Jonathan Maitland is a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 broadcaster, writer and author.

Early life

He was educated at Epsom College

Epsom College

Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...

, and holds a law degree from King's College London

King's College London

King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

.

Journalism

Maitland started his journalism career as a reporter on a local freesheet, The Sutton Guardian.

Maitland reported for BBC Radio Bristol

BBC Radio Bristol

BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC Local Radio service for the English city of Bristol and the surrounding former Avon area. Launched in September 1970, it broadcasts from Broadcasting House in Bristol on FM frequencies 94.9 MHz , 104.6 MHz , 103.6 MHz , on AM 1548 kHz and on DAB.The...

 from 1986–88 and BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC 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...

's Today programme from 1988-94.

Maitland made his name in the 1990s with establishment baiting reports on Watchdog

Watchdog (TV series)

Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers' reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK...

. In one short film he poked fun at golf club dress codes. This involved him donning deer antlers and a leather mini skirt.

He has presented various TV shows including the BBC's Watchdog

Watchdog (TV series)

Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers' reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK...

, House Of Horrors, The Man In The Van and Vote For Me, all on ITV. He currently presents and reports for the ITV1 flagship current affairs show Tonight

Tonight (TV series)

Tonight is a British television newsmagazine, produced by ITV Studios and ITN for the ITV network. Since 1999, Tonight replaced the long-running investigative series World in Action...

.

Writing

He has written five books including How to Make your Million from the Internet (and what to if you don't), which detailed his attempt to make a million from the dot com boom by mortgaging his house for £50,000 - he failed. How to Survive your Mother described his unconventional childhood in suburban Surrey. His mother turned the family home into a hotel for homosexuals when he was 13, simultaneously announcing that she had six months to live. The film rights were bought by ITV but have now expired.

He also co-authored the authorised biography of singer Eva Cassidy

Eva Cassidy

Eva Marie Cassidy was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996...

 with television producer Rob Burley.

He writes occasionally for newspapers and magazines.

Maitland has dabbled in comedy, having written one-off sketches with, or for, Chris Morris

Chris Morris (satirist)

Christopher Morris is an English satirist, writer, director and actor. A former radio DJ, he is best known for anchoring the spoof news and current affairs television programmes The Day Today and Brass Eye, as well as his frequent engagement with controversial subject matter.In 2010 Morris...

, Rory Bremner

Rory Bremner

Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner, FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire...

 and Alistair McGowan

Alistair McGowan

Alistair McGowan is a British impressionist, stand-up comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for The Big Impression , which was, for four years, one of BBC1's top-rating comedy programmes - winning numerous awards, including a BAFTA in 2003...

.

He part funded Morris's debut feature film Four Lions (2010) in which he has a cameo as an idiot newsreader.

Music

Maitland also performed with a wedding band, Surf N Turf. In 2002, the group performed Maitland's brother's composition I Give In in the A Song For Europe

A Song for Europe

A Song for Europe may refer to:*A Song for Europe, former name of British pre-selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, now known as Eurovision: Your Country Needs You...

 contest, hoping to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

. They lost to the eventual winner Jessica Garlick

Jessica Garlick

Jessica Julie Anne Garlick is a Welsh pop singer.Garlick made her first steps into showbusiness when she was 16. At that age she won the Welsh final of the TV talent show Star For A Night. The same year she also featured in Michael Barrymore's My Kind of Music...

.

Other appearances

In 2011 Maitland devised and presented "Lyrical Journey" on BBC Radio 4, a series exploring the relationship between songs and the places that inspired them.

Personal life

He likes cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, curry

Curry

Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...

, Scrabble

Scrabble

Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...

 and Karaoke

Karaoke

is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

. He has a son, Manny, and two step sons, Ivo and Felix, and a dog called Monty.

External links

• Tonight with Trevor McDonald at itv.com
  Itv.com
  itv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 11 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers on-line streaming, ITV archive, news, sport, entertainment, games, soaps, lifestyle, drama and an interactive TV...
  
  
• House of Horrors at itv.com
  Itv.com
  itv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 11 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers on-line streaming, ITV archive, news, sport, entertainment, games, soaps, lifestyle, drama and an interactive TV...
  
  
• Bespoke Films