Noah's got a very interesting familial make up. His mother, Patricia, is a black South African. His father, Robert Noah, is white and of Swiss-German descent. At the time of his birth, it was still illegal for black and white couples to...well, exist. Obviously, his mother being the black woman in the relationship meant that she got thrown in jail and fined for their relationship. His early years have played into his comedy ever since, with Noah playing on his experiences as a mixed-race kid in apartheid South Africa and even now, when many of the prejudices and mindsets of that era still live on as a way to comment on both sides of the racial divide, being given privileged access to each. That background also means that he's multi-lingual. The guy is incredibly smart, and his parentage means that he can speak English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Tswana, Tsonga and Xhosa, the language of a Bantu ethnic group in Southern Africa that also counts Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu amongst its people. Except they didn't speak German.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
