NICK KNOWLES www.nickknowles.com BBC's golden boy!! Submitted by: Emma Riley Monday, 7 September 2009 Professional - a brief TV biography. Nick started his TV career at the BBC in London in the Documentary Features department. He then spent two years in Australia working for WIN TV channel 4 news room. A brief spell in news in Phoenix Arizona followed before returning to the UK and the ITV TVS newsroom in Maidstone. Reporter, Producer and Director, Nick was the first journalist on the scene of the Deal barracks bombing. Later he moved to the newsroom of Meridian Broadcasting as Production Editor and reporter. At this stage he was asked to present more and more programmes. The first was Confidential, a sex advice programme, then TV Weekly, Entertainment Today, Put It To The Test, where Nick worked for the first time with Carol Vorderman - the only show to our knowledge that has been shown on ITV and BBC! Ridgeriders- a motorbike history series that ran for eight years, getting viewing figures in excess of 50% and still being repeated today!! Walk Over History, carreview programme Roadshow and TV Revealed, based at Elstree studios. He also covered Sailing for ITV and SKY including taking part in a leg of the Round the World Speed Record with Adventurer. A freelance presenter - Nick has worked across the channels on a variety of programmes: "I have never wanted to be associated with one kind of programme - it's important to challenge yourself and make sure you are not pigeon holed. It means it takes longer to develop a career and profile with viewers and commissioners but it's a much firmer, broader base. I can never understand presenters who will only work with autocue or will only work in studio - it's like being a carpenter and only making wardrobes! I don't like to stand still and try to make the next thing I do completely different from the last" Nick's career progressed with 5's Company on Channel 5 - Straight Up - a political Sunday programme for ITV, The Great Escape for BBC - Three years of RTS award winning City Hospital for the BBC and Find a Fortune (9 million viewers) and Holidaymaker (7 million viewers) for Sunday evening ITV. He piloted two weeks of Housecall for BBC and Trading Up before appearing on BBC's hit show DIY SOS which regularly draws viewing figures of 8 million and has been consistently the most popular factual programme on TV. Two series of UK's Worst for the BBC set record viewing figures for an investigation programme at 7 million. The quiz series Judgemental added to Nick's broad range of shows: 'I just thought as I'd never done a quiz show it was about time I did!' A trip to Nairobi for Comic Relief in 2003 produced an extraordinarily touching report which showed this former rugby player's softer side. The all new Secrets of Magic for Saturday night BBC1 and the writing, research, development and presenting of the groundbreaking and wacky history programme Guy Fawkes And The Gunpowder Plot for BBC1 on Sunday night with an amazing almost 7 million viewers rounded off a pretty wide ranging and creative year for Nick. DIY SOS continued into series 8, 9, 10 etc followed by a six part series off the back of the successful Gunpowder Plot. Histrionics was a family comedy history drama researched, written and presented by Nick Page 1 along with the finest Directors, crew and actors a factual budget can buy. "I love them all - some almost physically and it was the greatest fun to work with my brother who played the minstrel in Robin Hood". Another 'Secrets of Magic' special was well received followed by a one off History format called Celebrity Time Machine. Nick then went to Zambia in 2004 where he shot a heart-rending report for Sport Relief. "It's hard to explain just how awful the situation was there, I truly felt there was no hope and it made me quite ill for a while - when they asked me to return in 2005 I tried quite hard to find reasons not to go". In 2005 he did indeed return and the change in Zambia - thanks to the generosity of you all through Sport Relief and Comic Relief - was astounding. 2006 saw series 12a (the team didn't want to call it 13, come and go and showcased our new builder Mark Millar. He was an instant hit, with Julian hugging him constantly now, to the detriment of his ribs. Also in 2006, Nick brought a series of live shows from Behind Bars on daytime TV from Cardiff prison "what an eye opener that was - amazing access, amazing team, shame a bigger audience didn't see it. Perhaps now that the format has been proven with City Hospital and Behind Bars - all thanks to the lovely people at Topical TV - we could go behind the scenes at number 10? How 'bout it Gordon?" Nick saw in the New Year with us all with the BBC coverage of the midnight bongs of Big Ben on New Year Live and 2007 kicked off with Mission Africa where fifteen apprentices were guided by Nick and the wonderful Major Ken Hames through six weeks living in the African bush providing security, a wildlife reserve and safe drinking water for the Samburu people in a drought hit region of northern Kenya. Series 14, 15 and 16 of DIYSOS went down well too and were possibly some of the funniest series yet. Much credit here should go to Simon Knight who has brought a new lease of life and creativity to the show. More and more people seem to be cottoning on to just how strange a format this is and what amazing appeal it has across the age spectrum. Real Rescues, a daytime format based around the Police, Ambulance, Coastguard and Fire Services went down very well with the daytime audience. It marked a return to the partnership between Nick and his old buddies at Topical Television, who previously had been responsible for City Hospital, Ridgeriders and many more of Nick's early forays into network TV. Nick also made a memorable film on Orangutans for the BBC's Saving Planet Earth series, a real insight into the error of choosing biofuels as an alternative fuel source. He also managed to squeeze in a series of Wedding Programmes for BBC1 called The Big Day. Tears aplenty as every Bride's every wish came true. He stepped into the breach on The One Show and has been busy filming all new goodies. Last appearance for Nick on our screens for 2007 was also the first of 2008 as he brought in the New Year with Myleene Class on BBC1. One more change at the beginning of 2008 was the addition to the team of Nick's agent John Miles. Top of his game and a wonderful man too - contract negotiations should now run smoothly so Nick can concentrate on the business of making programmes. 2008 also saw two series of the highly popular lottery quiz show, Who Dares Wins which is back again this summer, and the high rating Real Rescues (three series so far with my old pals at Topical). Watch out for an evening version of the series on BBC1 soon. Wild About your Garden saw Nick teaming up with the wonderful and highly respected Chris Beardshaw and the boundlessly enthusiastic and brilliant Ellie Harrison transforming dead garden spaces into wildlife havens. Page 2 Also summer 2008 saw the amazing Last Choir Standing which became must see TV. It started quietly, as would any Saturday night show with choir in the title, but viewing figures rose and word of mouth just made it cool. The last show had almost seven million viewers which is pretty good for a first series and congratulations to the winning choir Only Men Aloud on their fantastic success and recording contract. Choirs are cool again appearing in numerous adverts for trains, chocolate and a BBC1 drama - All the Small Little Things. Watch out for To the Ends of the Earth due this summer on BBC1, which saw Nick revisit Africa and get up close and personal with the wildlife. Nick continues to break new ground with original and high rating shows, always taking risks on new projects rather than relying on tried and tested formats. "I always think would my Mum or Dad have watched this, would my brothers or sisters enjoy it, would my younger nephews or nieces find anything in this to get their attention, would people in Doncaster, Aberdeen, Norwich, Hull, Torquay or Wrexham enjoy this as much as Manchester, Birmingham or London" Nick is also trying to squeeze in more drama writing and is going to be pretty busy for the next few months. So what's next? 'Everyone says they have projects in the pipeline and it's such a showbiz parachute - I've never talked about anything I haven't actually shot and there's enough of that coming out soon to be going on with - but rest assured I'm keeping busy and there are a few more surprises in store. I like to take risks with my career and live a life less ordinary!' Personal information. Born in London and raised in Southall, Nick has one brother (John) and three sisters (Angela, Sheila and Karen), Mum Pat and Dad Eddie. School at St Anselm's then Gunnersbury. At age 11, Nick moved with his family to Mildenhall in Suffolk and went to St Louis Middle school.