Derren was born in the northern fishing town of Hull, East Yorkshire, left school at 17 with no formal qualifications and started a career as a professional magician.   At 20 years old he was offered a place on the 3 year acting course of the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama beating some 3,000 other applicants for one of just 28 places.   After leaving drama school in 1993 he worked for 10 years as an actor in both theatre and television, appearing in many TV shows including “French & Saunders”, “Doc Marten”, “Casualty”, “Perfect World”, “Heartbeat”, “Green Wing”, “Spaced”, “Eastenders”, “A Touch of Frost”, “Pie In The Sky” and countless TV commercials.

In 2003 he embarked on a writing career encouraged by his drama school friend Catherine Tate.  Derren was the main co-writer and co-star of BBC2’s “The Catherine Tate Show” for 2 series and a Christmas Special.  After its success and a stint writing for John Sullivan, Derren was asked by legendary comedy producer Geoffrey Perkins to write his own show and “Benidorm” was born.

Series one was nominated for a BAFTA and the subsequent series have won a multitude of awards including National Television Awards, Radio Times Best Comedy Show, TV Choice Awards and a Royal Television Society Award.  During the 10 years of “Benidorm”’s run on ITV, Derren has also found time to write for Harry Enfield, Lee Mack, Dame Edna Everage, make the one off series “The Spa” for Sky and write a special episode of legendary sitcom “Are You Being Served”.

The tenth and final series of “Benidorm” aired in early 2018 on ITV and features Derren’s television directing debut. This was followed by a hugely successful stage version of the show, “Benidorm Live” which toured the UK and Ireland for eight months to rave reviews. Derren’s last TV series, “Scarborough”, for BBC1 starred Jason Manford, Catherine Tyldsley and Stephanie Cole and earned a nomination for ‘Best New Comedy’ at the 2019 National Television Awards.

Spending his time equally between homes in Spain and London, Derren’s hobbies include eating, drinking and the ancient Japanese art of karaoke.

Represented by Vivienne Clore