Alex Lowe's 92-year-old alter-ego

 Barry from Watford – the 92-year-old character who was a staple of Steve Wright’s Radio 2 show for a decade – is going out on his first tour.

The alter-ego of Alex Lowe, the comedian who also performs as Phoenix Nights’ terrible psychic  Clinton Baptiste,  has announced 17 dates for next year.

Barry was originally created  for Lowe to call in to Iain Lee’s show on the London talk radio station LBC in 2005. He previously performed a live show Shoot From The New Hip at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe – a title he is also using for his new tour.

The show will be illustrated with  archive cine films to tell of his earlier life in Watford in the 1950s evoking ‘a warm nostalgic landscape’. But producers add that just because he’s portraying an old-world British idyll, ‘don’t assume he’s another one of those flag flying mouth-breathers whipped up of late’.

In character, Barry says: ‘I cannot wait to finally bring this show to you all.  Ninety-two years in the making, it’s my entire life - minus the really tedious bits – a chance to lift your heads out of your smart phones and see what living a life really means.’

‘As for the touring, I am really looking forward to being at different venues all over the country.  Obviously, it’s not much fun being away from the loving embrace of my gentle demure wife but on the other hand I do love them big fatty "full Englishes"  you get in the hotels of a morning.  So, every cloud…’

Barry from Watford made  regular appearances  as the resident lifestyle coach  on Steve Wright in the Afternoon or ten years from 2009. He also starred in Cheap Cheap Cheap, the Noel Edmonds gameshow which The Daily Telegraph called ‘the most tragically weird show ever made’ and The Late Edition on BBC4 with Marcus Brigstocke.

He also made the sitcom Barry’s Lunch Club for Radio 4 and he co-hosts the long-running podcast Angelos and Barry, now on Patreon.

The  new tour show features archive films from the collection of Harrod Baim, who was  prolific producer of 35mm short features for UK cinema release, sometimes called ‘quota quickies’ because they helped venues meet legal requirements for the minimum number of UK-made productions shown. 

His early films featured variety and  music hall acts, while later films were mainly colourful travelogues, with commentaries by the likes of Telly Savalas, Nicholas Parsons and Terry Wogan.

Tickets for Barry From Watford’s tour will go on sale on Friday.

» Barry ​From Watford tour dates

Published: 15 Sep 2025