Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers (born 10 October 1935) is an English retired

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

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 counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, in 12 ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. 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. Both sisters were educated at Withington Girls' School, an independent day school in

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a bustling area of Manchester with a population of 14,869 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east&n ...

near

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington had a population at the 2011 ce ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Career

Chalmers began broadcasting for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'', 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 ...

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

''. She also appeared as the original Susan in '' The Clitheroe Kid'', and was a foil for

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

in his radio show. Chalmers presented ballroom dancing competition programme '' Come Dancing'' for the

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, Mi ...

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 List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

's mid-morning show from 1990 to 1992, taking over from Ken Bruce, 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''. She took part in an episode of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

series '' Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'', with her son

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, 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''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

'' and

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...

's chat shows. In 2017, Chalmers took part in Channel 5's ''Celebrity Taste of Italy''. In 2022, at the age of 86, Chalmers was appointed Heathrow Express's new chief smile officer.

Personal life

Chalmers has been married to sports commentator Neil Durden-Smith since 1964. The couple live in north

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and have two children, including television presenter

. Chalmers has six grandchildren. Chalmers was appointed 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 English women radio presenters English women television presenters