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Jonathan Turner Meades (born 21 January 1947) is an English writer and film-maker, primarily on the subjects of place, culture, architecture and food. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty highly idiosyncratic television films, and has been described as "brainy,
scabrous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...
, mischievous," "iconoclastic" and possessed of "a polymathic breadth of knowledge and truly caustic wit". His latest book, an anthology of uncollected writing from 1988 to 2020 titled ''Pedro and Ricky Come Again,'' was published by Unbound in March 2021 and is the sequel to ''Peter Knows What Dick Likes''. His most recent film, ''
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
Building with Jonathan Meades'', aired 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
in August 2019 and is the fourth instalment in a series on the architectural legacy of 20th-century European dictators. He has described himself as a "cardinal of atheism" and is both an Honorary Associate of the
National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
and a Patron of
Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...
.


Early life and education

Jonathan Meades was born in
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, the only child of John William Meades, a biscuit company sales rep, and Margery Agnes Meades (''née'' Hogg), a primary school teacher. The family lived in an "unbelievably cramped" terraced,
thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
cottage in the
East Harnham Harnham is a suburb of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, centred about south of Salisbury Cathedral and across the River Avon. Harnham is split into the areas of West Harnham and East Harnham. History Early history The area has h ...
area of the city and Meades was educated until the age of 13 at the nearby
Salisbury Cathedral School Salisbury Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, which was founded in 1091 by Saint Osmund. The choristers of Salisbury Cathedral are educated at the school. History The school was founded i ...
, within
Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...
Close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...
. He discovered a fascination for place and the built environment whilst accompanying his father on sales trips during school holidays; he would be left unattended and free to explore while the elder Meades conducted his business with the grocer. This later developed into a full-blown passion for architecture following a visit to
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
' Marsh Court on a school cricket trip at the age of 13. He also developed an early love of France on the frequent trips which his family took there, made possible by his Francophile mother's father, who worked for Southern Railway, the company which ran the
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
and
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
ferries. In 1960 he was sent as a boarder to
King's College, Taunton (Strong and faithful) , established = 1880 , closed = , type = Independent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...
, which he has described as "a dim, backward, muscular Christian boot camp". He later "walked out" of the school and was sent instead to a
crammer A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high school ...
in London, where he lodged with the painter Vivien White, daughter of
Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
. After a year at the
University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...
and unsure of what to do next, he decided to become an actor after a chance meeting with Charles Collingwood and trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
(RADA) from 1966 to 1969. His contemporaries there included Robert Lindsay, David Bradley,
Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English television, film, radio and theatre actress. Although she has a wide number of credits to her name, Beacham is best known for for playing Sable Colby in the ABC soap operas ''The Colbys'' ...
,
Michael Kitchen Michael Roy Kitchen (born 31 October 1948) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama ''Foyle's War'', which comprised eight series betwee ...
and
Richard Beckinsale Richard Arthur Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' (along with its sequel series ''Going Straight'') and Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp''. He is the ...
. He later described it as a " Sandhurst for chorus boys" where students were "martially drilled," teaching them the value of discipline, craft and technique. Although he ultimately decided against joining the acting profession, the training which he received would prove essential in his later television career, as would his extra-curricular interest in
French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...
cinema, in particular the work of
Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), ''Bob le flambeur'' (1956), '' Le Doulos'' (1962), ''Le Samouraï'' (196 ...
and
Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the '' Nouveau Roman'' (new novel) trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and C ...
. His regular Sunday pastime of exploring the capital with his ''
Pevsner Architectural Guide The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...
'' would also benefit him later. On leaving RADA, he was told by the Principal,
Hugh Cruttwell Hugh Cruttwell (31 October 1918 – 24 August 2002) was an influential English teacher of drama and principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Biography Hugh Percival Cruttwell was born in Singapore, but lived in England from the age of ...
, that he might as well abandon acting until he reached middle age, at which point he might become an interesting character actor. When the two met again decades later, after Meades had established himself on television, Cruttwell joked that he hadn't realised that the character would be called "Jonathan Meades".


