Born and raised in Fife, Scotland, Calum Waddell made the silly mistake of believing his schoolteachers who told him that further education actually counts for something in the post-Thatcherism/ New Labour UK. As such he wasted five years in further education, gaining a BA (Hons) degree in English and a Masters in Broadcast and Film Studies - qualifications that he begrudgingly describes as ""useless pieces of paper.""