2000–2006: Garth Marenghi shows and The Mighty Boosh Ayoade co-wrote the stage show ''
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight'' with
Matthew Holness, whom he also met at the Footlights, appearing in the show with Holness at the
Edinburgh Fringe in 2000 where it was nominated for a
Perrier Award. The show saw the debut of Holness' character
Garth Marenghi, a fictional horror writer, and Ayoade's character
Dean Learner, Marenghi's publisher. In 2001, he won the
Perrier Comedy Award for co-writing and performing in ''
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, the sequel to Fright Knight
. In 2004, Ayoade and Holness took the Marenghi character to Channel 4, creating the spoof horror comedy series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Ayoade wrote, directed, and appeared in the series, which saw Marenghi and Learner star in a 1980s television drama that was never broadcast. Learner played Thornton Reed, a hospital administrator. Along with Matt Berry, Ayoade directed, co-wrote and co-starred in AD/BC: A Rock Opera, which parodies life-of-Christ rock operas and aired on BBC Three in December 2004. Ayoade was also a writer on the sketch show Bruiser in 2000, which starred former Footlights president David Mitchell and Robert Webb, and featured Holness. Ayoade was featured in a bit-part as a reporter in the HBO television film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' (2004). After appearing in
Julian Barratt and
Noel Fielding's radio series
The Boosh, Ayoade was part of the original cast of Barratt and Fielding's
The Mighty Boosh television show. He was originally selected to play the role of dangerous villain
Dixon Bainbridge. However, by the time the radio series transferred to television he was under contract by Channel 4 and was only able to act in the pilot before leaving
The Boosh. The part was taken by fellow
Darkplace actor and eventual
IT Crowd co-star
Matt Berry. He later returned in the second series in 2005, to play the part of the belligerent shaman
Saboo. In 2005, he played the role of Ned Smanks in
Chris Morris' and
Charlie Brooker's sitcom
Nathan Barley. Ayoade's Dean Learner character was resurrected in 2006 to host a comedy chat show,
Man to Man with Dean Learner, on Channel 4. The different guests were played each week by Holness. Ayoade appeared in the satirical comedy series
Time Trumpet in 2006, which is set in the year 2031 and saw Ayoade and other celebrities reminiscing about the year 2007 onwards.
2006–2010: The IT Crowd, music videos, and Submarine In February 2006, Ayoade began playing technologically brilliant, but socially awkward, IT technician Maurice Moss in the sitcom
The IT Crowd on Channel 4, appearing with
Chris O'Dowd,
Katherine Parkinson, Chris Morris, and later on, Matt Berry. The series' creator
Graham Linehan wrote the part specifically for Ayoade. In 2008, Ayoade won the award for an outstanding actor in a television comedy series at the
Monte-Carlo Television Festival for his performance. In 2009, Ayoade co-starred with
Joel McHale in the pilot for an American version of
The IT Crowd, reprising his role with the same appearance and personality; however, no series was commissioned, and the pilot never aired. The original
The IT Crowd ran for four seasons until 2010, with a special airing in 2013, for which Ayoade won a
BAFTA for
Best Male Comedy Performance. In 2007, he directed the music videos for the songs "
Fluorescent Adolescent" by
Arctic Monkeys and
Super Furry Animals's "
Run-Away", which starred Matt Berry. The former received a
UK Music Video Award nomination, attributed by Ayoade only to the song being "so good". In 2008, Ayoade directed the music videos for two
Vampire Weekend singles: "
Oxford Comma", filmed in one
long take, That year he also directed videos for
The Last Shadow Puppets songs "
Standing Next to Me" and "
My Mistakes Were Made for You", the latter of which was inspired by
Federico Fellini's
Toby Dammit. He directed a live Arctic Monkeys DVD,
At the Apollo (2008), recorded at the
Manchester Apollo on
super 16mm film. It was previewed at
Vue cinemas across the UK in October 2008 and released on DVD the next month. Ayoade was featured in
Paul King's 2009 film
Bunny and the Bull, playing an extremely boring museum tour guide. That year he also directed two music videos for the Arctic Monkeys, "
Crying Lightning" and "
Cornerstone", and videos for
Kasabian's "
Vlad the Impaler", starring Fielding, and "
Heads Will Roll" by the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In 2010, Ayoade made his debut directorial feature,
Submarine, a
coming-of-age comedy-drama he adapted from
Joe Dunthorne's 2008 novel of the same name. The film stars newcomers
Craig Roberts and
Yasmin Paige with
Sally Hawkins,
Noah Taylor, and
Paddy Considine. It follows Welsh teenager Oliver Tate (Roberts) as he becomes infatuated with a classmate (Paige) and the turmoil of his parents' failing relationship. Produced by
Warp Films and
Film4, it premiered at the
35th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, had a general release in the UK in March 2011, and was released in June in the US after being picked up by
the Weinstein Company for North America. Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets frontman
Alex Turner contributed five original songs to the soundtrack, inspired by
Simon & Garfunkel's music in
The Graduate (1967). Ayoade was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the
65th British Academy Film Awards.
