Timothy David Samuels (born 3 October 1975) is an English

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker, author and broadcaster. His work is characterised by approaching serious topics in provocative and entertaining ways to produce hard-hitting documentaries. Samuels formed older people's rock group The Zimmers for a

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 ...

documentary and is a regular presenter on BBC television and radio in the UK. He has been referred to as a younger British

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

, but without the political agenda. Samuels has won three Royal Television Society awards and best documentary at the World Television Festival in Banff.

Biography

Tim Samuels was born in

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 ...

, the son of photographer Sefton Samuels. Of part Romanian-Jewish descent, he attended

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

and the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Samuels' first foray in journalism came at the age of 13 when he interviewed his musical hero

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

, the former lead singer of

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

. The interview took place at the home of the then teenage Samuels. At the University of St Andrews he rebranded the student newspaper, ''The Chronicle'', as '' The Saint'', taking it on to win ''The Guardian'' Student Newspaper of the Year award. He supports

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Samuels joined the

as a news trainee after university. He spent a number of years as an investigative correspondent for the programme

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

and the main evening news bulletin. Samuels reported from the United States to expose miscarriages of justice on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

to reveal new forms of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

against the Muslim community in Northern Ireland, and became Young Journalist of the Year.

Documentaries

Samuels moved from news to documentaries. In ''A Dirty Weekend in Hospital'' for the BBC's ''Mischief'' strand he led a hundred victims of the

MRSA Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...

superbug on an impromptu cleanup of ten of the worst hospitals in England. The programme won Best Current Affairs Documentary at the World Television Festival in Banff in 2006. In the same year he also fronted a current affairs travelogue series around Europe. In 2007, Samuels' series ''Power to the People'' aired on BBC Two.

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

gave her blessing for the John Lennon song to be used as the title and soundtrack. The series saw him seizing

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

with a platoon of abandoned soldiers, bringing a dying village from

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, ...

to annex London's

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and forming a rock group made up of lonely old people, The Zimmers. The popstar pensioners, with a 90-year-old lead singer, covered

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

song "

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

" which then broke into the UK charts, received more than 5 million

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

hits and saw the band appear on NBC's ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show ''The Tonight Show wit ...

'' alongside

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

. The ''Great Granny Chart Invasion'' won Best Current Affairs documentary at the Royal Television Society awards in 2008. As part of the BBC's controversial "White Season", Samuels tackled mass immigration into Britain in ''The Poles Are Coming'', which examined the influx of Polish immigrants into the

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

area of England. In 2009, he presented a BBC Two series, ''Hardcore Profits'' which revealed the unexpected global human impact of the pornography industry in countries like Ghana, and the industry's move to the financial mainstream. The subject of war veterans was revisited by Samuels in ''Art For Heroes'', which showed the impact of

art therapy Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art ...

in helping to heal the mental scars of war, and culminated in Samuels staging an exhibition of artwork created by veterans who were being treated by the charity Combat Stress. Samuels is a regular presenter on BBC Two's arts magazine show, '' The Culture Show''. On several occasions for the show, he has staged an alternative

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

using the residents of the Scottish town of Comrie as judges. To mark thirty years of rock band

, he returned to the territory of his childhood interview with Morrissey, presenting ''Not Like Any Other Love: The Smiths'' for BBC Two. Samuels continues to contribute provocative journalism to the ''

'' programme. The SNP complained after Samuels drove a car covered in St George's flags around Scotland during the 2006 World Cup, after England fans had been attacked for wearing their national shirts. In the ''Immigrant Song Contest'', Samuels satirised the

Eurovision Song contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, with immigrants to the UK covering Eurovision entries. For ''Newsnight'', Samuels has repeatedly investigated the case of British businessman Krishna Maharaj who is jailed in Florida. Samuels has made a number of documentaries for BBC Radio. His Radio 4 and World Service documentaries include ''Guerillas of Pop'', ''Running Away'', ''Find Me a New York Jewish Princess'', ''What Men Think'', ''Dr, Why?'', ''Men in Therapy'' and ''Tel Aviv Comes Out'' which won gold at the New York Festivals international radio awards. ''Tim Samuels' Sleepover: Inside the Israeli Hospital'' was nominated for radio documentary of the year at the Radio Academy ARIAS awards. For BBC 5 Live he created and fronted the men's magazine show ''Men's Hour'', the male counterpart to Radio 4's ''

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 ...

''. Samuels presented ''I Wish I'd Written That'' on BBC Radio 2. A keynote event at the Danish TV Festival described Samuels as the "Benevolent Anarchist". In 2013, the mental health charity Mind awarded Tim Samuels its Making A Difference award for his television and radio work – the first time it has been given to an individual. For BBC One, Samuels returned to the topic of immigration for his documentary ''The Great Big Romanian Invasion'', which investigated the panic surrounding the threatened mass influx of Romanians to the UK and included an exploration of his own background. The National Geographic Channel announced Samuels had joined its new current affairs show ''Explorer'' as a global correspondent, reporting on US politics and covering stories in Australia, Pakistan, Iceland, Israel, Russia and Egypt.

Writing

Samuels published his first book, ''Who Stole My Spear?'', a candid exploration of what it means to be a man and the state of masculinity today. Blending the autobiographical with journalistic and anthropological research, the book examined the plight of modern men – covering relationships, work, religion, mental health, fatherhood, pornography, and rites of passage. Samuels argued that, 'Trapped in bodies barely changed since caveman days, males are now contending with corporate culture, lifelong commitment, rampant depression and crazy expectations to be a success at work and home.' He made the case for 'good masculinity' – a new way for men to connect with their innate nature and conditioning but in positive, contemporary ways. ''Who Stole My Spear?'' was serialised in

The Sunday Times Magazine ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with ''The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...

Awards

* Royal Television Society: Best Current Affairs Documentary (2008) * Royal Television Society: Best British News Story (2004) * Royal Television Society: Young Journalist of the Year (2002) * Banff World Television Festival: Best Current Affairs Documentary (2006) * Race in Media Awards: TV Journalist of Year (2005) * New York Festivals: World Medal (2004) * Amnesty International commendation (2005) * Mind Media Awards: Making A Difference award (2013) * New York Radio Festivals: Gold Medal (2014) * UK Radio Documentary of the Year - nominated (2017)

References

External links