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Jad Adams (born 27 November 1954) is a British writer and television producer.
Education
Adams attended
Forest Hill School and the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
where he was influenced by the lectures of radical philosopher
Paul Feyerabend
Paul Karl Feyerabend (; January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his work as a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for three decades (195 ...
on questions of
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
historical method
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn ...
. He took an
MA in Victorian History at
Birkbeck, University of London.
Early career
Adams trained as a journalist on the ''South East London Mercury'' newspaper where he won the Young Journalist of the Year award in 1978. From 1979 he worked as a freelance news reporter on
Fleet Street for various national titles. His break into television came when he was recruited by
Tom Bower
Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...
to work as a researcher on 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. ...
...
's flagship current affairs programme ''
Panorama''. Adams worked on various investigations, including ''Called to Account'' on the mysterious death of
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" () by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in ...
, which won the
Royal Television Society award for international current affairs in 1982.
At the end of 1982, Adams was recruited by
Joan Shenton
Joan Alicia Shenton (born 16 March 1943) is a British broadcaster who has produced and presented programmes for radio and television.
Shenton is known as an exponent of the ideas of AIDS denial.
Early life
Shenton was born in Antofagasta, Chil ...
to work with her company Meditel Productions on ''Kill or Cure?'', a series about the pharmaceutical industry and damage caused by prescription drugs 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 ...
. This started a fruitful collaboration with Shenton, and Adams stayed with Meditel to move through the editorial grades to become a series producer and producer/director. In six years working with Meditel, his most successful programme was ''AIDS: The Unheard Voices'' for Channel 4’s ''
Dispatches'', about the views of leading scientists who questioned whether the cause of
AIDS had been correctly identified as HIV. The programme won the
Royal Television Society award for Best International Documentary in 1986 and stimulated Adams to write his first book, ''AIDS: The HIV Myth''.
He later concentrated on history and current affairs programmes, working with
Phillip Whitehead
Phillip Whitehead (30 May 1937 – 31 December 2005) was a British Labour politician, television producer and writer.
Early life
Born in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, he was adopted by a local family in Rowsley, and attended Lady Manners School ...
at
Brook Productions on ''Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story'' for BBC and
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
while writing the book to accompany the series. He later worked with
Roger Bolton at Roger Bolton Productions on current affairs and cultural programmes for
ITV.
As writer
Adams' biography of
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
was first published in 1992, it was updated and reissued with additional chapters to cover the intervening 20 years in 2011. To work on it, Adams had otherwise unparalleled access to the extensive Benn Archive and fifteen million words of manuscript diary.
He has specialised in writing books on nationalists and radicals, with biographies of
Emmeline Pankhurst and
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
. ''Women and the Vote: A World History'' was published in 2014 dealing with how women got the vote in different countries. It was described as ‘impressive in its reach, authoritative in its meticulous research.’
Adams' interest in the literature of the 1890s led him to become a specialist in ''fin-de-siècle'' studies, writing a biography of the decadent poet
Ernest Dowson
Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 186723 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer who is often associated with the Decadent movement.
Biography
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle ...
, a biography of
Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...
and a history of
absinthe, as well as many academic journal articles. ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' has described him as "an extraordinary polymath".
He frequently contributes reviews and other pieces to national newspapers and magazines. Between 2007 and 2022 he contributed a regular history column to the leading genealogy publication ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' magazine. Since 2022 he has been a theatre reviewer for the online site Plays to See.
In 2023 he and Julie Peakman set up Meles Meles Marks, a publishing company which will put out their less commercial books and republish their back catalogue. The first publication is Adams' novel Café Europa which is about four young people visiting a Greek island and encountering romance but also crime and corruption. The book is set before the Brexit vote; Adams has said the surtitle ‘Before Brexit there was …’ 'responds to the sense of loss felt by young people who are now denied the ease of work and settlement in the EU which used to be taken for granted.'
Personal life
Adams has lived with fellow historian Julie Peakman since 1983. They live in London and on the Greek island of
Leros
Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...
where they have been involved in humanitarian work with refugees.
Public affairs
Adams has been chair of Croydon-based homelessness charity Nightwatch since 1992. He frequently comments on public affairs; he is a critic of corruption in local government and of what he sees as a decline in representative government.
Awards
*2011, Mayor's London Peace Award
*2006, Fellow of the Institute of English, School of Advanced Study, University of London
*1997, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
*1987, Royal Television Society Producer/Director – ''AIDS: The Unheard Voices''
*1977, British Press Awards Young Journalist of the Year
Selected works
Books
* (2023) ''Cafe Europa'' -
* (2020) ''The Banyan Tree and her Roots'' -
* (2016) ''Women and the Vote: A World History'' -
* (2015) ''Gandhi: Naked Ambition'' -
* (2005) ''Kipling'' -
* (2004) ''Hideous Absinthe: A History of the "Devil in a Bottle"'' -
* (2003) ''Pankhurst (Life & Times)''
* (2000) ''Madder Music, Stronger Wine: The Life of Ernest Dowson, Poet and Decadent'' -
* (1997) ''Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story''
* (1992) ''Tony Benn: A Biography'' -
* (1989) ''AIDS: The HIV Myth'' -
Television documentaries
* ''The Real East Enders'' (2002) (series producer)
* ''So You Want to be Mayor?'' (2000) (series producer)
* ''The Clintons: A Marriage of Sex, Lies and Power'' (2000) (producer)
* ''Kitchener: The Empire’s Flawed Hero'' (1998) (producer)
* ''Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story'' (1996) (researcher)
* ''Food – Fad or Fact? II'' (1989) (6 parts, series producer/director)
** "Are Additives Necessary?"
** "Are Additives Safe?"
** "Food Intolerance"
** "The Cholesterol Campaign"
** "Food Poisoning"
** "Food Irradiation"
* ''AIDS: The Unheard Voices'' (1987) (producer/director)
* ''Food – Fad or Fact?'' (1987) (6 parts, producer)
** "A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good"
** "Are Fats Harmful?"
** "The Battle of the Fats"
** "Sugar"
** "Salt"
** "Fibre"
* ''Kill or Cure? 2'' (1987) (3 parts, producer of 1)
* ''Ten Million'' (1985–86) (2 series, series producer)
* ''Who Cares?'' (1985) (4 parts, researcher)
** "Health for All"
** "Keeping the Beat"
** "The Time Bomb of Old Age"
** "Health Care: Right or Privilege?"
* ''Kill or Cure?'' (1983) (6 parts, researcher)
* ''Called to Account: How Roberto Calvi Died'' (1982) (researcher)
References
External links
Jad AdamsJad Adams @ MBA Literary & Script AgentsCroydon NightwatchJulie Peakman*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Jad
1954 births
Living people
English television producers
English male writers
HIV/AIDS denialists
Alumni of the University of Sussex
People from Lewisham
Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London