2011–present: Mainstream cinema, satirical writing, and television presenting In 2011, Ayoade directed the
Community episode "
Critical Film Studies" in the comedy show's
second season. The episode pays homage to the 1981 film
My Dinner with Andre and was named the "most brilliant half-hour of TV to arrive in this century" by
Rolling Stone writer
Rob Sheffield. Ayoade then directed a performance of comedian
Tommy Tiernan's world stand-up tour,
Crooked Man, which was released in November 2011. Ayoade provided his voice to the main cast of Channel 4's ill-received animated sitcom
Full English, which aired for just five episodes in 2012 before being cancelled. Ayoade starred opposite
Ben Stiller,
Vince Vaughn, and
Jonah Hill in the science fiction comedy
The Watch as a
neighbourhood watch group that uncovers alien forces threatening the world. The film was not well received by critics, although Ayoade's performance was praised. Keith Phipps of
The A.V. Club felt the film's "brightest spots" came courtesy of Ayoade, while Michael Phillips of the
Chicago Tribune felt Ayoade was "the reason it's not entirely lame". Also in 2012, Ayoade began voicing Todd Lagoona, an anthropomorphic
hammerhead shark who was a recurring character in ''
Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy''. From 2013 to 2014, Ayoade voiced Templeton, the class nerd, in the
CBBC animated series
Strange Hill High. He replaced
Stephen Fry as presenter in the second series of Channel 4's
Gadget Man in September 2013, and also presented a third and fourth season. The series featured Ayoade presenting a variety of innovative products and
gadgets. He was also the host of the spin-off series
Travel Man, where he spent 48 hours in a different location each episode with a celebrity guest. He was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show
Was It Something I Said?, which began airing October 2013 and co-starred
David Mitchell as host and
Micky Flanagan as fellow team captain. Also in 2013, Ayoade read
Roald Dahl's children book
The Twits for
Penguin Audio's
audiobook collection and
Virgin Media launched an advertising campaign starring the Jamaican sprinter
Usain Bolt featuring the voice of Ayoade. He provided the voice-over for Apple's
iPhone 6 UK campaign with Chris O'Dowd in 2014. He also appears on Channel 4's
8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, usually at least once per season. Ayoade's second feature film, the black comedy thriller
The Double, was based on
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1846 novella
The Double; it was written by Ayoade and Avi Korine and stars
Jesse Eisenberg and
Mia Wasikowska. It concerns a timid man who becomes frustrated by the appearance of his charming
doppelgänger, both of whom are played by Eisenberg. drawing comparisons to
Terry Gilliam's
Brazil (1985) in its visuals and narrative. In the
stop-motion animated fantasy film
The Boxtrolls (2014), Ayoade voiced Mr.Pickles, a henchman to the film's antagonist Snatcher (voiced by
Ben Kingsley). Ayoade's first book,
Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey, was published by
Faber and Faber in October 2014. It parodies Faber's
Directors on Directors series, where critically celebrated filmmakers discuss their work, and sees Ayoade conduct several fictional interviews with himself where he discusses his work and enthusiasm for the world of cinema. Ayoade voiced a villainous snowman in several episodes of the
2015 reboot of the animated series
Danger Mouse. In June 2016, he directed a short music video for the
Radiohead song "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief", as part of a series of video vignettes to promote their album
A Moon Shaped Pool. Ayoade took over as host of the Channel4 game show
The Crystal Maze in 2017, following the success of a celebrity charity special revival hosted by
Stephen Merchant. His style of presenting has been described as being "a more cerebral and intense version" of his
