Ben Elton is an atheist. Elton studied at Stillness Junior School and Godalming Grammar School in Surrey, South Warwickshire College in Stratford-upon-Avon and the University of Manchester. His first television appearance was a stand-up performance on the BBC1 youth and music programme, The "Oxford Road Show". His first TV success, at 23, came as co-writer of the television sitcom, "The Young Ones", in which he occasionally appeared. In 1983/84 he wrote and appeared in Granada Television's sketch show "Alfresco", which was also notable for early appearances by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane. In 1985, Elton produced his first
I Was a Teenage Zombie Fleshtones, and the subsequent video was given rotation on MTV. Other bands and artists appearing on the film's soundtrack include: The Del Fuegos, The dB's, Dream Syndicate, the Violent Femmes, The Waitresses, The Smithereens, Los Lobos, Alex Chilton and the Ben Vaughn Group. The original soundtrack record is out of print. Writing in the "Zombie Movie Encyclopedia", academic Peter Dendle called it an "irreverent amateur parody of high school romance films in the "Sixteen Candles" tradition." Dendle cited the film as one of the forebears of the zombie romantic comedy trend of the 1980s and 1990s. I Was a Teenage