Atalla was born into a middle-class family in Cairo, Egypt.[2] He caught the polio virus as a baby and uses a wheelchair. He emigrated to London due to his father's job.[3] He read business and finance at the University of Bath. He briefly worked as a stockbroker and a currency trader before, at 22, he found unpaid work on BBC Watchdog.[3]
Career
Atalla made his first appearance on television in 1999, when he co-presented a Channel 4 series on disability, Freak Out. In 2001, he produced the sitcom The Office. Atalla joined the production company Talkback Thames in 2004 as Head of Comedy and produced both the science spoof Look Around You for BBC2, and the third series of Bo Selecta! In 2005, he devised and began work on Man Stroke Woman, a comedy sketch show about "growing up", which aired from 2005 to 2007. He also produced The IT Crowd (2006–2010).
