Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers (born 10 October 1935) is a British

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a " television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

who is best known for presenting the travel programme '' Wish You Were Here...?'' from 1974 to 2003.

Early life

Chalmers was born in

Gatley Gatley is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles north-east of Manchester Airport. History Toponymy Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, in 1290, Gatley was known as ''Gat ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

. Her father was an architect and her mother a medical secretary.Sandra Chalmers Obituary in ''The Times'' p 56, 27 February 2015 She had a sister,

Sandra Chalmers Sandra Locke "Sandy" Chalmers (29 February 1940 – 2 February 2015) was a British radio producer and broadcaster, who was editor of ''Woman's Hour'' on BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s. Chalmers was also featured on "Welcome To White Hill" with her ...

. Both sisters were educated at

Withington Girls' School Withington Girls' School is an independent day school in Fallowfield, Manchester, United Kingdom, providing education for girls between the ages of seven and eighteen. Withington is a member of the Girls' Schools Association and the Headmasters ...

, an independent day school in

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a suburb of Manchester, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 15,211. Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east–west by Wilmslow Road and north–south by Wil ...

near

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Career

Chalmers began broadcasting for the BBC when she was only 13, after being selected for BBC Northern ''Children's Hour'' by producer Trevor Hill. Her younger sister Sandra, who was later editor of ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented ...

'', also performed on ''Children's Hour''. Chalmers presented many programmes from Manchester, including ''Children's Television Club'' which later metamorphosed into ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' based in London. She spent some time at secretarial college in Manchester in the early 1950s.Miss Judith Chalmers, OBE
, Debretts.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19. In the 1960s, Chalmers presented two major BBC radio programmes: '' Family Favourites'' and ''

''. She also appeared as the original Susan in ''

The Clitheroe Kid ''The Clitheroe Kid'' was a BBC Radio comedy show featuring diminutive Northern comic Jimmy Clitheroe in the role of a cheeky schoolboy, who lived with his family at Lilac Avenue in an unnamed town in the North of England. The pilot show, pil ...

'', and was a foil for

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A lifel ...

in his radio show. Chalmers presented ballroom dancing competition programme ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

'' for the BBC from 1961 to 1965. During the 1970s, Chalmers regularly presented ITV's daytime magazine programme ''Good Afternoon'' and its successors, which included ''Afternoon Plus'' and ''A Plus''. She started presenting ITV's holiday programme '' Wish You Were Here?'' in 1974 and continued in this role until 2003, initially working alongside Chris Kelly, and later with John Carter. In the 1980s Chalmers was a regular host of the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss In ...

contest on ITV, also presenting the associated UK beauty pageants such as Miss United Kingdom and the British Beauty Championships. Chalmers presented

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's mid-morning show from 1990 to 1992, taking over from

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

, who took over the show again following Chalmers's departure from the station in 1992. In 2001, Chalmers appeared on ''

Lily Savage's Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which started in 1979 and is still running today, albeit with some sizeable gaps. The original series ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC1, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 un ...

''. She took part in an episode of the

BBC 2 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 ...

series ''

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip ''Antiques Road Trip'' (also known as ''Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'') is a BBC television series produced by STV Studios. It was first shown on BBC Two from 2010 to 2012, and has been shown on BBC One since 2013. This show is not to be conf ...

'', with her son

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, in 2013. Her television appearances in later years have been limited to short spots on chat show programmes such as Good Morning Britain, ''

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 Gra ...

'' and

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comed ...

's chat shows. In 2017, Chalmers took part in Channel 5’s ''Celebrity Taste of Italy''.

Personal life

Chalmers has been married to sports commentator

Neil Durden-Smith Neil Durden-Smith OBE (born 18 August 1933, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, England) is a former English sports commentator and first-class cricketer. Life and career Durden-Smith was educated at Aldenham School and the Britannia Royal Naval ...

since 1964. The couple live in north

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and have two children, television presenter

and Emma. Chalmers has six grandchildren. She was awarded an OBE in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Judith 1935 births Living people English radio DJs English reporters and correspondents English television presenters English voice actresses English television actresses BBC Radio 2 presenters Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Stockport People educated at Withington Girls' School Beauty pageant hosts British women radio presenters British women television presenters Woman's Hour