Mark Burton (born 23 September 1960) is a British television writer, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and film director. After turning up at BBC Radio's Light Entertainment Department, Burton teamed up with John O'Farrell, and the two were commissioned for Week Ending by Harry Thompson (who later named his two pet rats Burton and O'Farrell). The pair won the BBCLight Entertainment Contract Award and went on to write or contribute to a number of radio series, including Little Blighty on the Down, McKay the New, and with Pete Sinclair, the multi-award-winning A Look Back at the Nineties and Look Back at the Future, in which Burton also performed. Burton also created the BBC Radio 4 panel game We've Been Here Before, presented by Clive Anderson. Burton and O’Farrell were commissioned for Spitting Image in 1988, and the following year they became two of the lead writers on the show. They also wrote for Clive Anderson Talks Back, Nick Hancock on Room 101, Murder Most Horrid, and co-wrote some of the Heads to Heads for Alas Smith and Jones. In 1993, they left Spitting Image and became the first writers credited for the scripted parts of Have I Got News For You? Also for Hat Trick Productions, they wrote a BBC1 sitcom The Peter Principle starring Jim Broadbent (known as The Boss in the US).
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