Bobby Davro: The Life and Career of a Classic British Entertainer

NextVol4 weeks agoLast Updated: August 26, 2026

27 6 minutes read

Bobby Davro is a familiar name to anyone who followed British television comedy during the 1980s and 1990s. Known for his energetic impressions, quick jokes, and larger-than-life personality, Davro became a regular presence on prime-time entertainment shows. His career has included stand-up comedy, impression shows, acting, game-show presenting, reality television, pantomime, and live performances.

Born Robert Christopher Nankeville, Davro built his reputation at a time when television variety entertainment was a major part of British popular culture. His ability to imitate famous personalities helped him stand out, but his appeal was never based on impressions alone. He developed into an all-round entertainer who could move between sketches, presenting, acting, and audience interaction with apparent ease.

Later generations may know Bobby Davro from EastEnders, Dancing on Ice, or Celebrity Big Brother rather than his original television comedy shows. That variety says a lot about his longevity. While British entertainment has changed dramatically since his breakthrough, Davro has repeatedly found ways to remain part of the industry.

Table of Contents

Quick Bio

Fact	Details
Professional Name	Bobby Davro
Birth Name	Robert Christopher Nankeville
Date of Birth	13 September 1958
Birthplace	Ashford, Middlesex, England
Profession	Comedian, actor, impressionist and presenter
Television Breakthrough	Live from Her Majesty’s in 1983
Famous Comedy Work	Copy Cats, Bobby Davro on the Box
Soap Role	Vinnie Monks in EastEnders
Father	Athlete Bill Nankeville
Known For	Impressions, stand-up, television and live entertainment

Bobby Davro’s Early Life and Start in Entertainment

Bobby Davro was born Robert Christopher Nankeville in Middlesex, England. Entertainment was not the only notable profession in his family. His father, Bill Nankeville, was a successful middle-distance runner who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games and became an accomplished British athletics champion.

Davro gradually developed his own talents in a completely different field. Rather than following his father into professional sport, he became interested in comedy and impressions. His ability to recreate the voices and mannerisms of familiar celebrities gave him a strong foundation for performing in clubs and eventually on television.

He made his television debut in the early 1980s, but the major turning point came when he appeared on Live from Her Majesty’s in 1983. The appearance gave him national exposure and helped establish him as one of the promising new impressionists of the period. From there, television opportunities began arriving far more regularly.

Bobby Davro’s Rise to Television Fame

The 1980s became Bobby Davro’s defining television decade. He joined Copy Cats, a sketch and impressions programme that gave performers the opportunity to imitate some of the biggest personalities in British entertainment. Davro’s combination of impressions and physical comedy suited the format perfectly.

His success eventually led to programmes built around his own personality. Bobby Davro on the Box arrived in the mid-1980s and was followed by shows including Bobby Davro’s TV Annual, Bobby Davro’s TV Weekly, Bobby in Wonderland, Davro’s Sketch Pad, and Davro. The number of programmes demonstrates just how visible he became during this period.

Davro worked in an era when Saturday-night entertainment often combined comedy sketches, celebrity impressions, music, and variety acts. His style was ideally suited to that environment. He could move rapidly from one character to another while keeping the performance light, energetic, and accessible to a mainstream family audience.

Comedy, Impressions and Bobby Davro’s Performance Style

Impressionists need more than an accurate voice to make an audience laugh. The best impressions usually exaggerate a recognizable habit, facial expression, vocal pattern, or personality trait. Bobby Davro became particularly effective at turning celebrity characteristics into short comic performances rather than simply copying voices.

His comedy also reflected the fast-moving entertainment style of British television at the time. Instead of relying entirely on long stand-up routines, Davro could work through sketches, visual jokes, musical material, character comedy, and direct interaction with an audience. That flexibility made him useful across several television formats.

Another important part of Davro’s appeal has always been his enthusiasm as a performer. His shows rarely depended on a quiet or understated style. He performs with visible energy, which translates particularly well to live entertainment and pantomime. That stage experience has helped him maintain a career even as television comedy has moved away from the traditional variety-show format that originally made him famous.

EastEnders and Bobby Davro as an Actor

Bobby Davro surprised some viewers when he entered the world of soap opera. In 2007, he joined EastEnders as Vinnie Monks, giving audiences the opportunity to see him playing a recurring fictional character rather than appearing primarily as himself or performing impressions.

Vinnie became connected with Shirley Carter and appeared regularly in Albert Square during Davro’s time on the programme. Davro remained with EastEnders through 2008, appearing in dozens of episodes. The role demonstrated that his abilities could extend beyond sketch comedy and presenting.

The move was significant because audiences had spent years associating Davro with quick jokes and impressions. Soap acting required him to remain inside one character over multiple episodes and storylines. Although Vinnie Monks did not become a permanent fixture of the soap, the role remains one of Davro’s best-known acting credits.

Reality Television and Later Career

As traditional variety television became less common, Bobby Davro began appearing in newer entertainment formats. He participated in Dancing on Ice in 2010 and later competed in Your Face Sounds Familiar in 2013. In 2015, he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house, introducing his personality to another generation of television viewers.

These appearances helped keep Davro familiar to audiences who may not have watched his original programmes. Reality and celebrity television place performers in a very different environment from scripted comedy, but Davro’s ability to entertain spontaneously made him a natural fit for programmes built around recognizable personalities.

Television, however, is only part of his later career. Davro has continued performing live and has appeared regularly in pantomimes over the years. His live career has included productions of Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, and other family shows. He also toured with the stage show Everything is Funny if You Can Laugh at It in 2025.

Why Bobby Davro Remains a Recognizable British Entertainer

One reason Bobby Davro has remained recognizable for so long is that his career has never depended on just one television programme. His peak years as an impressionist brought him national fame, but he later worked as an actor, television contestant, host, stand-up performer, and pantomime entertainer.

His career also represents a particular period in British television history. Variety programmes and impression shows once occupied valuable prime-time slots, creating stars who could sing, joke, imitate celebrities, perform sketches, and speak directly to large studio audiences. Davro was particularly well suited to that style.

At the same time, he has shown an ability to adapt. Moving from Bobby Davro on the Box to EastEnders, reality television, game shows, and modern live tours requires considerable flexibility. Even when the platforms changed, the central idea behind his career remained the same: entertaining an audience through humor and personality.

Conclusion

Bobby Davro has enjoyed a career that stretches across several different eras of British entertainment. Starting as a comedian and impressionist, he became a major television personality during the 1980s before expanding into acting, presenting, reality television, pantomime, and live comedy.

His role as Vinnie Monks in EastEnders showed a different side of his abilities, while appearances on programmes such as Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Big Brother helped introduce him to audiences who had not experienced his original Saturday-night shows.

What makes Bobby Davro’s career interesting is its resilience. Entertainment trends have changed considerably since his breakthrough in 1983, yet he has continued performing and connecting with audiences. His career remains a strong example of how versatility can help an entertainer survive long after the television format that originally made them famous has disappeared.