imagine…

Jo Brand: No Holds Barred. Boldly outspoken, fearlessly funny and unfailingly kind, Jo Brand has become one of Britain’s best-loved comedians.

Brand burst onto the nation’s largely-male stand-up comedy scene in the 1980s, dressed in baggy black outfits, Doctor Martin boots and calling herself "the sea monster". In doing so, she revolutionised what women could be - and say - on stage. Jo went on to achieve national treasure status as a regular host on Have I Got News for You and Extra Slice.

From her working-class roots in South London, through her teenage-tearaway years in Hasting (when her parents became so frustrated with her behaviour that they threw her out aged 16) to the decade that she spent as a psychiatric nurse, Jo’s journey into comedy has not been an easy one.

imagine… goes behind the scenes with Brand as she presents Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz on Radio 4 - and accompanies her on the book tour circuit, as she promotes her latest book, Born Lippy: How To Do Female, which takes on everything from surviving family life to issues surrounding the female body, and how to deal with heckling.

Brand has been a trailblazer for women on screen. Not only has she broken through into the tough world of stand-up comedy (changing it forever in the process), but has demonstrated enormous diversity (acting, writing and performing, factual, drama and comedy) shattering stereotypes of what women on television should look, be and sound like.

Contributors include Peter Capaldi, Alan Davies, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Mark Thomas, Mary Beard, Morwenna Banks and Ian Hislop.

Imagine… Jo Brand: No holds Barred is a BBC Studios production. The exec producer is Tanya Hudson and Series Editor and presenter is Alan Yentob. Mark Bell is the commissioning editor for the BBC.

Publicity contact: PD