Writing


Journalism

Following a period as a freelance copywriter, Meades began writing for the now-defunct literary magazine '' Books & Bookmen'' in 1971, setting him on a career as a journalist and critic. In 1973 he reviewed a V&A exhibition on
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
for the magazine, igniting a passion for the style and prompting him to explore even more of London than he had to date. Using the unlimited travel afforded by Red Rover bus passes, he rode on random buses for exactly 20 minutes and then got off, no matter where he was. After leaving ''Books and Bookmen'' in 1975 he wrote for the sex education magazine ''Curious'' and joined the staff of '' Time Out'', then became ''
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 ...
'''s TV critic in 1977. This led to the publication of his first book, ''This Is Their Life'', an A to Z of TV star biographies with an introduction by
Mike Yarwood Michael Edward Yarwood, (born 14 June 1941) is an English impressionist, comedian and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early life Michael Edward Yarwood was ...
. He moved to ''
Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is an architectural magazine published in London by Metropolis International. History The first edition was produced in 1895. Originally named ''The Builder's Journal and Architectural Record'', from 1906 to 1910 it was kn ...
'' in 1979 and around this time worked on another book, ''The Illustrated Atlas of the World's Great Buildings'', with Philip Bagenal. In 1981 he became the editor of
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...
's short-lived listings magazine ''Event'', then from 1982 was the features editor of ''
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 ...
''. It was here that he first had the opportunity to write about food, filling in as restaurant critic after
Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...
resigned, using the pseudonym " John Beaver". He was also invited to contribute to the bi-monthly restaurant magazine ''À la Carte'' at around this time. In 1986 he was offered the job of restaurant critic at ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', replacing comedy writer Stan Hey, and was a great success, taking the job more seriously than his predecessor and winning Best Food Journalist at the 1986, 1990, 1996 and 1999 Glenfiddich Awards.Sleeman, Elizabeth, ed. (2003)
''International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004''
p. 379. Europa Publications, London. .
Despite his success, he often tired of the repetitive nature of the job and threatened to leave several times. The paper responded by increasing his salary. He finally quit in around 2000, having been pronounced
morbidly obese Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic physical and mental illnesses. The health effects of being overweight but not obese are controversial, with some studies showing that the mortality rate for individuals who are classified as overweight ( ...
by his doctor: he had put on around five pounds per year, or one ounce per meal, during his tenure. He then managed to lose a third of his body weight over the course of the following twelve months using a strict diet of protein and citrus. He remained with ''The Times'' as a columnist until 2005. In the years since, he has done less journalism, but has contributed essays and reviews to numerous publications including the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...
'', and many others.


