Judith Holder, TV producer and writer

Mar 29 2010 by Chris Knox, The Journal

Though most people will have heard of the Grumpy Old Women television series, they may not have realised it was produced in the North East. Chris Knox catches up with its creator Judith Holder and finds out about her years in television and her new venture in this region.

THE television industry is notorious for its waspish, egotistical personalities vying for their moments of success through meetings in Soho, dinner parties in Chiswick and late nights in the Groucho Club.

So it is refreshing to meet a successful producer and media figure, indeed a recent winner of the RTS Centre Award for her outstanding contribution to television in the North East, who is a down-to-earth woman who resides in the decidedly lovey-free Northumberland market town of Hexham.

Judith Holder, best-known currently for producing the increasingly popular Grumpy Old Women series and stage shows, has had a 30-year media career peppered with successful involvements with some of British television’s best-known shows.

Last year saw the TV executive launch new business Northern Upstart in Newcastle with business partner Mark Murray, with the duo already having recently produced a one-hour documentary about disability for the BBC.

So it is a surprise to learn this champion of the endangered world of North East film and television making was not driven by high-minded public interest in her first move into the industry.

Birmingham-born Judith is the first to admit that she fell into her TV career and has never really had what you would call a “proper job”.

While studying for an English degree at Leeds University in the mid-70s, she threw herself into the student television network service because she says she “fancied someone there”.

After picking up the TV bug, she could often be found travelling down to London to watch the BBC produce some of its most iconic shows, including Blue Peter and Top of the Pops, in order to gain experience of working behind the scenes.

She says: “This was the time before everyone wanted to work in telly or wanted to be a star, so I think they were just flattered that someone was interested in how these shows were put together rather than just watching them. They were probably sick of me in the end.”

Her big break came in 1982 as a researcher for current affairs show Nationwide, which ran from 1969 to 1983 and was an extremely popular format which mixed serious political and social debate with light-hearted features, including a famous piece on skateboarding ducks and men who claimed they could walk on egg shells.

Unluckily for Judith, she found herself swimming in the deep end and tackling subjects like British Leyland strikes without much of a clue as to how to go about the job of reporting them.

She said: “At Nationwide I acted as a regional researcher for Birmingham, while Helen Fielding, who would later go on to write the Bridget Jones novels, covered Bristol.

“We became friends pretty quickly as we both didn’t really know enough about journalism or the subjects that we had to report on.

“Mark Thompson, who headed up the London operations of the show, and is now BBC director general, would be handling satellite link-ups with the White House while we were mostly out buying the coffee.

“Mark would also send us out on ridiculous wild goose chases like finding out what Paul McCartney was up to. Helen also famously lost one of the show’s guests between hospitality and the studio minutes before they were due to go live. It was a nightmare and we both realised early on that serious news reporting just wasn’t for us.”

Judith then found herself much more at home after landing a job with London Weekend Television as an entertainment researcher, which saw her rubbing shoulders with the stars.

Her first role was to prepare guests for prime-time chat shows, including those hosted by Clive James, Michael Aspel and Gloria Hunniford.

She said: “There was a lot more money sloshing around in TV during the 80s, and I found myself jetting off to places like New York on a number of occasions to prepare celebrities, such as Sean Connery, for their interview back in the UK.

“I was even involved in the infamous Oliver Reed interview on The Michael Aspel show where he was, shall I say, a bit worse for wear.

“I wouldn’t have minded, but he was stone-cold sober when I visited him a few days before to prepare for the show. It was great television anyway.”

Judith would soon see herself at the helm of a number of productions, including the Dame Edna Experience, which was nominated for a Bafta after its first series, and became friends with comedienne Victoria Wood after producing her Audience With stand-up show.

However, she left her glitzy lifestyle behind in 1994 after making the decision to move to Hexham when her husband Mike Parker landed the role of director general of Metro operator Nexus.

“It was a bit of a jolt I must say,” she said. “However, I made the decision to concentrate on bringing up our children as this was the biggest priority for me and Mike.

“This didn’t mean that I had to give up on my career and was able to draw on my contacts in London to help keep my hand in.

“It’s always a major risk to go on any kind of extended break in this industry, so it was important that I was able to keep working.”

As well as bringing up her first daughter Siena, Judith worked as a freelance executive producer for the BBC and came up with a number of ideas which allowed her to remain in the North East, such as a documentary which saw Joanna Lumley sent off a to desert island for 10 days and Billy Connolly to the Arctic.

She was also commissioned by Granada as executive producer on the After They Were Famous series for Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television which saw her reuniting cast members of Grease, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Sound of Music, a programme which was nominated for a Bafta.

The most recent phase of her career began in 2001 when she began working as an executive producer for North East-based production company Liberty Bell, which was set up by former ITV Digital executive Stuart Prebble and the late Andrea Wonfor, who was behind some of the North East’s best-known programmes, including The Tube and Byker Grove.

Under the stewardship of Mr Prebble, Mrs Holder went on to create Grumpy Old Women, which started as a one-off Christmas special, however, because of its popularity, it went on to spawn three series – which are still being repeated by the BBC, a book and, most recently, a stage show.

Although the series was to follow the hugely-successful Grumpy Old Men series created by Mr Prebble, the idea still proved a hard sell for Judith.

She said: “When Stuart first approached me with the idea of a show where middle-aged men complain to camera, I must admit that I wasn’t 100% convinced.

“He was absolutely right of course and the programme went on to make three series.

“Not many women like to be labelled as grumpy, however, and even fewer like to be called old, so it did take some time to persuade people to get involved.

“Once the few shows received respectable viewing figures everyone began to relax and grasp the playful tone of the series.

“The strange thing is that, when I first asked the likes of Germaine Greer and Sheila Hancock what their top grumps were, they couldn’t think of any.

“However, once they got going they couldn’t stop, and we knew then that we had comedy gold on our hands. I’ve made some really good friends through that show, including Jenny Eclair who has become my partner in crime and worked with me to write the stageshow.”

It was in August last year that Judith joined forces with Mark Murray to launch Northern Upstart after making his name in a number of 100 Greatest... shows.

Despite the initial success of the business, Judith is under no illusions about the challenges she faces, with the North East film industry suffering a number of setbacks in recent years as regional programming has almost disappeared from the networks.

However, she has been encouraged by recent developments, including the creation of the Filming Friendly Charter between Gateshead Council and Newcastle-based Northern Film and Media (NFM), which aims to make it easier for programme makers to shoot in the region.

NFM also recently launched a £2.4m Creative Fund to help support North East businesses involved in television, video games, interactive media and music, which will be managed by NorthStar Equity Investors.

Judith, who is currently gearing up for a six-week West End run of Grumpy Old Women Live 2: Chin Up Britain, said: “It has been extremely difficult to get anything commissioned and up and running here in the North East over recent years.

“However, I believe that this is starting to change, with the BBC becoming more and more interested in what we have to offer here in the region, which is one of the reasons why I have decided to go it alone and set up my own business.

“There are some disadvantages of living in the North East, particularly the price of a train to London, but I feel the region’s media sector is beginning to see a resurgence and I expect an increasing amount of work to find its way here.

“Although we are currently working with the BBC, we are hoping to produce work for Channel 4, which will have a lot of air time to fill once it stops making Big Brother.”