Robert Dallas Campbell (born 17 September 1970) is a British television presenter and television and stage actor, best known as a presenter on the factual Channel 5 series ''

The Gadget Show ''The Gadget Show'' (currently known as ''The Gadget Show: Better Tech, Better Life'') is a British television series which focuses on consumer technology. The show, which is broadcast on Channel 5, is currently presented by Ortis Deley, Geor ...

'' in 2008 and

BBC One 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, p ...

science series '' Bang Goes the Theory'' from 2009 to 2012.

Early life

Born in

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, southeast of Greenock and aroun ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he attended schools in

Darras Hall Darras Hall is an upland housing estate located in the village of Ponteland. It is on the southwestern outskirts of the village, northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is generally regarded as the most expensive and exclusive place to live in the ...

and

Ponteland Ponteland ( ) is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name means "island in the Pont", after the River Pont which flows from west to east and joins the River Blyth further downstream, be ...

, Northumberland, continuing his education at

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

, Scotland.

Career

Campbell began his career as an actor, and in his early 20s he appeared in the play ''Who is Eddie Linden'' at the Old Red Lion in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in 1995, starring alongside Michael Deacon, who was playing the poet

Eddie Linden Edward Sean Linden (born John Edward Glackin; 5 May 1935) is a Scottish poet, literary magazine editor and political activist. From 1969 to 2004, he published and edited the poetry magazine ''Aquarius'', which, according to ''The Irish Post'', m ...

. In 1997, Campbell appeared in '' The Warp'', which is the longest play ever performed (over 24 hours).''The Donor.''

National Blood Service NHS Blood and Transplant is an executive non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established on 1 October 2005 to take over the responsibilities of two separate NHS agencies: UK Transplan ...

. Winter 2010, page 5. Campbell also appears in an episode of ''A Touch of Frost'' in series 6 as Mr Renfrew, and was the screenwriter and director of the short subject film ''No Deposit, No Return'' in 2004. His television presenting career began on ''

'' ( Channel 5) followed by

's prime time science magazine show '' Bang Goes the Theory''. In April 2014 he presented ''The Treasure Hunters'' for BBC One with Ellie Harrison which saw them on the trail of earth's most prized and valuable treasures both natural and man-made. ''Supersized Earth'' (BBC One), a BAFTA-nominated series that examined the scale and pace with which humans have transformed the Earth in a generation. ''

Airport Live ''Airport Live'' is a live television programme broadcast on BBC Two over four nights from 17 June 2013 to 20 June 2013. The show was commissioned following the success of other "live" programmes such as '' Volcano Live''.The show was presented ...

'' (

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

) featured three days of access 'airside' at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

with

Kate Humble Katherine Mary Humble (born 12 December 1968) is an English television presenter and narrator, mainly working for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes. Humble served as President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Bir ...

and

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is an English radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. In an episode of ' ...

. ''Egypt's Lost Cities'', again for

, was a feature-length documentary that used

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

technology to hunt for undiscovered historical treasures, and a six-part

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

series '' Time Scanners'' used

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

scanning technology to uncover the secrets of the world's most famous historical buildings, from

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which ...

in Peru to

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

. On

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

he is a regular presenter of the ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

'' series, covering a wide variety of big science subjects from dogs to quantum mechanics and on the one-off documentaries ''Voyager: Beyond the final frontier – The story of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

’s

Voyager mission The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two robotic interstellar probes, ''Voyager 1'' and ''Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, to fly near th ...

'' and ''The

Drake Equation The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy. The equation was formulated in 1961 by Frank Drake, not for purposes of quantifying t ...

: The Search for Life'' – an investigation into the science and history behind our efforts to find life beyond the earth. Dallas hosted ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

s 50th Anniversary celebrations between 22 and 24 November 2013, at London's

ExCel Arena ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the Roy ...

, ''

Stargazing Live ''Stargazing Live'' is a British live television programme on astronomy that was broadcast yearly on BBC Two over three nights every winter from 2011 to 2017. The series was primarily presented by scientist Brian Cox and comedian and amateur a ...

'', and a two-summer national tour of '' Bang Goes the Theory''. He is a regular contributor to the BBC's science magazine ''

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

'', the Times' ''Eureka'' magazine, and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''. He has appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's comedy science show ''

Infinite Monkey Cage ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy and popular science series. Hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, ''The Independent'' described it as a "witty and irreverent look at the world according to science". The sho ...

'', with

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After ...

and Brian Cox, '' Loose Ends'' with

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedy writer, and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts durin ...

, and Shaun Keavney's Breakfast Show on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. On 2 January 2015, Campbell appeared on and won ''

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December a ...

'', with filmmaker

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

as his specialist subject. He appeared in ''

The Dumping Ground ''The Dumping Ground'' (also informally referred to as ''The DG'') is a British children's television drama series that focuses on the lives and experiences of young people who live in a children's home with their care workers in care. The ser ...

'' episode "Fake It to Make It'" which aired on the

CBBC Channel CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7– ...

in February 2015. In July 2015, he presented a two-part series for

called ''Britain Beneath Your Feet''. In June 2016, Campbell presented a three-part documentary for the BBC called ''City in the Sky'', exploring the world of aviation. He presented this alongside mathematician

Hannah Fry Hannah Fry (born February 1984) is a British mathematician, author, and radio and television presenter. She is Professor in the Mathematics of Cities at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. She studies the patterns of human behaviour, ...

who specialises in the mathematics of cities. In December 2016, he was a contestant on '' Robot Wars'' alongside

Suzi Perry Suzi Perry (born 3 May 1970) is a British television presenter, currently covering MotoGP for BT Sport. She is best known for covering MotoGP for the BBC for 13 years, ''The Gadget Show'' on Channel 5 for 8 years and the BBC's Formula One cove ...

. In 2017, his debut book ''Ad Astra: An Illustrated Guide to Leaving the Planet'' was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. In October 2019, he chaired

The Sky at Night ''The Sky at Night'' is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date ...

: Question Time filmed at

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

as part of the British Science Festival.

References

External links

Official website
* *
Dallas Campbell's profile, BBC's Film Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Dallas 1970 births Living people British male television actors People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of the University of Northampton

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links