Alumni

Rapper, singer and actor, Example returns to the Media Arts Department at Royal Holloway to talk about his degree, graduating and 'making it'. The film was shot and edited by current Royal Holloway 3rd year students in our TV Studio, Production Facility and around our beautiful Egham Campus.

Watch Example’s video about Royal Holloway.

As the singer and rapper Example, Elliot Gleave is now a firm festival favourite and stadium headliner.

He first found success with the release of his second album Won't Go Quietly, which reached number four in the UK Albums Chart in 2010 and featured two Top Ten singles, Won't Go Quietly and Kickstarts.

His third album Playing in the Shadows was released in 2011 and debuted at Number One with singles Changed the Way You Kiss Me and Stay Awake.

He says he discovered the joys of rapping in the sound booths at Royal Holloway and also started making films whilst on his Media Arts course. Elliot came back to the University to play the student summer ball in 2010.

He is involved with charity work and is an ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust. In November 2013 he visited India with the Life Water charity on their "Drop4drop" campaign to introduce fresh water.

One of the most beloved faces on British television, Lenny is an actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.

He has fronted a variety of comedy television series and starred in sitcoms such as Chef. As a founder of Comic Relief, he has hosted the show and presented filmed reports from overseas on the work of the charity.

He has made notable appearances in Shakespearean roles, firstly as Othello for Northern Broadsides and then in The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre.

He was knighted in the Queen's 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. In July 2016 he became the chancellor of Birmingham City University to help inspire young people in the West Midlands to get into learning.

Lenny was awarded the BAFTA Television: Special Award in 2016.

Simon has produced a variety of television sitcoms, most notably Men Behaving Badly starring Martin Clunes.

He co-wrote the animated film Flushed Away (2006) and Reggie Perrin (again with Martin Clunes) and wrote the latest Just William television series. In 2010 he wrote the Amy's Choice episode of Doctor Who as well as all of the ITV pantos.

In recent years he has focused on translating dramatic works. Moliére’s Don Juan was first performed at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London.

He achieved considerable success with ITV's The Durrells (2006), an adaptation of Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy, starring Keeley Hawes. He had brought the Durrells to the small screen once before, adapting My Family and Other Animals for the BBC in 2005.

He also recently adapted the classic BBC comedy The Good Life for the stage.