Doc Brown (rapper)

Doc Brown was born Benjamin Harvey Bailey Smith, son of a Jamaican born British citizen, Yvonne Bailey, and an Englishman, Harvey Smith, who was 30 years his wife's senior. Raised in the Willesden area of north-west London, Smith is the younger brother of novelist and essayist Zadie Smith;[1][2] they also have a younger brother Luke, who performs as a professional rapper under the name Luc Skyz.[3][4] Smith attended Hampstead School.[5] Explaining his stage name, he has said: "Doc Brown's been my nickname since school, after the scientist in Back to the Future, because I was gangly and geeky. When I started doing rap battles in my teens, it became my hip-hop handle and it's stuck."[6]

Doc Brown began performing as a battle rapper in 2000, appearing at the Dingwalls nightclub in Camden Lock, and later at the "Jump Off" competition in Soho.[3]

Smith appeared in the BBC series Rev and Miranda, as well as Channel 4's The Inbetweeners, and the CBBC series Big Babies. In 2013 Smith guest starred in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Derek, in which he played a young man sentenced to community service in a nursing home.[3]

He appeared in Ben Miller's film Huge, and co-starred in Other Side of the Game. He wrote music for the 2011 Joe Cornish film Attack the Block.[3]

Smith created a teen comedy-drama for the BBC called 4 O'Clock Club.[3] He starred in the show in series 1, and made guest appearances in series 2–4. Since series 5, his brother writes the raps. The show has currently run for 118 episodes.

Most recently, Smith has delved deeper into dramatic acting, starring in the Frank Spotnitz television show Hunted, a thriller for Cinemax. He went on to shoot an episode of Midsomer Murders and in 2014, he played the role of DS Joe Hawkins in the final series of ITV's Law & Order: UK Also he had a viral song on the TV show Russell Howard's Good News called "My Propertea". Smith has also appeared in new Ann Summers series Brief Encounters.

In 2016, he guest-starred on the BBC One television film Damilola, Our Loved Boy as a taxi driver.[6] He also participated in the second series of the comedy game show Taskmaster, finishing fourth.

In February 2017, he appeared on Dave's Crackanory reading "Devil's Haircut" by Sarah Morgan, then in October, Smith appeared as a guest on Episode 100 of The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Podcast.[7] In late 2017, he performed the role of DS Evans in Sky One's Bounty Hunters.[8]

Smith's love of film means he has been a guest presenter several times on the BBC Radio 5 Live film review show hosted by Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode.[9]

In 2018, Smith appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Tsuranga Conundrum".[10]

In 2020, he played Richie Hansen, an abusive husband, in the second series of BBC TV drama The Split.

In 2022, he played Lieutenant Supervisor Blevin in five episodes of the first series of the Star Wars TV series Andor.[11]

In 2023, he played Simon Blake, in a four-part series of BBC TV drama The Sixth Commandment.

A children's picture book entitled I Am Bear, illustrated by Sav Akyüz, which has been described as "a rap-style read-aloud story", was published by Walker Books in February 2016.[12]

As of May 2014, Smith has been the producer of The Football Ramble Live.

Smith is a supporter of Crystal Palace F.C.[13] He has two daughters.[14]

• Official website
• Doc Brown at IMDb
• Doc Brown at AllMusic
• Doc Brown at British Comedy Guide