Jonathan Dimbleby
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Dimbleby is a British presenter of current affairs
and political radio
and television program
mes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby
and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby
.
, a boys' Independent school
in Surrey
. Later, he studied Farm Management at the Royal Agricultural College
and graduated in 1965. He read Philosophy
at University College London
and graduated in 1969. He is an Honorary Fellow of UCL. In July 2008 he was made an Honorary Graduate of the University of Exeter.
as a reporter where he also presented The World This Weekend
. In 1972 he joined ITV's flagship current affairs programme This Week
. Over the following six years he reported from crises in many parts of the world. His coverage of the 1973 Ethiopian famine - The Unknown Famine - was followed by TV and radio appeals which raised a record sum nationally and internationally. His report (for which he won the SFTA Richard Dimbleby Award) contributed to the overthrow of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. In 1978 he wrote and presented the ITV series Jonathan Dimbleby In South America. In 1979 he joined Yorkshire Television
where he wrote and presented three ITV network series - The Bomb (1979), The Eagle and The Bear, (1980) and The Cold War Game (1981). He also presented the ITV documentary series First Tuesday
. In 1985 he joined TV-am
as presenter of Jonathan Dimbleby on Sunday. In 1986 he returned to ITV as presenter of This Week. In 1987 he joined the BBC to present the new flagship political programme On the Record (1987–92). In 1995 he wrote, presented and co-produced two documentary series, The Prince of Wales - The Private Man, The Public Face (ITV 1994) and The Last Governor - the story of the last five years of British rule in Hong Kong
(BBC 1, 1997). In 1995 he re-joined ITV to present the new flagship political programme, Jonathan Dimbleby (1995–2006). He also anchored ITV's general election coverage in 1997, 2001 and 2005. More recently, with the help and support of his brother, he wrote and presented Russia with Jonathan Dimbleby (BBC2 2008) and An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby.
For BBC Radio 4 he has presented Any Questions?
since 1987 and Any Answers?
since 1988.
. He is president of Voluntary Service Overseas
(VSO). He is also Vice-President (and past President) of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and a trustee of Dimbleby Cancer Care. He wrote the forewords for "The Organic Directory: Your Guide to Buying Natural Foods" in 1999 and "The Origins of the Organic Movement" in 2001.
Dimbleby is also Chairman of Index on Censorship.
Dimbleby is also President of the South Hams Society South Hams Society.
war correspondent Richard Dimbleby
, who was later to become presenter of the BBC TV current affairs programme Panorama
, and the younger brother of David Dimbleby
, also a current affairs commentator and presenter of BBC programmes. Jonathan wrote a biography of his father in 1975.
For thirty-five years, Dimbleby was married to fellow author Bel Mooney
. They have two adult children, Kitty, who works for the charity Help For Heroes and Daniel, a television producer. In 2003 he began a relationship with the operatic soprano, Susan Chilcott
with whom he lived until her death from breast cancer three months later, in September, 2003. The following year the Dimblebys announced their separation. In 2007 he married Jessica Ray. They have two children, Daisy (3) and Gwendolen (1).
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
and political radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
mes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby CBE was an English journalist and broadcaster widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British broadcasting history.-Early life:...
and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...
.
Education
Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse SchoolCharterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, a boys' Independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Later, he studied Farm Management at the Royal Agricultural College
Royal Agricultural College
The Royal Agricultural College is a higher education institution located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English speaking world...
and graduated in 1965. He read Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and graduated in 1969. He is an Honorary Fellow of UCL. In July 2008 he was made an Honorary Graduate of the University of Exeter.
TV and radio career
Dimbleby began his career at the BBC in Bristol in 1969. In 1970 he joined The World at OneThe World At One
The World at One, or WATO for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, which is broadcast from 1pm to 1:30pm from Monday to Friday. The programme describes itself as "Britain's leading political programme. With a reputation for rigorous and original...
as a reporter where he also presented The World This Weekend
The World This Weekend
The World This Weekend was launched on 17 September 1967. It is a weekly news and current affairs programme broadcast from 1pm to 1:30pm on BBC Radio 4 every Sunday, essentially the Sunday version of The World at One....
. In 1972 he joined ITV's flagship current affairs programme This Week
This Week (ITV TV series)
This Week was a weekly current affairs series first produced for ITV in January 1956 by Associated-Rediffusion , running until 1978, when it was replaced by TV Eye...
