David Dimbleby | |
|---|---|
 Dimbleby in 2007 | |
| Born | (1938-10-28)28 October 1938 (age 87) East Sheen,Surrey, England |
| Education | Charterhouse School |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Occupations | Television presenter, journalist, political commentator |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Employer | BBC |
| Agent | Rosemary Scoular at United Agents |
| Known for | BBCQuestion Time Presenter BBC UK General Election Night Anchor/Commentator BBC National Events Anchor/Commentator |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4; includingHenry andKate |
| Parent(s) | Richard Dimbleby Dilys Thomas |
| Relatives | Dimbleby family |
David Dimbleby (born 28 October 1938) is an English journalist and former presenter ofcurrent affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programmeQuestion Time. He is the son of broadcasterRichard Dimbleby and elder brother ofJonathan Dimbleby, of theDimbleby family. Long involved in the coverage of national events, Dimbleby hosted the BBC Election Night coverage from1979 to2017, as well as United States presidential elections on the BBC until 2016.[1] He has also presented and narrated documentary series on architecture and history.
Dimbleby was born inEast Sheen,Surrey,[2] the son of the journalist andSecond World Warwar correspondentRichard Dimbleby, by his marriage to Dilys Thomas, from Wales. He had three siblings: two brothers,Jonathan Dimbleby, also a television current affairs presenter, and Nicholas (died 2024), and a sister, Sally.[3][4][5] David Dimbleby was educated at two independent schools, theGlengorse School inBattle, East Sussex,[6] andCharterhouse inGodalming, Surrey, where he was a contemporary of the journalistAdam Raphael. The two younger Dimblebys both made their television débuts in the 1950s in the BBC's first holiday programmePassport, at a time when the whole family would visit resorts in Switzerland orBrittany. A holiday programme for the home counties, calledNo Passport, was also broadcast.
After learning French in Paris and Italian inPerugia, Dimbleby readPhilosophy, politics and economics atChrist Church, Oxford and graduated with a third-class degree. While at Oxford he was President of the Christ ChurchJunior Common Room, a member of theBullingdon Club – a socially exclusive student dining and drinking society – and also editor of the student magazineIsis.
Dimbleby joined the BBC as a news reporter inBristol in the 1960s and has appeared in news programmes since 1962, early on co-presenting the televised version of the school quizTop of the Form, and was a reporter on the BBC's coverage of the1964 general election with his father as linkman.[7] Richard Dimbleby died the following year.
On 24 July 1967, Dimbleby was one of seventy signatories to an advertisement inThe Times advocating the decriminalisation ofcannabis use, which had been written by campaignerStephen Abrams.[8][9] An incident in 1969 led to Dimbleby, then freelance, being called in by the BBC's Director of Television. During U.S. PresidentRichard Nixon's visit to the UK, a reference by Dimbleby to UK and US government heads' "expensively hired"press secretaries "whose job is to disguise the truth" was given much attention by the British press.[10]
Dimbleby became involved in a number of projects that combined his established role as presenter and interviewer with documentary making. An early example of this wasYesterday's Men (1971), a film which the BBC recognises "ridiculed" the Labour opposition and led to a major conflict between the Corporation and theLabour Party;[11] Dimbleby had his name removed from the credits because of the concessions that were made.[12] In 1974, he became the presenter ofPanorama, which had been presented by his father.
Dimbleby anchored the BBC's overnight coverage of the1979 general election, and continued in this role until the2017 general election, for a total often general elections.[1][13] In addition to election coverage, he also hosted BBCBudget specials, and was a presenter of the BBC early evening weekday current affairs seriesNationwide. During the same period (beginning in 1979), Dimbleby has also been the anchor for the BBC'sEuropean Parliament election results programmes and in 2008 and 2012, anchored the BBC's coverage of theUS election night.
