And Me. The show ran to three series and twelve one-hour films and led to the release of the book The World's Most Extraordinary People and Me, published by HarperCollins.

In 2006, Dolan helped launch More4 as the host of The Last Word, a nightly topical discussion show. He has also fronted shows for E4, including its launch comedy series, Show Me The Funny, and provides his voice as presenter of a new series{{Citation needed|reason=Show is not on channel website listings. Wiki entry refers to the current Channel 5 by its pre-2010 rebrand name|date=July 2020}} for Five called Urban Legends. For five years, Dolan was the presenter of Sky Movies' weekly movie-news show 35mm{{cite web|url=http://movies.sky.com/35mm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208024341/http://movies.sky.com/35mm|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 December 2009|title=35mm}} and Channel 4's The Mad Bad Ad Show.

In February 2013, Dolan took part in the fifth series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief as a member of "Destiny's Dad" alongside fellow stand-up comedians Hal Cruttenden and Shaun Keaveny.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5qywnxvkVT75LNvvxDFy22S/destinys-dad|title=Destiny's Dad}}

In 2015, Dolan co-hosted If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World with British reality TV personality Katie Hopkins.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11787761/If-Katie-Hopkins-Rule-the-World-TLC-review.html|title=If Katie Hopkins Rule the World, TLC, review: 'a mixed bag'|website=The Daily Telegraph|date=6 August 2015 |location=London}}

In 2016, he won the Celebrity Come Dine with Me Christmas Special, with a Dickensian themed meal of pea soup, three bird roast and plum duff as dessert. He also appeared in the fourth and final series of the Channel 4 wintersports entertainment show The Jump, alongside Bradley Wiggins, Robbie Fowler, and Jason Robinson.{{cite news|last1=Fullerton|first1=Huw|title=Mark Dolan on The Jump 2017's improved calibre: "Last series half the group weren't even signed off to do the jump!"|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/mark-dolan-on-the-jump-2017s-improved-calibre-last-series-half-the-group-werent-even-signed-off-to-do-the-jump/ |work=Radio Times}}

Dolan joined GB News on 23 July 2021,{{cite web | url=https://inews.co.uk/news/media/andrew-neil-return-gb-news-channel-veteran-presenter-poised-to-quit-1147585 | title=Andrew Neil considers quitting GB News amid power struggle with boss | date=12 August 2021 }} presenting various shows on the channel, including Mark Dolan Tonight. Dolan announced on 18 December 2024 that GB News had dropped him from the network.{{cite news |last1=Francis |first1=Katie |title=GB News star dramatically sacked with no warning as he vows to speak out |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/gb-news-mark-dolan-dramatically-34341222 |access-date=19 December 2024 |work=The Mirror |date=18 December 2024 |language=en}}

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• {{IMDb name| id=1646480 | name=Mark Dolan}}
• {{commons category-inline|Mark Dolan}}
• [http://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/m/33205/mark_dolan Chortle Profile]

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Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at University College School

Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Camden

Category:English game show hosts

Category:English male comedians

Category:English stand-up comedians

Category:English talk radio hosts

Category:English television presenters

Category:GB News newsreaders and journalists

Category:People from Kentish Town

Category:Television personalities from the London Borough of Camden