. Over the following six years he reported from crises in many parts of the world. His coverage of the 1973 Ethiopian famine - The Unknown Famine - was followed by TV and radio appeals which raised a record sum nationally and internationally. His report (for which he won the SFTA Richard Dimbleby Award) contributed to the overthrow of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. In 1978 he wrote and presented the ITV series Jonathan Dimbleby In South America. In 1979 he joined Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
where he wrote and presented three ITV network series - The Bomb (1979), The Eagle and The Bear, (1980) and The Cold War Game (1981). He also presented the ITV documentary series First Tuesday
First Tuesday (documentary strand)
First Tuesday or This World was a monthly television documentary strand, shown in the United Kingdom on the ITV network. The subject matter was mainly social issues and current affairs stories from around the world. It ran from 5 April 1983 to 2 November 1993, with programme being shown on the...
. In 1985 he joined TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
as presenter of Jonathan Dimbleby on Sunday. In 1986 he returned to ITV as presenter of This Week. In 1987 he joined the BBC to present the new flagship political programme On the Record (1987–92). In 1995 he wrote, presented and co-produced two documentary series, The Prince of Wales - The Private Man, The Public Face (ITV 1994) and The Last Governor - the story of the last five years of British rule in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(BBC 1, 1997). In 1995 he re-joined ITV to present the new flagship political programme, Jonathan Dimbleby (1995–2006). He also anchored ITV's general election coverage in 1997, 2001 and 2005. More recently, with the help and support of his brother, he wrote and presented Russia with Jonathan Dimbleby (BBC2 2008) and An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby.
For BBC Radio 4 he has presented Any Questions?
Any Questions?
Any Questions? is a topical debate radio programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:It is broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on Friday evenings and repeated on Saturday afternoons, when it is followed by a phone-in response programme, Any Answers?, previously a postal response slot...
since 1987 and Any Answers?
Any Answers?
Any Answers? is the companion programme to BBC Radio 4's Any Questions?, in which a panel of notable figures drawn from politics, media or the arts are asked for their views on current affairs by members of a studio audience....
since 1988.
Writing and other activities
Richard Dimbleby: A Biography (1975), The Palestinians (1978), The Prince of Wales: A Biography (1994), The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong (1997), Russia - A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People (2008).Other work
Dimbleby wanted to be a farmer when he left school and he worked on the Royal Farm, Windsor and trained as a showjumper. For a number of years he ran an organic farm near Bath. He is also Vice-President (former President) of the Soil AssociationSoil Association
The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...
. He is president of Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas is an international development charity that works through experienced volunteers living and working as equals alongside local partners. It is the largest independent volunteer-sending organization in the world...
(VSO). He is also Vice-President (and past President) of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and a trustee of Dimbleby Cancer Care. He wrote the forewords for "The Organic Directory: Your Guide to Buying Natural Foods" in 1999 and "The Origins of the Organic Movement" in 2001.
Dimbleby is also Chairman of Index on Censorship.
Dimbleby is also President of the South Hams Society South Hams Society.
Family
Dimbleby is the son of the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
war correspondent Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby CBE was an English journalist and broadcaster widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British broadcasting history.-Early life:...
, who was later to become presenter of the BBC TV current affairs programme Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
, and the younger brother of David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...
, also a current affairs commentator and presenter of BBC programmes. Jonathan wrote a biography of his father in 1975.
For thirty-five years, Dimbleby was married to fellow author Bel Mooney
Bel Mooney
Bel Mooney is an English journalist and broadcaster born in Liverpool.-Early life:She was born in Broadgreen Hospital to Gladys Norbury and Edward Mooney. She initially grew up in Liverpool on a council estate called The Green on Queen's Drive...
. They have two adult children, Kitty, who works for the charity Help For Heroes and Daniel, a television producer. In 2003 he began a relationship with the operatic soprano, Susan Chilcott
Susan Chilcott
Susan Chilcott was an English soprano, considered one of the best of her generation. She died of breast cancer at the age of 40...
with whom he lived until her death from breast cancer three months later, in September, 2003. The following year the Dimblebys announced their separation. In 2007 he married Jessica Ray. They have two children, Daisy (3) and Gwendolen (1).
External links
- Dimbleby's Russia website
- Russia (BBC Documentary) on IMDB
- Jonathan Dimbleby biography at BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
- Index on Censorship
- Jonathan Dimbleby on IMDB