Young Once

A Life Less Heavy

Nigel Planer

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

John Murray Publishers Ltd
06 January 2026

Individual actors & performers; Autobiography: arts & entertainment; Memoirs

Aged twenty-five, dressed as Che Guevara, Nigel Planer answers an ad for a room and his life changes for ever.

Both a memoir and a love story, Young Once follows his journey, from bell-ringer to gravedigger, from university dropout to long-term patient of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and all the other bizarre events that shape him, until the day he meets Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a former strip club and the 1980s Comedy Revolution is born . . .

Often mistaken (even by his mother) for Neil, the hippy character he creates, by 1986 Nigel has become so well-known he often has to leave the house via the kitchen window. It's lucky that he has always had a talent for seeing the funny side of things: whether it's dealing with 20-foot-eclair-related injuries or being cajoled into Band Aid by Bob Geldof; gatecrashing a rave with Robin Williams or crashing into the set on Top of the Pops; becoming a grandfather at twenty-nine or being rescued from disaster by musical theatre.

Against a backdrop of squats, Glastonbury and roller discos, with a supporting cast that includes Lemmy, a stony-faced Robert de Niro and French and Saunders, Young Once is a wildly entertaining and gloriously sideways glimpse into a remarkable life and career. It's also an object lesson in why you should never give up looking for your Happy Ever After. It might well turn out to be right in front of you.

By: Nigel Planer
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781399826693
ISBN 10: 1399826697
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 06 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Nigel Planer is a comedian and actor, best known for the characters Neil the hippy in The Young Ones and Nicholas Craig of the 'Naked Actor' Masterclass. Starring in many TV shows and West End musicals, he has won Mastermind and a BRIT award, hovered at No.2 for six weeks in the pop charts (damn you, Frankie Goes to Hollywood!) and been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage, and BAFTA awards. He has also written novels, plays and poetry and voiced Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. He lives in London with his wife, Roberta. Between them they have four children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.