David Tristram

If you live in or around the Black Country then you will have found it hard to miss the infamous Doreen Tipton. The self-confessed ‘lazy cow’ Doreen has become a YouTube sensation thanks to her blunt, direct and brutally honest (if not slight flawed) comedy take on anything from politics to Benefits Street.

The writer behind the character is playwright David Tristram who, along with Cheslyn Hay actress Gill Jordan, bring their dark and hilarious Black Country humour and observations to the character.

As well as YouTube, and Doreen’s own TV Channel, there has been a film ‘Doreen - The Movie’, stage shows and an autobiography with demand for the character keeping David very busy. “Doreen-mania seems to be sweeping everywhere and it’s great,” commented David at the launch of the film in 2015. “It’s fantastic for the Black Country and people can be proud to hear the Black Country accents and witness the sense of humour on the big screen.”

Doreen was recently voted “Best Midlands Entertainment Personality” by What’s On readers (beating a shortlist of internationally-known names such as Dame Julie Walters, and Sir Lenny Henry), also listed by Ents24.com in Top Ten of Rising New Comedy Stars and winner of Best Newcomer at the Great British Panto Awards in London.

David is well-versed in screen and playwriting with over 30 years experience and writer of 25 published comedy plays which have been translated into many languages and performed thousands of times all over the world, including professional theatre productions in Italy, Austria, Mexico, Argentina, Greece, South Africa, Turkey and many other diverse countries.

On average, there are at least 2-3 David Tristram plays being performed somewhere in the world every single night of the year. In 2015 David was honoured with the title of the UK’s most popular comedy playwright by the world’s biggest agent and publisher of plays, Samuel French Limited of London and New York after the company analysed performances of authors across different genres.