Books and other writing

In 1982, ''
Harpers & Queen ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' published three short stories which Meades had written about "rural lowlife". These, along with four more, were collected in 1984 as ''Filthy English'', his first volume of fiction.
Andrew Billen Andrew William Scott Billen (born 30 December 1957) is a British journalist, children's author, and staff feature writer on ''The Times'' newspaper. Early life Andrew Billen was born in London on 30 December 1957 and brought up in Brentwood, E ...
of the ''
London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' later described them as "bucolic horror stories". A few more stories appeared in his first anthology of journalism and essays, 1989's ''Peter Knows What Dick Likes'', the title of which is a reference to the supposed superiority of male-on-male fellatio. He contributed to the screenplay of the 1992 French-Italian adventure film '' L'Atlantide'', directed by
Bob Swaim Robert Frank "Bob" Swaim, Jr. (born November 2, 1943) is an American film director. Life and career Swaim was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Eleanor (Connor) and Robert Frank Swaim. He grew up in the Reseda area of Los Angeles and gradua ...
, and also wrote three unproduced screenplays in the 1980s and '90s: ''Millie's Problem'' (1985), ''The Side I Dressed On'' (1987) and ''The Brute's Price'' (1996). His first novel, ''Pompey'', was published in 1993. A dark, epic family saga centred around the titular city of
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, it was widely praised and favourably compared to Sterne, Scarfe, Steadman,
Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
and Joyce, amongst other "great stylists". On its 2013 reissue, Matthew Adams wrote in ''The Independent'', "Where his first collection of stories, ''Filthy English'', achieved the distinction of covering in aggressively vivid prose the disciplines of murder, addiction, incest and bestial pornography, ''Pompey'' exhibits an even greater concentration of his aptitude for squalor ..by the end of the opening two pages, which must rank among the most startling affirmations of omniscience in 20th-century literature, the reader has met with an arresting injunction: "After using this book please wash your hands."" A second novel, ''The Fowler Family Business'', followed in 2002. A tale of suburban sexual deceit in the funeral trade, it was described by the ''London Evening Standard'' as "hilarious and very black". An anthology of his food journalism, ''Incest and Morris Dancing: A Gastronomic Revolution'', was published in the same year. In a 2010 interview with ''
The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...
'', he revealed that he was working on a third novel. An anthology of journalism, essays and TV scripts on the built environment, ''Museum Without Walls'', was published by the
crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
imprint Unbound in 2012. Meades' memoir of his childhood in the 1950s and early 1960s, ''An Encyclopaedia of Myself'', was published in May 2014. It was long-listed for that year's
Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...
and won Best Memoir in the Spear's Book Awards 2014.
Roger Lewis Roger Lewis (born 26 February 1960) is a Welsh academic, biographer and journalist. Biography Lewis was raised in Bedwas, Monmouthshire, and educated at Bassaleg School in Newport. He then attended the University of St Andrews, graduating MA, ...
of the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' said of the work that "If this book is thought of less as a memoir than as a symphonic poem about post-war England and Englishness – well, then it is a masterpiece." In 2015, the publisher and record label Test Centre released a spoken word vinyl album by Meades entitled ''Pedigree Mongrel'', consisting of readings from ''Pompey'', ''Museum Without Walls'', ''An Encyclopaedia of Myself'' and unpublished fiction, combined with soundscapes created by Mordant Music. The sleeve of the album featured photography by Meades, including an abstract self-portrait on the front cover. Also in 2015, Meades, along with Laura Noble, contributed essays to Robert Clayton's photographic collection ''Estate'', which documented life on the soon-to-be-demolished Lion Farm housing estate in
Oldbury, West Midlands Oldbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough and one of its six constituent towns. At the 2011 census, the ward of Oldbury had a population of 13,606, w ...
in 1990. A book of "borrowed" recipes, ''The Plagiarist in the Kitchen: A Lifetime's Culinary Thefts'', was published by Unbound in 2017. According to Meades, it is "devoted to the idea that you shouldn't try and invent anything in the kitchen, just rely on what has already been done ..I hate the idea of experimental cookery, but I like the idea of experimental literature. ''Isle of Rust'', a collaboration with the photographer Alex Boyd featuring text based on Meades' script for his 2009 film about
Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
, was published by Luath Press in 2019. An anthology of uncollected writing from 1988 to 2020 entitled ''Pedro and Ricky Come Again'', described as "the best of three decades of Jonathan Meades" and the sequel to ''Peter Knows What Dick Likes'', was published by Unbound in March 2021. (See full bibliography)


