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Robert Arthur Wellings (1 April 1934 – 1 March 2022) was a British television presenter who worked most notably on BBC current affairs television programme '' Nationwide''.


Early life

Wellings was born on 1 April 1934 in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, then
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, son to Louise (née Dalzell) and Francis Wellings, a geologist for the
Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the worl ...
originally from
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
. The family lived in the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...
before moving to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
as the
second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
broke out. Wellings, whose mother was from Texas, attended an American military school. After the war in 1947, the family moved to Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Wellings attended
Downside school Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Original ...
in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, where he boarded. He spent his
National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...
in the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
before reading English at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
. It was at Trinity where Wellings appeared in
Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...
amateur dramatic productions.


Career

Wellings began his career as a
hack writer ''Hack writer'' is a pejorative term for a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In fiction writing, a hack writer is paid to quickly write sensational, "pulp" fiction such as " ...
of children's books and as a cartoonist for
Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
and
Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
magazines using the moniker "Robert". He then taught at a boys' prep school in
Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was founde ...
,
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
. In 1959, Wellings worked for
Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
's local news ''
About Anglia ''About Anglia'' was a regional news magazine programme produced by Anglia Television in the east of England, broadcast for over thirty years from 2 June 1960 to 6 July 1990. History One of the first regional programmes of its kind in the ITV, ...
'' in Norwich, as a reporter and presenter, after a chance meeting on a train with a senior executive. He joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Television's
South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
regional news in 1964 before returning to Anglia from 1966 to 1969. Wellings returned to the BBC, working on '' Nationwide'' from 1970, remaining on the programme until 1979. Colleagues included Frank Bough and Sue Lawley. "As a ''Nationwide'' reporter, you had to be able to tackle anything, from interviewing, say,
Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
to some extraordinary animal," Wellings said in ''Let’s Go Nationwide'', a 1991 documentary. Wellings co-presented ''
That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...
'' in its first year, with the actor
George Layton George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series '' Doctor in the House'' and its sequels '' Doctor at Large'', '' ...
, in 1973. In 1979, despite having little knowledge or interest in pop music, Wellings co-hosted the British Rock and Pop Awards with David "Kid" Jensen; Clive James noted that Wellings was "square as a brick" – the only pop song Wellings knew, '' Baker Street'' by
Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...
, was one of the award winners. After Nationwide, Wellings presented ''On the Town'' between 1980 and 1981 with
Joan Bakewell Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, (''née'' Rowlands; born 16 April 1933), is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an author a ...
, from 1983 to 1984 he was a reporter on Nationwide’s successor, ''
Sixty Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique sty ...
,'' and a presenter on the newly launched regional news programme ''London Plus'' from 1984 to 1985''.'' He then presented
BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's daytime ''
Open Air Open air, open-air or openair may refer to: *'' Open Air'', a BBC television program * Open-air cinema or outdoor cinema * Open-air concert, a concert taking place outside *Open-air museum, a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out- ...
'' programme with
Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959)Holmes receives honorary degree
BBC ...
and Pattie Coldwell from 1986 to 1989. In 1989, he filmed his last nationally screened series, ''The Solent Way''. In 1989, he had a spell on radio, co-presenting the breakfast programme with Douglas Cameron on London Talkback radio. Later he joined Sky News. Wellings played himself as a television interviewer in the BBC sitcom ''
Don't Tell Father ''Don't Tell Father'' is a British comedy television series which first aired on BBC One in 1992.Leafe p.302 A self-regarding veteran actor dominates the lives of his fifth wife and four grown-up children. He is particularly outraged by his eldes ...
'' in 1992, and then in 1993 in the BBC satire '' If You See God, Tell Him'' and '' The Buddha of Suburbia''.


Personal life and death

Wellings married Penny Tennyson (born 1940), a secretary from
Walberswick Walberswick is a village and civil parish on the Suffolk coast in England. It is at the mouth of the River Blyth on the south side of the river. The town of Southwold lies to the north of the river and is the nearest town to Walberswick, around ...
(and the great, great grand-daughter of the Victorian
poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson), in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
in 1963. The couple met through her step-father Michael Jeans, who worked for Anglia TV. They had two daughters, Emma and Sophie, and a son, Matthew. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984. Wellings had a keen interest in cars and the outdoors, visiting places in East Anglia or the east of England, and he retired to
Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...
, Suffolk. Wellings died on 1 March 2022 in his sleep at Beech House care home in Halesworth, after a fall which fractured his hip, at the age of 87.


References


External links


A report by Bob Wellings at the East Anglian Film Archive
1934 births 2022 deaths English television presenters People from Jerusalem {{UK-tv-bio-stub