''Peschardt's People'' is a documentary television series, hosted by

Michael Peschardt Michael Peschardt is a journalist and broadcaster for BBC News. Early life Educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, London, Northwood, London and the University of Sussex he joined the BBC as a netw ...

, that premiered on

BBC World BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media an ...

on 1 April 2006. In the series, Peschardt interviews famous and not so famous personalities from the Asia-Pacific region. In order to be featured in the series, Peschardt has said that his subjects "must have something extraordinary about their lives". The basic format of the show is that Peschardt's guests show him some of the places that are important to them: their favourite cities, their favourite beaches, their favourite restaurants, where they work, where they grew up, where they live. Each episode is filmed entirely on location. Although Peschardt has stated that he does not interview politicians, he later interviewed former Member of Parliament

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (born November 1957) is a New Zealand politician and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 2005 she became the world's ...

. More than 150 interviews have been broadcast since its launch. The programme is broadcast to over 200 countries on the BBC footprint, reaching every corner of the globe. It is repeated a number of times to ensure the programme is aired in peak-time in all major markets.

Episodes

In the first thirteen-part series the interviewees include New Zealand actor

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

, Australian businesswoman

Janet Holmes à Court Janet Holmes à Court, AC, HonFAHA, HonFAIB (born Janet Lee Ranford on 29 November 1943 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian businesswoman and one of Australia's wealthiest women. She is the Chairperson of one of Australia's largest ...

, musician

Vanessa-Mae Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actress

Preity Zinta Preity G Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' ...

, Australian author

Doris Pilkington Garimara Doris Pilkington Garimara (born Nugi Garimara; c. 1 July 1937 – 10 April 2014), also known as Doris Pilkington, was an Australian author. Garimara wrote ''Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence'' (1996), a story about the stolen generation, and base ...

, Indian writer

Shobhaa De Shobha De (''née'' Rajadhyaksha, formerly Kilachand; born 7 January 1948) is an Indian novelist and columnist. She is best known for her depiction of socialites and sex in her works of fiction, for which she has been referred to as the "Jackie ...

, gold

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...

Cranston Edward, Thai businessman Sompan Charumilinda, plastic surgeon

Fiona Wood Fiona Melanie Wood (born 2 February 1958) is an English-born Australian plastic surgeon working in Perth, Western Australia. She is the director of the Royal Perth Hospital burns unit and the Western Australia Burns Service. In addition, ...

, Indian businessman

Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. T ...

, Thai businesswoman Pannin Kitiparaporn, and Australian professional basketball player

Luc Longley Lucien James Longley (born 19 January 1969) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. Long ...

. A second series began on 7 April 2007, with interviews of mountaineer

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...

, businessman

N. R. Narayana Murthy Nāgavārā Rāmarāo Nārāyana Mūrthy (born 21 August 1946) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of Infosys, and has been the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of the company before ret ...

, actor

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare ...

, actress

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

, and actor

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

. In 2009, a new series included interviews with surgeon Chris O'Brien, designer Kim Young Se, politician

, filmmaker

Niki Caro Nikola Jean Caro (born 20 September 1966) is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. Her 2002 film '' Whale Rider'' was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals. She directed the 2020 live action vers ...

, athlete Sun Ji Hai, writer Lijia Zhang, fashion designer Suzie Moncrieff, and golfer

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournamen ...

. Other interviews have been with Governor General

Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously the ...

, actor

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

, the Royal Family of Bahrain, the King and Queen of Bollywood

and

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebrit ...

, Australian actress

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

, English comedian

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bl ...

, former Australian cricketer

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

, Indian actress

Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty Kundra (born Ashwini Shetty; Née Shetty; 8 June 1975) is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi-language films. Shetty made her screen debut in the thriller '' Baazigar'' (1993) which garnered her nominations for two Filmfar ...

, Japanese restaurateur

Nobu Nobu Hospitality, LLC is an American company founded by Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, and Meir Teper in partnerships with Drew Nieporent as an Operator with Myriad Restaurant Group. Background In 1987, Nobu Matsuhisa moved to Los Angeles ...

, author

Diane Wei Liang Diane Wei Liang (born 1966) is a Chinese-born writer living in London. Life Diane Wei Liang was born in 1966 in Beijing in the People's Republic of China to an official of the People's Liberation Army,a journalist and Chinese literature professor ...

, singer

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

, Singaporean actress

Fann Wong Fann Woon Fong (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Fam Vùn-fông''; born 27 January 1971), better known by her stage name Fann Wong, is a Singaporean actress, singer and model. She is referred to as MediaCorp's "Ah Jie" (top actress) together with Zoe Tay for ...

, golfer Lam Chih Bing, former tennis player

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

, and Australian rugby league player

Clint Newton Clint Newton (born June 18, 1981) is an American former international rugby league footballer who played as a and . He played for the Newcastle Knights, Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers in the NRL, Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League, ...

References

External links

* 2006 British television series debuts BBC World News shows {{BBC-tv-prog-stub