Television

Meades' first foray into television was in 1985: a short film on the art and
architecture of Barcelona The architecture of Barcelona has had a parallel evolution to that of the rest of the Catalan and Spanish architecture, and has followed in diverse ways the multiple trends that have been produced in the context of the history of Western architect ...
for the
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 ...
arts magazine programme ''Saturday Review''. His first major project was the 1987 six-part
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
architectural documentary series '' The Victorian House''. This contained many stylistic similarities to his other work, but the producer of the series, John Marshall, received the sole writing credit and it was not a happy experience for Meades. He would be credited as the sole author of all his subsequent work. His next series was ''Abroad in Britain'', broadcast on BBC Two in 1990. It featured five irreverent, "slightly bonkers" films which explored unusual and neglected aspects of the built environment: informal plotland dwellings along the
Severn Valley The Severn Valley is a rural area of the West Midlands region of England, through which the River Severn runs and the Severn Valley Railway steam heritage line operates, starting at its northernmost point in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and runni ...
, nautical culture around the
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...
and architectural forms associated with
utopianism A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
,
bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
and the military. Each episode was introduced by Meades as being "devoted to the proposition that the exotic begins at home." The series was influenced by the work of architectural critic
Ian Nairn Ian Douglas Nairn (24 August 1930 – 14 August 1983) was a British architectural critic who coined the word "Subtopia" to indicate drab suburbs that look identical through unimaginative town-planning. He published two strongly personalised criti ...
and
French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...
film director
Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the '' Nouveau Roman'' (new novel) trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and C ...
, and it cemented Meades' uniquely incongruous on-screen persona: dark glasses, dark suits, inscrutable, didactic delivery and dense, mordant language peppered with gags and surreal interludes.
Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...
of ''The Guardian'' later described his TV persona as "pugnacious, sardonic and seemingly super-confident", while noting the
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
training and that it was "not the real Jonathan Meades, who is an altogether more diffident and shy character ..except when drunk". The series spawned four sequels: ''Further Abroad'' (1994), ''Even Further Abroad'' (1997), ''Abroad Again in Britain'' (2005) and ''Abroad Again'' (2007), along with several other series and stand-alone films, the majority of which have been archived on the website
MeadesShrine
'. Preferring to be thought of as a performer rather than as a presenter, Meades has described his style as "heavy entertainment"; "staged essays" which seek to combine "lecture hall" and "music hall",
Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be ...
and
Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...
. The 1998 film ''Heart By-Pass'' looked affectionately at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
; particularly at how its architecture, transport system and ethnic mix have changed since the 1960s. It featured the music of many of the city's best-known '60s and '70s rock bands such as
The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...
,
The Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their caree ...
,
Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
,
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
and ELO. He made two films on the architectural historian
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
. The first, in 1998, was the Worcestershire episode of the series '' Travels with Pevsner'', in which noted writers followed his guide books on particular counties. The second, in 2001, was a biography entitled ''Pevsner Revisited''. Meades made two other stand-alone films which aired earlier in 2001: ''Victoria Died in 1901 and is Still Alive Today'' examined the other-worldly legacy of
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
and culture one hundred years on, set to a soundtrack of late 1960s
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
by artists such as
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
,
The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
and
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, while ''suRREAL FILM'' (or ''tvSSFBM EHKL'', the letters of the title moved forwards then backwards) sought to expound on surrealism in a manner befitting the subject, and reflected on, ''inter alia'', the fact that Meades had recently lost a considerable amount of weight. Both films featured the comic actor
Christopher Biggins Christopher Kenneth Biggins (born 16 December 1948) is an English actor and television presenter. Early life Biggins was born in Oldham, Lancashire, the son of William and Pamela Biggins. He was brought up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, attended St P ...
, notably as
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
herself, and were the first of Meades' films to be directed by Francis Hanly, who would go on to be his main collaborator, directing and shooting virtually all of his films from 2008 onwards. A three-part series on food culture, ''Meades Eats'', aired 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
in 2003, again featuring Biggins and Hanly. The episodes dealt with fast food, the notion of a gastronomic revolution in the UK and with the ever-increasing influence of immigrant cuisines. The 2008 two-part BBC Four film ''Jonathan Meades: Magnetic North'' celebrated the culture of Northern Europe, examining why the North suffers in the British popular imagination in comparison with the South. Meades travelled from the
slag heap A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quant ...
s of northern France to Belgian cities, the red-light district of
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
,
Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
, the
Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and finally
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, musing on the architecture, food and art of the places he visited. Writing in ''The Daily Telegraph'', James Walton praised the programme as "Sparkling, thought-provoking, constantly challenging the accepted view, Meades seemed at times inspired, at others deranged. The only thing he never was, thank heaven, was obvious." A 9-DVD box set collecting all of his BBC work to date was planned for release in April 2008, but was reduced to a 3-disc anthology due to the expense of licensing the music used in the programmes. Much of the carefully chosen popular music used in the original edits was replaced by
library music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Background ...
, and the more music-dependent films such as ''Surreal Film'', ''Victoria Died in 1901'' and ''Heart By-Pass'' were not included. In 2009, Meades toured Scotland in a three-part BBC Four series entitled ''Jonathan Meades: Off Kilter''. He visited
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
,
Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
(the 'Isle of Rust') and the less-renowned footballing towns of south-west
Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
,
Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...
and
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...
, guided by his foul-mouthed 'ScotNav'. In 2012, BBC Four screened ''Jonathan Meades on France'', a series in which he explored his "second country". The first episode, ''Fragments of an Arbitrary Encyclopaedia'', focused on the
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
region, using a miscellany of words beginning with the letter V. The second episode, ''A Biased Anthology of Parisian Peripheries'', focused on Frenchness and its major traits. The series concluded with ''Just a Few Debts France Owes to America''. The 2013 film ''The Joy of Essex'' examined that county's little-known history of
utopian communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
. A two-part series on
Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
, ''Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry'', aired in 2014. In a 2017 interview with ''The Guardian'', Meades quoted his director, Francis Hanly, on how their production budgets had declined over the years: "We used to be a convoy, now we are a
Smart car Smart (stylized as smart) is a German automotive marque. Smart Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established by Mercedes-Benz AG and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 and aimed at producing Smart-badged cars in China to be marketed glob ...
". In a 2008 interview with ''The Independent'', he indicated that the blame for this lay mostly with former BBC Two controller
Jane Root Jane Fairbairn Root (born 18 May 1957) is a creative executive in the media industry, who has run major television networks on both sides of the Atlantic. As Controller of BBC Two (1999 to 2004), she was the first woman to be a channel controller f ...
. ''Jonathan Meades on Jargon'' aired on BBC Four in May 2018. The BBC Four website described it as a "provocative television essay" which "dissects politics, the law, football commentary, business, the arts, tabloid-speak and management consultancy to show how jargon is used to cover up, confuse and generally keep us in the dark." ''The Guardian'' described it as "blisteringly brutal, clever and hilarious," while ''The Times'' also declared Meades to be "on blistering form." Over a period of 25 years, Meades has written and presented four films on the architectural legacy of 20th-century European dictators, the latest of which, ''Franco Building with Jonathan Meades'', looking at
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
's Spain, aired in August 2019. The previous instalments were ''Jerry Building'' (
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, 1994), ''Joe Building'' (
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, 2006) and ''Ben Building'' (
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
's Italy, 2016). (See full filmography)


