Julian Pettifer OBE (born 21 July 1935) is an English

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

journalist. He was president of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment thro ...

and is vice president of the

Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

and the RSPB. He was voted BAFTA 'Reporter of the Year' for his coverage of the war in Vietnam in 1968.

Early life and education

Pettifer was born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, and was educated at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

. Julian’s father Stephen Pettifer was the manufacturer of veterinary medicines, most notably “Santovin” which was a patent medicine claiming to cure a wide assortment of ills in sheep, cattle, goats and horses.

Career

Pettifer started work in television during the early days of ITV, as one of the original

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was co ...

announcers in 1958. He later moved to the BBC as a globe-trotting reporter for programmes such as ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'', '' 24 Hours'' and ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined i ...

''. He was the host for the British television show '' Busman's Holiday'' from 1985 to 1988. The show was produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

and ran on the ITV network. Pettifer also wrote and presented a number of documentaries for both BBC and ITV, including ''Diamonds in the Sky'', on the subject of international air travel; ''Automania'', a history of the motor car, and ''Missionaries''. A growing interest in the environment led to him writing and presenting programmes about the environment and wildlife including ''Naturewatch'' for Central Television, ''Nature'', and ''The Living Isles'' for the BBC. He continued to report on current affairs, contributing reports for BBC Two's ''Assignment'' and ''Correspondent'' programmes, and a highly praised film for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

that re-examined the reporting of the Vietnam war. He presented

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

's '' Asiafile'' and now presents their ''

Crossing Continents ''Crossing Continents'' is a half-hour BBC Radio 4 documentary strand focusing on foreign affairs issues. It takes listeners right to the heart of story through its on-location reporting and feature making. The programmes are character driven a ...

''.

Honours

Pettifer was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. He served as president of the

and is vice president of the

. Pettifer was awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

's Cherry Kearton Medal and Award in 1990 He was voted BAFTA 'Reporter of the Year' for his coverage of the war in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

in 1968.

References

External links

Images at the National Portrait Gallery

''Green Gurus'' - Downloadable documentary series on BBC Radio 4

BBC Biography

Since 2014 Julian Pettifer has a YouTube Channel featuring archive from his five decades of broadcasting.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettifer, Julian 1935 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English male journalists English television presenters Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Panorama (British TV programme) People educated at Marlborough College People from Malmesbury Radio and television announcers