Joan Bakewell

Joan Bakewell’s background

Joan has now presented six series of Portrait Artist of the Year and has five series of Landscape Artist of the Year, both for Sky arts.

She has also presented a number of Panorama programmes for BBC1, including Life at 100, Our Dirty Nation and Old, Drunk and Disorderly?, in which she investigated the hidden problem of alcohol abuse in older people, and The Generation Game, in which she explored the challenges ahead in caring for an ageing population. Joan also presented a recent BBC Radio 4 documentary on Dementia, Suppose I Lose It.

Joan presented two series for Classic FM, Joan Bakewell’s Lovers which explored the love lives of classical music’s great composers and performers.

She was BBC television’s Arts correspondent throughout the 80’s, and was later on the board of the National Theatre, The Aldeburgh Festival, and Friends of the Tate. She is currently Chair of the theatre company Shared Experience and also of The National Campaign for the Arts.

In the 90’s Joan presented Heart of the Matter on BBC 1 – a programme that dealt with moral and religious dilemmas of our times.

Joan has written six books including She’s Leaving Home, All The Nice Girls, The View From Here: Life at Seventy, Belief and The Centre of the Bed. Her latest book is Stop the Clocks – Thoughts on What I Leave Behind, a series of essays on how the world has changed and all that she has lived through. She writes for various national broadsheets including The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph.

She was the government appointed ‘Voice of Older People’ between 2008 and 2010. Joan was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RTS Programme Awards 2016 and received a BAFTA Television Fellowship at the BAFTA TV Awards 2019.

Joan also chairs conferences and seminars and is a highly skilled conference facilitator and after dinner speaker. She has a wealth of experience hosting events and award ceremonies, both at home and abroad.