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Robert Orchard is a freelance British
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
lecturer
Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
.
One of three children born to a
Devonshire
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is a ...
farmer and a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
nurse, he was educated at a grammar school in mid-Devon and read
Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...
, followed by a year's
PGCE teacher training course.
Orchard succeeded
Geoffrey Perkins
Geoffrey Howard Perkins (22 February 1953 – 29 August 2008) was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. Best known as the BBC head of comedy (1995–2001), he produced the first two radio series of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galax ...
as president of
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
's student revue company, the
Etceteras, and gathered a talented team of sketch-writers that included former ''
TW3'' scriptwriter and chemistry tutor,
John Albery
Wyndham John Albery, FRS (5 April 1936 – 3 December 2013) was a British physical chemist and academic.
Early life
Wyndham John Albery was born on 5 April 1936. His father Michael James Albery (1910-75), a barrister, was part of a sprawling ...
, and fellow-students
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...
and
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...
, who met here for the first time.
He began his journalistic career at the ''
Western Mail'' newspaper in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, before moving on to
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...
and worked in broadcasting for 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. ...
...
for more than 30 years, covering mainly politics and parliament for TV and radio from 1984 — including the
Brighton Bomb and the fall of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. He also worked in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
setting up a new EU reporter post for BBC regions before becoming political correspondent, first for
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...
and then for network
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
and Radio News in a team led by
John Cole, and including his former BBC Wales colleague,
Huw Edwards
Huw Edwards (; born 18 August 1961) is a Welsh journalist, presenter, and newsreader. Edwards presents ''BBC News at Ten'', the corporation's flagship news broadcast.
Edwards also presents BBC coverage of state events, international events, th ...
. Orchard focused on reporting Parliament from 1992, mainly on
Radio 4,
becoming a BBC parliamentary correspondent and presenting ''
Yesterday in Parliament
Today in Parliament is a British radio programme that covers the daily proceedings of the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), on BBC Radio 4. When re-broadcast at around 8.30am the next day on longwave (198 LW) and medium wave, it is ...
'' — with a brief to entertain as well as inform, and later the more measured, nightly ''
Today in Parliament
Today in Parliament is a British radio programme that covers the daily proceedings of the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), on BBC Radio 4. When re-broadcast at around 8.30am the next day on longwave (198 LW) and medium wave, it is ...
'', along with other specialist parliamentary programmes on TV and radio. He reported on major UK politicians such as
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
.
He edited
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Online's General Election coverage in 2001; and later compiled the
BBC College of Journalism
The BBC Academy is an educational arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation which trains current and prospective broadcasting employees in the skills of the Broadcasting industry, in addition to training the corporation's own staff and prospect ...
's first online ''Guide to Parliament'', to help other BBC journalists understand how the
Westminster Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...
works and how to report it.
He has written numerous articles for the UK Parliament's ''
The House'' magazine, the
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
website, the
Hansard Society
The Hansard Society was formed in the United Kingdom in 1944 to promote parliamentary democracy. Founded and chaired by Commander Stephen King-Hall, the first subscribers were Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The society's co-presidents a ...
, and also lectures on politics and the media. He has lent his voice to create historical character cameos for a range of BBC Radio 4 political programmes. Documentaries he wrote and presented for
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' ...
include ''
Fool's Gold
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...
'', on the 19th-century Welsh Goldrush; a series for ''
You & Yours
''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News.
History
''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...
'' assessing the privatisation of water, nuclear power and the
Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
; ''
The Age of Ming'', on ageism in politics; ''
Hung, Drawn and Thwarted'', on the prospects and perils of a hung parliament; a 70th-anniversary tribute to ''Today in Parliament''; and ''
A Very Welsh Coup'', 25 years after the fall of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. Robert Orchard is now a freelance political journalist and lecturer, and was a mature student, achieving an MA in Politics and Contemporary History at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, 40 years after his first degree.
In 2014, he advised on government communication to the
Maltese government.
Away from UK parliament, he has organised poetry-reading tours of schools, and been an amateur actor, including at the pro-am Everyman Open Air Theatre Festival
held at
Dyffryn Gardens
Dyffryn Gardens ( cy, Gerddi Dyffryn) is a collection of botanical gardens located near the villages of Dyffryn and St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The gardens were selected by the British Tourist Authority as one of the Top 100 gar ...
near
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
from 1983 to 1995; he was also Festival treasurer then chairman. With Tim Riley, he went on to found Moonlight Theatre, staging open air musicals at the Festival for several years. After leaving 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. ...
...
, he has returned to acting, this time with