Nationality British Name Chris Jarvis | Role Television actor | |
 | ||
Full Name Martin Christopher Jarvis Occupation Television presenter and actor TV shows Playdays, Fully Booked, Jungle Run Profiles | ||
Martin Christopher Jarvis (born 20 April 1970 in Romford, London) is a television actor and presenter who has appeared on BBC television since 1992, apart from 2000–2002 when he was working with ITV and Channel 4.
Contents
Early career
Chris Jarvis started his entertainment career as a presenter on Radio Orwell in Ipswich hosting a Saturday morning children's show. He also performed in cabaret and at Butlins.
He made his name in the early 1990s on Children's BBC, presenting from the "Broom Cupboard" alongside Zoë Ball and Josie d'Arby as well as hosting his own shows like Look Sharp. Chris wrote a lot of material for Children's BBC himself (including the mini soap opera Wood Lane TV) and created several memorable characters including "The Anorak". In 1997, Chris was part of The Friday Zone (which was broadcast on Friday afternoons on BBC One for most of the children's slot) with Debra Stephenson, Peter Simon, Dominic Wood, Steve Rock and Emma Lee. They released a single called "Glasses" as a spin-off from the programme, to raise money for Comic Relief.
He then hosted Fully Booked with Tim Vincent and Gail Porter for a few years. He has appeared on many other TV shows including Short Change, Exclusive, Playdays and Soap Fever.
CBeebies
Jarvis was one of the original line up of CBeebies presenters, alongside Pui Fan Lee, Sidney Sloane and Sue Monroe everyday. From March 2007 until his departure in 2009 he presented alongside Lee from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm with 'Discover and Do', then the 'Bedtime Hour' from 6:00 pm and again on BBC Two in the mornings. He starred in 'Step Inside' as Mr Mopple the storyteller before going on to write and star in Show Me Show Me.
Show Me Show Me, which he co-presents with Pui Fan Lee, is broadcast on CBeebies. The first 40 half-hour episodes were broadcast on the CBeebies channel, BBC One and BBC Two from Monday 6 July 2009 every weekday at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm. Series 5 was filmed on location near Manchester in 2013.
Chris and Pui regularly appear in other CBeebies shows including 'Justin's House' and the annual Christmas shows; in 2012 Chris wrote 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and played Dame Trott.
Since 2010, Chris and Pui have toured the UK with 'The Chris and Pui Roadshow'.
Acting
As an actor Chris Jarvis has appeared in The Demon Headmaster and ChuckleVision, and played Mr Mopple in early CBeebies story-telling programme Step Inside. He also presented Maths Mansion.
Music
Jarvis hosts family concerts for the London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has been seen playing piano, guitar and bell-ringing on Show Me Show Me.
Pantomime
Jarvis has appeared in pantomimes professionally every year since 1995, and prior to that had performed in several as an amateur. Since 2001, he has written and directed many of these pantomimes as well.
Jarvis has been involved with several televised pantomimes on CBeebies, including 2011's Strictly Cinderella (which he co-wrote, and acted as Baron Hardup), 2010's Aladdin (in which he plays Emperor Sho Mee) and 2009's Jack & Jill (which he wrote and appeared in a cameo).
Personal life
Chris Jarvis was born in Romford, London, and grew up in Billericay and Brentwood.
He is the godfather to one of Pui Fan Lee's sons.
He is 5'9" tall.