My Dream Job | Alex Parker

By Alex Parker

Have you seen the outtakes of Horrible Histories? It is hilarious. A bunch of adults farting about in historical costumes, often collapsing in hysterics. Check it out here.

Sadly, Horrible Histories was cancelled after the fifth series, with producers citing concerns around finding suitable historical material, but if it ever comes back I’ll be there with bells on! Because to be an actor on Horrible Histories is my dream job! Why?

I Heart History - I was a history teacher for good reason! Now that I’m in marketing I’m forced to foist my historical facts on my very patient colleagues, so the more horrible histories and documentaries I watch, the less they suffer!

Fun - Granted, the actors have spoken about freezing their proverbials off in a chalk quarry (for Greek week), but if you watch the outtakes or have seen the show I’m sure you’ll agree that they’re having a ball!

Silly - Ben Willbond (also the Captain in ‘Ghosts’) said they were all ‘a lot of idiots being equally stupid’. I’m not saying I like being stupid, but if I had to choose between ‘formal, stuffy and corporate’ marketing or ‘informal, chatty and personable’ marketing, I’d choose the latter almost every time.

Storytelling - We’ve been telling stories to each other since we could talk, and I suppose that’s one of the reasons I love telling the stories of my schools and their students’ amazing and everyday achievements.

Unsung Heroes - Horrible Histories brought lesser known individuals to light. Every school I work for has those heroes too. They might not be a sports captain extraordinaire, but their successes are just as worthy of celebration.

Dressing Up - I’m not embarrassed to admit I enjoy a fancy dress party. If you’ve not seen my ‘Austin Powers’ or ‘Goose’ from Top Gun (bit dark), where have you been?

After 5 BAFTAs and 2 British Comedy Awards (among many others), I really do hope that Horrible Histories returns to our screens, and if there’s wind of another series I’ll be off to audition before you can say Rotten Romans!

In the meantime I’ll stick to rewatching old episodes, Ghosts, and my also extremely enjoyable day job of marketing the hell out of the incredible school communities we serve, helping them to make their own (not at all horrible) history.

www.meritomarketing.co.uk