Dimbleby was the main presenter of the BBC's political seriesThis Week Next Week (1984–88),[13] broadcast on Sunday early afternoons, as a competitor to ITV's establishedWeekend World series. As early as 1987, he was a contender for the position ofDirector-General of the BBC (losing out toMichael Checkland).[14]This Week Next Week was replaced in 1988 by theOn the Record, a political series presented until 1993 by his younger brother,Jonathan Dimbleby.[15] Meanwhile, he continued to work in documentaries, includingThe White Tribe of Africa (1979), an award-winning four-part history of South Africa'sAfrikaans community and the rise ofapartheid,An Ocean Apart (1988), an examination of the history ofAnglo-American relations, andRebellion! (1999), a history of Britain's troubled relations withZimbabwe.
By this time, Dimbleby was established as the anchor for the BBC's coverage of events of national importance, such as theState Opening of Parliament, theTrooping the Colour, and theNational Service of Remembrance service at theCenotaph inWhitehall.
Dimbleby served as chairman of the BBC's Thursday evening topical debate programmeQuestion Time from 1994 until 2018. One of the most memorable moments fromQuestion Time was when Dimbleby accidentally referred toRobin Cook as "Robin Cock", to which Cook responded by jokingly referring to Dimbleby as "David Bumblebee".[16]
In 1999, Dimbleby opened2000 Today, the BBC's coverage of the millennium celebrations, fromGreenwich, England.[13] He commentated on the funerals ofDiana, Princess of Wales in 1997,Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002[13] and formerPrime MinisterMargaret Thatcher in 2013,[17] as well as the state visit ofUS PresidentGeorge W. Bush to the UK in 2003. In 2002, Dimbleby hosted theGolden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II coverage. A profile byBen Summerskill forThe Observer in 2001 quoted an unnamed former Cabinet Minister who had observed Dimbleby's career for many decades: "I suspect he has an almost medieval view, that the Queen governs through Parliament... There are a few quarrels among the subjects – over which he presides very capably – but they have very little to do with what Britain is really about."[10] Dimbleby, though, has himself criticised what he sees as archaic elements of the State Opening of Parliament.[18]
David Dimbleby was chairman of the Dimbleby Newspaper Group, former publishers of theRichmond and Twickenham Times, acquired by theNewsquest Media Group in 2001 for a reported £12,000,000.[19]
There were reports in 2004 that Dimbleby was shortlisted for thechairmanship of the BBC.[20] However, the position was eventually awarded toMichael Grade. Dimbleby was a contender for the chairmanship in the corporation's tumultuous period following 2001,[14] which went toGavyn Davies. He has instead remained, according to Mark Duguid for the BFI's screenonline website, best known for his "gravitas, journalistic integrity and consummate professionalism" and as "a paragon of impartiality"[13] as a narrator and moderator, of British politics.
In 2005, he hosted a BBC One series,A Picture of Britain, celebrating British and Irish paintings, poetry, music and landscapes. In June 2007 he wrote and presented a follow-up, the BBC series,How We Built Britain, in which he explored the history of British architecture by visiting a region of Britain and its historic buildings each week. David Dimbleby also presented a new series onBBC One,Seven Ages of Britain. In early editions of the programme, he looked at theBayeux Tapestry and exhibits to do withThomas Becket.
On 12 November 2009, Dimbleby missed his firstQuestion Time in over fifteen years, having been taken to hospital as a precaution after being briefly knocked out by arearingbullock at his farm inSussex.[21]
Dimbleby hosted the third of threetelevised election debates featuring the leaders of the three main political parties held in the run-up to the2010 general election.[22] On the night of the 2010 general election, Dimbleby hosted the BBC coverage, along withJeremy Vine,Jeremy Paxman,Nick Robinson, andEmily Maitlis.[23] Presenting fromBBC Television Centre Studio 1, he was an anchor, and involved in commentary contributions, guest interviews and introducing live outside broadcasts. In 2013, Dimbleby presentedBritain and the Sea and a year later, he presentedThe European Union: In or Out. In 2015, Dimbleby hosted the firstBBCgeneral election debate, in spite of the fact that neitherPrime MinisterDavid Cameron norDeputy Prime MinisterNick Clegg took part.
