Mavis Nicholson (née Mainwaring; 19 October 1930 – 8 September 2022) was a Welsh writer and radio and television broadcaster. She was born in Wales, and worked throughout the United Kingdom.

Early life

Nicholson was born on 19 October 1930 in

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry () is a town and Community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a deri ...

, where she spent her childhood. Her father worked as a crane driver at the Port Talbot Steelworks in

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

. She attended Neath County School, leaving in 1949. She then studied English at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

, although was unable to pass her final exams in English, forfeiting a degree. It was here that she met her husband, and both of them were tutored by the novelist

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

. In 1951, at the end of her undergraduate studies, Nicholson won a scholarship to train as an advertising copywriter and with this moved to London. There she and her husband were at the centre of a lively social circle, including their former tutor, Kingsley Amis, and the journalist and broadcaster John Morgan. According to Peter Corrigan's obituary of her husband, Mavis and Geoff Nicholson "became a much-loved double-act. Amis did not always approve of their views and claimed to have invented the word 'lefties' during one little set-to with them. While it was true that the Nicholsons didn't have dinner parties as such – they invited people for an argument and threw some food in – they were by no means belligerent but had in abundance the Welsh love of debate".

Career

Early years

Nicholson stopped her work as an advertising copywriter when she had her children. Her second career as a broadcaster began in 1971 when, because of her probing and engaging conversational style at the dinner table, she was asked by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

to host a programme on newly launched daytime television (British television had previously only started to broadcast in the late afternoon).

Broadcasting

Nicholson's screen debut occurred when she spoke out over a local dispute over school buses. The presenter of Thames TV News, Eamonn Andrews, told her she was a natural for the job. A year later, Nicholson had secured her first presenting job on the 1971–72 show ''Tea Break''. By April 1972, this had become ''Good Afternoon'', after which her TV career spanned the next 25 years. Nicholson then presented British television programmes such as ''After Noon'', ''After Noon Plus'' and ''Mavis on 4'' from the 1970s to 1990s, on which she interviewed people including

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

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, James Baldwin, J. G. Ballard,

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

and

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

. Nicholson presented the

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 ...

programme ''A Plus 4'', which ran from 1984 to 1986. In 1983, she presented the discussion series ''Predicaments'', also a Thames production for Channel 4; she dismissed the view that the programme was "voyeuristic" as "middle-class queasiness". 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 ...

, she appeared on '' Start the Week'' regularly in the 1970s, presented '' You and Yours'' in 1976 and hosted a number of interview and discussion series, including ''

Open Air Open air, open-air or openair may refer to: *''Open Air'', a BBC television program *Open-air cinema or outdoor cinema *Open-air concert, a concert taking place outside *Open-air museum, a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of- ...

'' from 1988 to 1989 and Welsh editions of the ''Radio 2 Arts Programme'' in the 1990s. In the 1980s, she and her husband returned to Wales to live in a farmhouse in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

. In the early 1990s, she fronted a number of Channel 4 series produced by YoYo Films, such as ''Third Wave'', ''In with Mavis'', ''Moments of Crisis'' and ''Faces of the Family''. She also presented the discussion show ''Right or Wrong'', made by Central Television and taken by some other regions including Meridian. Her last work for television was ''Oldie TV'' in 1997, a television version of ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

'' magazine. However, in 2005, she returned to interview Elaine Morgan in an ''On Show'' programme for BBC One Wales, broadcast on 13 March that year. On 25 August 2016, BBC One Wales broadcast a profile called ''Being Mavis Nicholson: the Greatest TV Interviewer of All Time?'' in a peak 9 pm slot.

Other activities

After a sympathetic interview with Richard Ingrams, he was compelled to appoint her as resident agony aunt for his magazine ''

,'' for which she wrote until 2014. She was the author of the 1992 book ''Martha Jane & Me: A Girlhood In Wales''. Nicholson also presented radio shows, including a history of the department store and a look back at her childhood.

Personal life

Nicholson married Geoffrey Nicholson in 1952. They met while studying at Swansea, and remained married until his death in 1999. Together, they had three sons. Nicholson was a staunch supporter of the Labour Party. Nicholson died on 8 September 2022, at the age of 91.

References

External links

''The Oldie'' magazine
* Interview of

in 1974 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Mavis 1930 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Swansea University BBC Radio 2 presenters BBC Radio 4 presenters British journalists British television presenters British women journalists British women television presenters People from Briton Ferry Welsh journalists Welsh television presenters Welsh women journalists Welsh women television presenters