Photography

Meades entered the world of photography with the 2013 collection ''Pidgin Snaps''. Published by Unbound as a "boxette" of 100 postcards, it featured mostly abstract digital work. It was followed in April 2016 by an exhibition entitled "Ape Forgets Medication: Treyfs and Artknacks" at the Londonewcastle Project in Shoreditch, London. A second exhibition, "After Medication: Random Treyfs and Artknacks" was held in October 2017 at 108 Fine Art,
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
.


Personal life

Meades has been married three times and has four daughters from his first two marriages. In 1980 he married Sally Brown, director of the
British Theatre Association The British Theatre Association, originally known as the British Drama League, was an organisation established in 1919 to promote amateur and professional theatre in England, with a head office based at Fitzroy Square, London. It was founded by Geo ...
, and the couple had twins. His second wife was Frances Bentley, managing editor of ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', whom he married in 1988. They had two daughters and divorced in 1997. In 2003 he married his girlfriend Colette Forder, a colleague from ''The Times''. In around 2007, the couple sold their penthouse flat on Tyers Gate, off
Bermondsey Street Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...
,
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, where they had lived for 10 years, and moved to a converted mill near
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
. Discovering that they found country life boring, they then moved to
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
in around 2011, where they live in
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
's
Unité d'habitation {{Infobox company , name = Moldtelecom , logo = , type = JSC , foundation = 1 April 1993 , location = Chişinău, Moldova , key_people = Alexandru Ciubuc CEO interim , num_employees = 2,750 employees As of 2019 , industry = Telecommunica ...
apartment block. During his time at RADA, he became friends with the painter
Duggie Fields Douglas Arthur Peter Field (6 August 1945 – 7 March 2021
Duggiefields.com
), known as Duggie Fields, was a ...
, whose flatmate was the former
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
singer, songwriter and guitarist
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
. He was also friendly with Aubrey "Po" Powell, co-founder of the graphic design company
Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...
, most famous for its Pink Floyd album covers. He has described himself as "a hanger-on to the hangers-on" around the band and has admitted to taking
LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
three times, describing it as "the only remotely interesting drug". Meades was called "the best amateur chef in the world" by
Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the ''enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White became ...
. He taught himself to cook as a young man using ''
Mastering the Art of French Cooking ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both from France, and Julia Child, who was from the United States. The book was written for the American market and published ...
'' (1961, 1970), by
Simone Beck Simone "Simca" Beck (7 July 1904 – 20 December 1991) was a French cookbook writer and cooking teacher who, along with colleagues Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle, played a significant role in the introduction of French cooking technique a ...
, Louisette Bertholle and
Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...
. He is a football fan and supports
Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...
He has been a member of Soho's Groucho and Academy clubs. He won the first ever episode of the BBC's ''
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 ...
'', broadcast in December 2002. His specialist subject was English Architecture, 1850–2002. In the autumn of 2016, he was rushed to hospital and underwent five hours of cardiac surgery. Earlier in the year he had suffered from
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
and an
embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...
.


