Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947) is an English-Irish television writer, producer, and presenter.
Early life
Prendiville was born on 25 December 1947 in
Rochdale, Lancashire
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, the son of an Irish father from
Killorglin, County Kerry, who had relocated to Rochdale to practise medicine. He attended
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...
in
Clane, County Kildare
Clane (; ) is a town in County Kildare, Ireland, from Dublin. Its population of 7,280 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 66th largest in Ireland. It is on the River Liffey. Clane gives its name to the associated townland, c ...
, the same
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
his father had attended.
Career
Presenting
Working alongside
Glyn Worsnip
Glyn Worsnip (2 September 1938 – 7 June 1996) was a British radio and television presenter. Born in Highnam, Gloucestershire, he was most famous for his appearances on ''That's Life!'' (where he was teamed with Kieran Prendiville from 1973 to 1 ...
, Prendiville was a presenter of the BBC consumer programme ''
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, ...
'' from 1973 to 1978, having served on the production team from the very first episode. Also featuring on ''
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
'', the BBC's science programme, an urban myth has it that he claimed that the
CD was indestructible and that he demonstrated this by spreading strawberry jam on a copy of the
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
' ''
Living Eyes''; this in fact happened on BBC Breakfast Time. He was the BBC's on-site commentator on the first
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
mission, reporting from
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
and
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
.
He was also a reporter at football matches on the BBC's ''
Grandstand
A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...
'' Saturday afternoon sports programme in the 1980s.
Writing
The creator of the 1990s
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. ...
...
). He received praise and criticism for ''Care'' (2000), his controversial drama about
children's home.