Career retrospective to take place on Wednesday 23 November
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced that BAFTA-winning broadcaster and journalist Sir Michael Parkinson CBE will discuss his career at a special ‘BAFTA A Life in Television’ event at BAFTA headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, on Wednesday 23 November. Sir Michael will be in conversation with broadcaster Kirsty Young.
‘BAFTA A Life in Television’ is a strand of live onstage events that celebrate leading figures from the world of television, shining a light on their talent and their contribution to British television and culture. The strand has previously hosted actor and presenter Michael Palin CBE, journalist and presenter Sir Trevor McDonald OBE and actress Julie Walters CBE.
Michael Parkinson began his career as a journalist on local papers and as a features writer for the Daily Express and Manchester Guardian. His first foray into television came when he joined Granada Television in 1962 as a producer before appearing in front of the camera. He returned to Granada to write and present Cinema, which introduced him to a significant TV audience, before moving to the BBC to join the 24 Hours team.
His best-known talk show Parkinson, which launched in 1971, ran for over 800 episodes and Sir Michael interviewed more than 2,000 of the world’s most famous people during its run. The show initially ran until 1982 and in 1998 a new series of Parkinson started on BBC One, lasting until 2003 and winning many awards including the BAFTA for Light Entertainment Performance in 1999. Sir Michael went on to receive a further three BAFTA nominations for Parkinson in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2004 he successfully transferred Parkinson to ITV until the last broadcast of the show in 2007. In the same year, Sir Michael founded his own production company, Parkinson Productions.
In March 2011 he collaborated with Sir David Frost to produce two programmes for Channel 9 Australia called Frost Over Parkinson and Parkinson: The Frost Interviews. In 2012, Parkinson: Masterclass launched on Sky Arts, and in 2015 Sir Michael recorded three programmes for Australia’s Network 10: Parkinson’s Australians, Billy Connolly – The Parkinson Interviews and Muhammad Ali – The Parkinson Interviews.
Michael Parkinson was awarded a CBE in June 2000 and a knighthood for services to broadcasting in the 2008 New Year’s honours list.
Public tickets for ‘BAFTA A Life in Television: Michael Parkinson’ will go on sale at 13.00 on Friday 14 October. To book, go to www.bafta.org/whats-on/
Recordings of previous events in the series are available on BAFTA Guru, BAFTA’s online learning channel (www.bafta.org/guru).
Event details:
‘BAFTA A Life in Television: Michael Parkinson’
Wednesday 23 November 2016 at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London
19.00 Champagne Taittinger Reception
19.30 Event commences
For further information, please contact:
Amanda Hearn at freuds
T: 0203 003 6456
E: [email protected]
Eleanor Pickering at BAFTA
T: +44 (0) 20 7292 5863
E: [email protected]
For images, logos, accreditation, transcripts and more, visit www.bafta.org/press.
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – featuring workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes – in the UK, USA and Asia; it offers unique access to the world’s most inspiring talent and connects with a global audience of all ages and backgrounds. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. To access the best creative minds in film, television and games production, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