Bibliography

*''This Is Their Life'' (1979,
Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...
, ; biographies of TV personalities
) *''The Illustrated Atlas of the World's Great Buildings'' (1980, Salamander, ; co-author with Philip Bagenal) *''Filthy English'' (1984,
Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
, ; collection of short fiction
) *''English Extremists: The Architecture of Campbell Zogolovitch Wilkinson Gough'' (1988, Fourth Estate, ; co-author with
Deyan Sudjic Deyan Sudjic (born 6 September 1952) is a British writer and broadcaster, specialising in the fields of design and architecture. He was formerly the director of the Design Museum, London.LSE"Advisory board" retrieved 17 May 2013 Life and care ...
and
Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...
) *''Peter Knows What Dick Likes'' (1989,
Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...
, ; anthology of journalism, essays & short fiction
) *''Pompey'' (1993,
Vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
, ; novel
) *''Incest and Morris Dancing: A Gastronomic Revolution'' (2002, Cassell, ; anthology of food journalism) *''The Fowler Family Business'' (2002, Fourth Estate, ; novel) *''Museum Without Walls'' (2012, Unbound, ; anthology of journalism, essays & TV scripts on the built environment) *''Pidgin Snaps: A Boxette of 100 Postcards'' (2013, Unbound, ; boxed collection of photographs) *''An Encyclopaedia of Myself'' (2014, Fourth Estate, ; childhood memoir) *''Estate'' (2015, Stay Free, ; collaboration with photographer Robert Clayton and writer Laura Noble on the Lion Farm housing estate,
Oldbury, West Midlands Oldbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough and one of its six constituent towns. At the 2011 census, the ward of Oldbury had a population of 13,606, w ...
) *''The Plagiarist in the Kitchen: A Lifetime's Culinary Thefts'' (2017, Unbound, ; collection of recipes) *''Isle of Rust'' (2019, Luath Press, ; collaboration with photographer Alex Boyd on
Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
) *''Pedro and Ricky Come Again: Selected Writing 1988-2020'' (2021, Unbound, ; anthology of uncollected journalism & essays)


