Jonathan Maitland
Jonathan Maitland (born 1961) is a British playwright, broadcaster and author.
Early life
He was educated at Epsom College and graduated from King's College London with a degree in law.
Journalism
Maitland started his journalism career as a reporter on a local freesheet, The Sutton Guardian. He reported for BBC Radio Bristol from 1986–88 and BBC Radio 4's Today programme from 1988-94. From 1995-98 he presented and reported BBC 1's Watchdog. One item, about annoying dress codes at golf clubs, saw him take to the fairways in a leather mini skirt with a pair of deer antlers on his head. When challenged he pointed out that neither breached the long list of forbidden clothing.
In 1999 he joined ITV to present the BAFTA nominated House Of Horrors, the first show to secretly film and expose dodgy builders. He also hosted The Man In The Van and Vote For Me for ITV. He has presented and reported for the channel's flagship current affairs show Tonight since 1999.
Writing
Maitland has written five books including How to Make your Million from the Internet (and what to do if you don't), which detailed his attempt to make a million from the dot com boom by mortgaging his house for £50,000 – he failed. How to Survive your Mother described his unconventional childhood in suburban Surrey. Aged three he was sent to boarding school and at 13 his mother turned the family hotel in Ewell into a retreat for homosexuals. The rights were bought by ITV but no film was made.
He partially funded Chris Morris's debut feature film Four Lions (2010) in which he has a cameo as a newsreader. He has co-written (with Chris England) a feature film script called "Whatever Happened to Stanley Matthews" which has been optioned.
Maitland's first play, Dead Sheep, about the Geoffrey Howe speech which led to Margaret Thatcher's downfall, was staged at the Park Theatre in London in April 2015. It received positive reviews and became the best-selling play in the theatre's history. His follow-up play at the same venue in June 2015, An Audience With Jimmy Savile, broke the previous box office record set by Dead Sheep and was described by the Daily Mail as "a striking, memorable, urgent piece of work ...a powerful 'j'accuse'." His third play, "Deny Deny Deny", about medical and sporting ethical dilemmas, will be staged at the Park in November 2016. Set in the future, it tells the story of an ambitious young female athlete who is offered gene therapy as a short cut to success.
Music
Maitland played bass for wedding-cum-pub band Surf N Turf for eight years. In 2002 the group performed his brother Peter's composition I Give In in the A Song For Europe contest, hoping to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest on BBC1. They failed to qualify, coming fourth out of four entries by a considerable margin.
Other appearances
Maitland has presented 'Profile' and two series of 'Lyrical Journey', both for Radio 4. The latter, which he devised, involves taking musicians to a place they have written a song about. They then perform it in front of people for whom it has special significance. The series featured songs by the Proclaimers ('Sunshine on Leith'), Squeeze ('Up the Junction'), Deacon Blue ('Raintown') and Billy Bragg ('A13 Trunk Road to the Sea').
Personal life
Maitland's mother was Jewish and born in Haifa, but he describes himself as non-religious. He runs a cricket team, the Riverbank Ramblers, which he founded in 1989 with friends from Epsom College. He is a nationally rated Scrabble player and has made the semi finals of the UK National Championships twice. He lives in west London with his wife Helena and their son. He has two stepsons.
External links
- Jonathan Maitland at the Internet Movie Database
- Tonight with Trevor McDonald at itv.com
- House of Horrors at itv.com
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