IT Crowd character, Maurice Moss. Ayoade made a
cameo appearance in the comedy sequel
Paddington 2 as a
forensic investigator in 2017 and was amongst the voice cast for Vampire Weekend
Ezra Koenig's animated series
Neo Yokio in the same year. His second book,
The Grip Of Film, was published in October 2017. Written in the perspective of clueless film fanatic Gordy LaSure, in its canon is an A-Z of films and what makes them good with footnotes by Ayoade. Beginning in late 2017, he has guest hosted a number of episodes of the panel show
Have I Got News for You. Ayoade starred in an advertisement for
HSBC in 2018, which addressed other countries' cultural impact on the United Kingdom ahead of
Brexit; appearing in four more in the following years Ayoade voiced Treebor, a
Stone Age caveman, in the
Aardman Animations stop-motion comedy
Early Man (2018). From 2018 to 2021, Ayoade voiced Onion, one of the title characters in the
Cartoon Network animated series
Apple & Onion. He also returned to music video directing in 2018, helming the science fiction-inspired video for
The Breeders song
"Spacewoman". Ayoade was featured in a supporting role as a pompous artist in both parts of
Joanna Hogg's two-part drama
The Souvenir. He lent his voice as a talking ice cream cone to the animated comedy sequel
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)–which also featured Noel Fielding– and the English version of the Finnish series
Moominvalley. Ayoade provided voice work for the Star Wars Disney+ series
The Mandalorian (2019) where he voiced the droid Zero in a recurring role. He also lent his voice for the animated adult fantasy sitcom
Disenchantment (2021) on Netflix where he voiced the character Alva Gunderson.
Ayoade on Top, his third book published by Faber and Faber, is a tongue-in-cheek ode to the critically maligned romantic comedy
View from the Top starring
Gwyneth Paltrow. The
Financial Times included
Ayoade on Top in its collection of the best books of 2019 and Ayoade was ranked 33rd of the 50 best
comedians of the 21st century in a 2019 list published by
The Guardian. In May 2020, it was announced that Ayoade would host the
2020 British Academy Television Awards, which was held behind closed doors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. He returned to host the
2021 and
2022 ceremonies. In 2023, Ayoade was announced to direct, writer and star in an adaptation of
George Saunders' short story
The Semplica Girl Diaries that would co-star his wife Lydia Fox, and previous collaborators Ben Stiller and Sally Hawkins. Ayoade featured as two supporting characters in
Wes Anderson's short film
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which premiered on September 1, 2023 at the
80th Venice International Film Festival. Ayoade starred as Doctor Marshall and the Great Yogi. The film is the first in a four-part series of shorts adapted from short stories by
Roald Dahl directed by Anderson. Ayoade additionally acted as the narrator of the third short in the series,
The Rat Catcher, playing a
newspaper editor. Ayoade has continued to work with Anderson, starring as Sergio (a revolutionary guerilla) in
The Phoenician Scheme, released in May 2025. In May 2025, Anderson announced he was working with Ayoade on a script for a future film. Ayoade's 2024 book,
The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, was described by
Sam Leith in
The Guardian as "the narrative of the making of a documentary that never gets made, about a movie that also never got made. Its protagonist-narrator is Richard Ayoade, an alter ego of the author of the book, Richard Ayoade. He's in search of an alter ego of his own – or, at least, a doppelganger.... Its comic tenor is part satirical and part pure whimsy, and it's very beguiling." It was shortlisted for the 2025
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. In March 2025, Ayoade starred in
LOL: Last One Laughing UK. ==Influences==