Filmography

All films written and presented by Jonathan Meades, except ''The Victorian House'', written by John Marshall. *''Saturday Review'' (1985-1987, 30 mins, BBC Two) *#Segment on the art and
architecture of Barcelona The architecture of Barcelona has had a parallel evolution to that of the rest of the Catalan and Spanish architecture, and has followed in diverse ways the multiple trends that have been produced in the context of the history of Western architect ...
(Dir. unknown)
*#Segment on the art and architecture of
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(Dir. unknown)
*'' The Victorian House'' (1987, 6 × 26 mins, Channel 4, Dir. Robert Carter) *#''Where Do Houses Come From?'' *#''How It Was Done'' *#''Steps Beyond the Door'' *#''The Home Within'' *#''The Way It Is'' *#''Time and Change'' *''Building Sights: Marsh Court'' (1988, 10 mins, BBC Two, Dir. Russell England) *''Abroad in Britain'' (1990, 5 × 30 mins, BBC Two) *#''
Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
Heaven'' (plotland shacks, Dir. Russell England)
*#''Right is Wrong'' (the
Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
avoidance of right angles, Dir. David Turnbull)
*#'' House Ahoy!'' (the land and water of the
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...
, Dir. Russell England)
*#''Bricks and Mortars'' (martial architecture, Dir.
Paul Bryers Paul Bryers (born 1 August 1955 in Liverpool) is a British film director, screenwriter and fiction author. Biography Paul Bryers studied Modern history, politics and economy at the University of Southampton. Later he joined the Daily Mirror’ ...
)
*#''In Search of
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
'' (artists' architecture, Dir. Russell England)
*''Further Abroad'' (1994, 5 × 30 mins, BBC Two) *#''Get High!'' (the perilous attractions of vertigo, Dir. Russell England) *#''Where the Other Half Lives'' (the architecture of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
, Dir. David Turnbull)
*#''Middlebrow-on-Tee'' (the landscape and society of
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
, Dir. Russell England)
*#''The Truth About Porkies'' (
pig farming Pig farming or pork farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins. Pigs are amenable t ...
, Dir. Russell England)
*#''
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
'' (Dir. David Turnbull)
*''Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
'' (1994, 37 mins, BBC Two, Dir. Russell England) *''
One Foot in the Past ''One Foot in the Past'' is a British television series on BBC 2 that ran from 1993 to 2000. It considered the cultural heritage and history of Britain. Each programme ran for 30 minutes. Presenters included Kirsty Wark and also: * Joan Bakewell ...
:
Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restorat ...
in Dorset'' (1995, 30 mins, BBC Two, Dir. unknown) *''Without Walls: J'Accuse - Vegetarians'' (1995, 26 mins, Channel 4, Dir. Nick Bray) *''Even Further Abroad'' (1997, 5 × 30 mins, BBC Two) *#''Remember the Future?'' (big tech of the 1960s, Dir. David Turnbull) *#''Full Metal Carapace'' (the world of caravans, Dir. David Turnbull) *#''The Absentee Landlord'' (postwar churches, Dir. Russell England) *#''Nag, Nag, Nag'' ( Newmarket, Dir. Mick Conefrey) *#''Double Dutch'' (
The Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
, Dir. David Turnbull)
*''Heart By-Pass'' (
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, 1998, 30 mins, BBC Two, Dir. David Turnbull
) *'' Travels with Pevsner:
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
'' (1998, 50 mins, BBC Two, Dir. Lucy Jago) *''
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
Died in 1901 and is Still Alive Today'' (2001, 65 mins, BBC Two, Dir. Francis Hanly) *''tvSSFBM EHKL:
suRREAL FILM Surrealist cinema is a modernist approach to film theory, criticism, and production with origins in Paris in the 1920s. The movement used shocking, irrational, or absurd imagery and Freudian dream symbolism to challenge the traditional function of ...
'' (2001, 44 mins,
BBC Knowledge BBC Knowledge was a British television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 1 June 1999, broadcasting documentary, cultural and educational programmes. It was shut down on 2 March 2002, and was replaced by BBC Four. History L ...
, Dir. Francis Hanly
) *''
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
Revisited'' (2001, 44 mins, BBC Knowledge, Dir. Jamie Muir) *''Meades Eats'' (2003, 3 × 30 mins, BBC Four) *#''Fast Food'' (Dir. Francis Hanly) *#''The Alphabet Soup of the Gastronomic Revolution'' (Dir. Ben McPherson) *#''Whose Food?'' (Dir. Francis Hanly) *''Abroad Again in Britain'' (2005, 5 × 60 mins, BBC Two) *#''
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
'' (Dir.
Eleanor Yule Eleanor Yule is a Scottish film director, best known for her feature film '' Blinded'' and her television documentaries with Michael Palin. She also directed ''Ghost Stories for Christmas'' a TV mini-series with Christopher Lee for BBC2. Biogra ...
)
*#'' Cragside House'' (Dir. Robert Payton) *#''
Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...
'' (Dir. Jonathan Barker)
*#''
Brighton Pavilion The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Pri ...
'' (Dir. Tim Niel)
*#''
Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
'' (Dir. Colin Murray)
*''Joe Building: The
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
Memorial Lecture'' (2006, 78 mins, BBC Four, Dir. unknown) *''Abroad Again'' (2007, 5 × 50 mins, BBC Two) *#''Father to the Man'' (an architectural autobiography, Dir. Tim Niel) *#''On the Brandwagon'' (
urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
, Dir. Colin Murray)
*#''The Case of the Missing Architect'' (
Cuthbert Brodrick Cuthbert Brodrick FRIBA (1 December 1821 – 2 March 1905) was a British architect, whose most famous building is Leeds Town Hall. Early life Brodrick was born in the Yorkshire port of Hull where his father was a well-to-do merchant and shi ...
, Dir. Francis Hanly)
*#''Heaven'' ( garden cities and their legacy, Dir. Tim Niel) *#''
Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...
- Reading a Garden'' (Dir. Robert Payton)
*''Jonathan Meades: Magnetic North'' (2008, 2 × 60 mins, BBC Four) *#''Episode 1'' (
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...
to
Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
, Dir. Francis Hanly)
*#''Episode 2: From Poland to Finland'' (Dir. Colin Murray) *''Jonathan Meades: Off Kilter'' (2009, 3 × 60 mins, BBC Four) *#''
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
'' (Dir. Francis Hanly)
*#''Isle of Rust'' (
Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
, Dir. Colin Murray)
*#''The Football Pools Towns'' (
Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
,
Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...
and
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...
, Dir. Francis Hanly)
*''Jonathan Meades on France'' (2011, 3 × 60 mins, BBC Four) *#''Fragments of an Arbitrary Encyclopaedia, All Beginning with the Letter V'' (Dir. Francis Hanly) *#''A Biased Anthology of Parisian Peripheries'' (Dir. Tim Niel) *#''Just a Few Debts France Owes to America'' (Dir. Francis Hanly) *''Jonathan Meades: The Joy of Essex'' (2013, 60 mins, BBC Four, Dir. Francis Hanly) *''Bunkers,
Brutalism Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
and Bloodymindedness: Concrete Poetry'' (2014, 2 × 60 mins, BBC Four, Dir. Francis Hanly) *#''Part 1'' *#''Part 2'' *''Ben Building:
Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, Monuments, Modernism and Marble'' (2016, 90 mins, BBC Four, Dir. Francis Hanly) *''Jonathan Meades on Jargon'' (27 May 2018, 60 mins, BBC Four, Dir. Francis Hanly) *''
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
Building with Jonathan Meades'' (27 August 2019, 85 mins, BBC Four, Dir. Francis Hanly)


