Michael Collins (born 12 February 1961) is a British author, journalist and television presenter.

Early life

Collins was born in

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

, south east London, England. He attended Archbishop Michael Ramsey comprehensive school in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

. In 1977, as part of the Great Education Debate, the school was the subject of the

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 ...

documentary ''Our School and Hard Times''. That same year, aged 16, he left school and trained as a bespoke tailor.

Career

Throughout the 1990s, he worked in television production as a scriptwriter and producer. During this time he wrote 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 ...

documentaries ''The Battersea Bardot'' (1994) and ''The National Alf'' (1994). His book ''The Likes Of Us: A Biography of the White Working Class'' won the George Orwell Prize in 2005. The book was serialized in ''The Guardian'' and became the Channel Four documentary ''The Biography of the British Working Class'', which was written and presented by the author. In 2011, he wrote and presented ''The Great Estate'', a documentary about

social housing in the UK Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

. broadcast on

BBC4 BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

and

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air 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 matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

. His BBC4 documentary on suburbia, ''Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden'' was broadcast in April 2014. Collins has contributed to BBC TV's ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

'' and ''

The Politics Show ''Politics Show'' is an hour-long BBC One television political programme which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays between 2003 and 2011, broadcasting usually at midday. ''Politics Show'' was superseded by '' Sunday Politics'', a week ...

'' as well as Radio 4's '' Start the Week'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Saturday Review'' and ''The Long View''. He has also written on television, film, new media, politics and history for numerous newspapers and magazines, including the ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

'', ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'', ''

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

'', '' TLS'', ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

'', ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

'', ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

Literary Review ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years b ...

'', ''

Wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

'', ''

French Vogue ''Vogue France'' (stylised in all caps) is the French language, French edition of ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'' from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been re ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''.

References

External links

Another Michael Collins
- official website
Michael Collins at Journalisted

Michael Collins articles
at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''
"Junkspace" (short story) by Michael Collins
''

'', 13 Dec. 2009
The Great Estate: The Rise and Fall of the Council House (documentary)

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

Everyday Eden: A Potted History of the Suburban Garden (documentary)
BBC 4, 2014
The Biography of the British Working Class (documentary)
at

Michael Collins interviewed by Andrew Marr
BBC Radio 4, " Start The Week" programme, 2004
Michael Collins: The Demonisation of the White Working Class
The New Culture Forum Channel, 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Michael 1961 births Living people British male journalists British republicans