Elizabeth Sarah Greene is an English television presenter. She co-presented ''
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 ...
'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series ''
Saturday Superstore
''Saturday Superstore'' is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin, and John Craven. The ...
'' and ''
Going Live!''.
Early life and career
Greene was born in London, the daughter of Welsh
DIY expert
Harry Greene and English actress
Marjie Lawrence. She is the elder sister of presenter
Laura Greene. Greene was educated at
Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak is an area of north west London in the London Borough of Camden at the very south of Hampstead Heath. The neighbourhood is positioned between Hampstead to the north-west, Dartmouth Park to the north-east, Kentish Town to the south-ea ...
Primary School and the
Grey Coat Hospital School, London, whilst also pursuing child acting roles. She graduated with a degree in Drama from the
University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...
. She then sought acting roles in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
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 ...
and London.
Television career
In January 1980, Greene had a role in the daytime drama ''
Together
''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...
'' (
Southern Television
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited. However, in 1966, during the application pr ...
/
ITV). She first appeared on ''
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 ...
''
[BBC – I Love Blue Peter – Sarah Greene presenter biography](_blank)
''bbc.co.uk
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
'' after appearing in 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 ...
adaptation of
Pamela Brown's ''
The Swish of the Curtain'', following which she was asked by the programme's editor
Biddy Baxter to be the replacement for the outgoing
Tina Heath. At that time, Greene was the youngest ever presenter of ''
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 ...
'', aged 22, and within two weeks was filming in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
for the series.
The programme won a
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...
during Greene's three-year tenure.
After leaving ''Blue Peter'', Greene presented ''
Saturday Superstore
''Saturday Superstore'' is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin, and John Craven. The ...
'' with
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.
Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for mus ...
, and subsequently co-presented ''
Going Live!'' with
Phillip Schofield. It was during her time on ''Going Live!'' that Greene won the 'Best Female on TV' SOS Award for three years running and presided over the phone-in. She then began to appear in television commercials for
Nescafé
Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee sold by the multinational food and drink corporation Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee br ...
coffee. Later, she fronted
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 ...
's daytime antiques programme ''
Collectors' Lot''.
On 10 September 1988, Greene and her partner
Mike Smith, the television and radio presenter, were seriously injured in a helicopter accident in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
. The couple spent a number of weeks in hospital before Greene returned to present ''Going Live!'', whilst still in plaster.
In addition to presenting magazine series such as the BBC's ''
Pebble Mill'' and ''Good Morning Summer'' alongside
Will Hanrahan, Greene acted in the ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' serial ''
Attack of the Cybermen'', ''
Casualty'', ''
Brookside'' and ''
French & Saunders''. In 1991, Greene and Smith joined Maggie Philbin and Robbie Vincent as the presenters of ''Hospital Watch'', a live fly-on-the-wall series on BBC One which had been shown on the channel since February 1986. In 1992 she co-presented with Smith a hoax paranormal programme called ''
Ghostwatch'', which also featured
Craig Charles and talk-show host
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...
. Greene presented a BBC One game show called ''Happy Families'' in 1993, alongside
Andrew O'Connor. Greene and Smith made a foray into feature films with ''
The Man Who Knew Too Little'' (1997), starring
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...
; they played presenters of ''The Theatre of Life'', a fictional British television series which promised the participant a role in a crime drama.
In 1996, Greene began a four-year partnership with the
Carlton Food Network, hosting a daily news, debate and magazine series. Later, Greene appeared in the
ITV programme ''
Have I Been Here Before?'' and was also a regular presenter on magazine programme ''
This Morning''. She also made a guest appearance in the final episode of '' The Harry Hill Show'', and from 2005 to 2007 she presented the Discovery Home & Health channel's ''Weddings Live'', an annual six-hour broadcast which showcased several weddings live from across the country. Fellow presenters included
Brendan Courtney and celebrity makeup artist and stylist Armand Beasley. Partnered with Fred Palascak, Greene competed on ITV's ''
Dancing on Ice
''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...
'' in 2008.
Later, Greene took part in an episode of
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...
's ''
Coming Home'' programme, first shown on 22 December 2010. Her mother had died a month before filming but she decided to continue the process, alongside her 87-year-old father. The programme
[BBC – BBC One Programmes – Coming Home, Series 5, Sarah Greene](_blank)
''bbc.co.uk
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
'' was able to trace her family tree back to the 17th century in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
.
Greene and her husband, Mike Smith, appeared on ''
Pointless
''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...
'' on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
in December 2012. Smith died on 1 August 2014, following complications after major heart surgery.
In April 2017, Greene guest presented an edition of ''
This Morning'' alongside
Phillip Schofield. She returned to guest-present in July that same year, and again on 4 and 18 August, alongside
Rylan Clark-Neal.
In 2023, Greene co-presented the BBC One quiz show ''
The Finish Line'' with
Roman Kemp.
Charity
Greene became ambassador for
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...
charity Target Ovarian Cancer in 2012.
Flying TV Ltd.
From 1985, Greene and her husband Mike Smith were directors of Flying TV Ltd., an aviation video company operating helicopters based at Denham Aerodrome, Denham, Buckinghamshire. Since the death of Smith, Greene has remained director of the company.
References
External links
*
BBC – I Love Blue Peter – Sarah Greene presenter biographyFlying TV Ltd.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Sarah
Living people
Alumni of the University of Hull
Audiobook narrators
English children's television presenters
English people of Welsh descent
People educated at Grey Coat Hospital
People from St Pancras, London
Theatre World Award winners
1957 births