Discography


DVD

*''The Jonathan Meades Collection'' (2008,
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
, 3-disc set
) ::1.1. Introductory piece to camera (2008, 13.5 mins) ::1.2. ''Severn Heaven'' (1990, 30 mins, ''Abroad in Britain'') ::1.3. ''In Search of Bohemia'' (1990, 30 mins, ''Abroad in Britain'') ::1.4. ''Get High!'' (1994, 30 mins, ''Further Abroad'') ::1.5. ''Belgium'' (1994, 30 mins, ''Further Abroad'') ::2.1. ''Remember the Future?'' (1997, 30 mins, ''Even Further Abroad'') ::2.2. ''The Absentee Landlord'' (1997, 30 mins, ''Even Further Abroad'') ::2.3. ''Double Dutch'' (1997, 30 mins, ''Even Further Abroad'') ::2.4. ''Fast Food'' (2003, 30 mins, ''Meades Eats'') ::3.1. ''Father to the Man'' (2007, 50 mins, ''Abroad Again'') ::3.2. ''Jonathan Meades: Magnetic North, Episode 1'' (2008, 60 mins) ::3.3. ''Jonathan Meades: Magnetic North, Episode 2'' (2008, 60 mins) ::3.4. ''
Mark Lawson Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author. Specialising in culture and the arts, he is best known for presenting the flagship BBC Radio 4 arts programme ''Front Row (radio programme), Front Row'' between 1998 and 2014. ...
Talks To... Jonathan Meades'' (2008, 40 mins)


Vinyl

*''Pedigree Mongrel'' (2015, Test Centre, vinyl LP with digital download; spoken word & soundscapes) ::''The Side'' ::A.1. ''At The Shia Bestiality Workshop'' ::A.2. ''Meeting the Maggots'' ::''The Side You Dressed On'' ::B.1. ''A Nine Bob Note'' ::B.2. ''MeMe Trepanning''


References


External links

* , the official website
''MeadesShrine''
Jonathan Meades film archive
Jonathan Meades
at 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. ...
...
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meades, Jonathan 1947 births Living people People from Salisbury English people of Scottish descent People educated at King's College, Taunton Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century English writers 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English journalists 20th-century British journalists 21st-century British journalists English male journalists English critics The Observer people English television critics English architecture writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers English social commentators Social critics English magazine editors 20th-century British short story writers English humorists The Times journalists English food writers British restaurant critics English television writers English male screenwriters British male television writers English television presenters BBC television presenters English television personalities Television personalities from Wiltshire British documentary filmmakers English documentary filmmakers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English male novelists English memoirists English atheists English humanists British secularists People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School