Dimbleby hosted theEU referendum results show onBBC One,BBC News andBBC World News overnight on 23–24 June 2016, when the UK became the first and only country to vote to leave theEuropean Union. In this programme, he made the following quote to the country when the BBC released its forecast for a Leave win at 04:40BST:
Well, at twenty minutes to five we can now say the decision taken in 1975 by this country to join the Common Market has been reversed by this referendum to leave the EU. We are absolutely clear now that there is no way that the Remain side can win. It looks as if the gap is going to be something like 52 to 48...so a four point lead for leaving the EU, and that is the result of this referendum which has been preceded by weeks and months of argument and dispute and all the rest of it. The British people have spoken and the answer is: we're out!
On 20 April 2017, the BBC announced that Dimbleby would host their coverage of the2017 general election, despite having previously said that the2015 general election would be his last.[24] On 17 June 2018, the BBC announced that Dimbleby would leaveQuestion Time after 25 years at the end of that year.[25] On 7 December 2018, the BBC announced thatFiona Bruce would take over presenting duties from January 2019. Since his retirement fromQuestion Time, Dimbleby has presented occasional documentaries for the BBC.
In 2019, and in some of his first work outside the BBC for decades, Dimbleby presented an acclaimed series of podcasts on the life of media mogulRupert Murdoch entitledThe Sun King. This focused on various key moments in Murdoch's professional career such as his takeover of newspapers around the world,Fox News, his battles with print unions and thephone hacking scandal. It also attempts to examine Murdoch's personal motivations and his political influence.
In 2020, Dimbleby continued his foray into podcasting, presenting a series on the lead-up to theIraq War. The series examined the events in the lead-up to the2003 invasion asking whether it was justified at the time, and whether it could have been avoided. It also closely analysed the relationship betweenGeorge W. Bush andTony Blair, with Blair being interviewed as part of the series.
In October 2020, Dimbleby said he was again considering putting his name forward for chairman of the BBC.[26]
In September 2022, Dimbleby came out of retirement to commentate on thestate funeral of Queen Elizabeth II for the BBC, in particular for the committal service atSt George's Chapel, Windsor.[27] In 2023 and 2024, he also continued his long standing role as BBC narrator of theNational Service of Remembrance at theCenotaph.
In October 2022, Dimbleby stated that the BBC does not appropriately question the power of theroyal family. He said that the BBC would not address controversial topics to do with the monarchy, such as its ability to change tax legislation, or the fact that theDuchy of Cornwall does not paycapital gains tax, and stated his disagreement that such matters were not examined. He also stated his shock over the amount of control the monarchy have over state broadcasting.[28]
Although the brothers presented election coverage on competing channels, when asked in an interview about rivalITV's plans to include a riverboat party with the likes ofKevin Spacey andRichard Branson in their 2005 election broadcast, Dimbleby commented, "They've got Jonathan Dimbleby, what do they need Kevin Spacey for?".[29]
Dimbleby has three children with his first wife,Josceline Dimbleby, a cookery writer: Liza, an artist;Henry, a chef and co-founder of the fast-food chainLeon; andKate, a jazz and folk singer.[30][31]
In 2000, Dimbleby married Belinda Giles, a granddaughter ofHerbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr,[32] with whom he has a son, Fred, born in February 1998.[33][34][35] Dimbleby lives inFolkington, nearPolegate,East Sussex,[36] andPimlico,London.[37] He previously had a home inDittisham, nearDartmouth, Devon.[38][39] He is a supporter ofTranmere Rovers.[40][41]
Dimbleby's memoir,Keep Talking, was published in 2022.[42]
Dimbleby was made anhonorary graduate of theUniversity of Essex in 2005,[43] and was the President of theInstitute for Citizenship.[44] In 2019, he received the Special Recognition Award for his services to news and current affairs at theNational Television Awards in London.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Regular Host ofQuestion Time 1994–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas host until1974 | Host of BBC Election Night Coverage 1979–2017 | Succeeded byas host from2017 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
