Stephen Hall is an Australian actor, writer and producer.
Career
Television
Hall's career in television includes acting, writing and production duties. He has appeared in the long-running television series Neighbours, and in 2008 he performed the role of Warren in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television comedy series The Hollowmen He has also appeared in telemovies, including The King, playing the role of Bert Newton. As a producer, he worked on the Australian version of the game show Deal or No Deal. As a TV writer he has worked on many Australian comedy and light entertainment TV productions, such as BackBerner, Big Bite, Full Frontal, and Spicks and Specks. He was a writer on the third series of the weekly satirical comedy programme Newstopia, broadcast on SBS in 2008. From 2009 to 2012, Hall served as head writer on the comedy game show Talkin' 'bout Your Generation. In 2013, he wrote for ABC-TV's weekly satirical comedy show Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell, and Adam Hills Tonight series 2, of which he was also the Studio Producer. As of 2014, Hall is a regular cast member on Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell, with popular characters including the political spokesman Darius Horsham. As of 2018, he voiced The Nazz in the kids TV series, Kitty Is Not a Cat.
Hall starred in the original Australian professional production of Monty Python's Spamalot in 2007, playing the roles of Lancelot, The French Taunter, Tim The Enchanter and The Head Knight of "Ni". In 2011, Hall co-wrote the comedy stage show Bond-A-Rama! Every James Bond Film Live On Stage, in which he played the roles of Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The show was a sell out, prompting a second season in 2012. In 2013, Hall wrote, produced and performed in the one man stage show Raiders of the Temple of Doom's Last Crusade; One Man Performs Three Indiana Jones Movies in One Hour, for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The show was then revived for a successful season in the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In March 2016, John Cleese cast Hall as Basil Fawlty in Cleese's own stage adaptation of his TV series 'Fawlty Towers'. 'Fawlty Towers Live' opened in Sydney at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in August 2016, and toured Australia, running for 157 performances before finishing in Brisbane on 22 January 2017. The show received favourable reviews in each city it played in.
Radio
In 2015 Hall was a guest star in the second series of Australian science fictionaudio dramaNight Terrace, playing the dual roles of Francisco de Cuellar and Sir Francis Drake in the episode "The Retirement of Horatio Gray". Originally available only as a digital download, the series was later broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra as part of their "7th Dimension" programme.
Author
In September 2015, Hall released his first eBook , which is a 198 page compilation of winning tips, hints and techniques plus interviews with game show champions, hosts, producers and question writers. From May 2019 to May 2020, Hall wrote the first draft of his first novel Symphony Under Siege, releasing a new chapter online each week, at . There are plans to publish an eBook version of the novel, after it has been edited. During its writing, Hall also kept a weekly video diary chronicling the experiment.
Quiz show champion
In August 16 - 24, 2005, Hall completed and won seven nights on the quiz show Temptation, becoming the program's second Grand Champion, and the second largest quiz or game show winner in Australian television history, winning $672,357 in cash and prizes. The following year, he won the title of "Australia's Brainiest Quiz Master" on the Australian TV program of the same name and appeared as part of The Brains Trust on The Einstein Factor. Since 2013, he has run the blog www.howtowingameshows.com, which aims to provide tips and hints for winning game shows.
