Andrea Jean Wonfor, also known as Andrea Duncan (31 July 1944 – 10 September 2004), was a British television executive and producer. Her successes included ''

The Tube The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

'', ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

'', ''

Byker Grove ''Byker Grove'' is a British teen drama and coming of age television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 on BBC One. The show was set in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne and was filmed in nearby Benwell. It was created by writer Adele Rose a ...

'' and '' The Word''.

Early life

Wonfor was born in 1944 as Andrea Jean Duncan. She was brought up in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

but her father had links to the north of England. She attended Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School in Canterbury before studying at

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

Career

In 1966, after her graduation from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Wonfor became a trainee at

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), 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 on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

with the future director-general of the BBC,

John Birt John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC. After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television and ...

, as a fellow new recruit. Three years later, she joined

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

as a researcher and a director. By 1976, she was their head of children's and young people's programmes. In 1982, with producer Malcolm Gerrie and her second husband, Wonfor created ''

'', a live music programme broadcast from

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. The programme was presented by

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

and

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a Welsh television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was subjected to intense media ...

, launching the broadcasting careers of both presenters, despite their poor audition, according to Holland. The programme attracted high ratings for the then new

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In 1989, Wonfor created the children's programme ''

''.Geoff Brownlee, ‘Wonfor , Andrea Jean (1944–2004)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2008; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 30 July 2017
/ref> The programme launched many careers of people from the North-East including

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama ''Byker Grove'', they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, ...

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress who first garnered attention playing Nicola Dobson in the coming-of-age BBC drama series '' Byker Grove'' (1989–1992). She became more widely known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins on ...

and

Donna Air Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, producer and philanthropist. Early life and education Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979, in Gosforth, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née Lackenby) and ...

. Later she moved to an executive role at Channel 4, at the invitation of

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

, where she commissioned programmes such as '' The Word'', '' Eurotrash'' and ''

'', which helped launch the national career of Chris Evans. Wonfor moved to ITV where she created the series ''

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

'' and the

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

docu-drama '' Hillsborough'' (1996). She also discovered the TV potential of the comedian

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise ...

. She served on the Board of Governors of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in the 1990s.

Death

Wonfor died in Ingoe,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, in 2004 from a recurrence of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wonfor, Andrea 1944 births 2004 deaths Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge British women television producers Channel 4 people People from Canterbury Governors of the British Film Institute