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Judith Chalmers - a Treasure in TV Travel · Mark and Pete

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  Judith Chalmers a treasure in TV travel Where's Welcome to Mark
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  and Pete Sad news this week, but Judith Chalmers was really
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  someone who transformed the televising of travel.
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  Welcome to Mark and Pete, 2 blokes with half an opinion.
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  Now here's our first thought. Life's mortal journey.
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  Life is designed to tour and explore, to check into places
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  which are far and near. And when you eventually check
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  out, We're Sad and Still Wish You Were Here.
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  Yes, sad news it is that Judith Chalmers, at the age of 90, has
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  passed away. Now, what's significant about
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  Judith's Chalmers is that she pioneered the show Wish You Were
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  Here. And what was interesting about
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  this is that unlike shows at the time where she joined the
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  programme in 1974 through to 2003, she had a way of engaging
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  the audience rather than being suited and booted.
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  And behind a dry brown desk she she looked like she was on
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  holiday. More importantly, not only was
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  it entertaining, it was informative.
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  Well, Mr. Pete, it's sad news about Judith.
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  She was a pioneer in trouble. But what's interesting about all
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  of this, our whole idea of trouble seems to have changed.
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  First of all, what did you think about Judith's traumas as a
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  presenter? I thought that she was very
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  engaging. She was always seemed to be very
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  cheerful and had that ability to light up the screen.
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  I mean, I wasn't a big fan. I did find her slightly false in
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  the in the way that she came across.
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  She seemed a little bit too upbeat maybe.
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  Maybe that's just the natural English citizen cynicism in me,
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  but she was certainly a very effective broadcaster and she
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  seemed like she was having a good time.
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  So it did draw you in. Yes, Well, what's interesting as
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  a broadcaster, she also did shows such as Come Dancing IT VS
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  Good Afternoon. She also had BBC Radio
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  programmes including Woman's Hour and her own T2 Radio 2
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  show. I think as a broadcaster, what I
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  think we really take away from this is she came across
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  naturally and that's my feeling. I mean, I know that you may say
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  that it was probably seemed false, but I, I always felt that
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  it's the fact that she, unlike some of the TV presenters in the
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  1970s when she first came to do the travel show, I just thought,
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  yes, this is a person who really does embrace the holiday.
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  And then you've got a little bit more insight.
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  It wasn't just about the facts and figures of a particular
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  venue. It seemed as though she was
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  enjoying herself. And I think that's the key.
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  And you're sort of almost inspired by thinking, yes, I
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  will go to Tenerife or I will go to Bognor Regis or wherever it
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  was. I mean, I know that not
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  everybody maybe sort of felt the same way, but I do, I did think
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  that, yes, maybe this could have influenced the, the tourist
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  industry. Now, the, The funny thing is,
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  is, is here is, is that she actually went to the small
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  screen originally in the 1950s. That's where she actually
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  started her, her career as a children's presenter and, and
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  she actually came in. This is like a forerunner to the
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  Blue Peter show. So for many of our international
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  sort of listeners, the Blue Peter programme is very much
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  like the, the, the champion of, of, of TV shows for children.
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  But I think, I think what I like about the fact that Judith came
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  on, and this is something that we almost take for granted
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  today, she came across as somebody who wasn't sort of PO
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  faced because she came from a place called Gaitlin in
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  Manchester. Now, most people would say,
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  well, yes, that sounds fine, that's reasonable.
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  But what you've got to remember is when she went into
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  broadcasting, her accent wasn't as received as some of those
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  people who were on the TV. And so the local regional accent
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  meant that she came across more naturally.
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  And I think that in itself is worth worth noting.
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  Yes, it it was quite striking. It was.
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  Of course she wasn't a solo presenter.
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  She often would have someone with her who was rather a
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  straight laced man in a brown suit as you say and the so the
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  contrast with her was quite striking.
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  You could you could see that there's there was something
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  different about her and hence her long lived career.
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  But her success with the holiday programme was of course
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  coincided with package holidays becoming so successful, didn't
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  it? And so there was there was there
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  was something to particularly talk about.
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  There was particular product which you can refer to.
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  So you know, that lent that particular change and the
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  popularity of it in travel lent to to to her success, although I
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  mean some of the places you traditionally go or travel to
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  and now with with package holidays still being popular,
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  becoming very expensive and some of them quite dangerous.
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  Oh yes, absolutely. Yes.
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  I wouldn't advocate for those type of things.
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  But yes, you're right, that's true.
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  I mean, when I do think about the idea of going on holiday,
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  what you've also got to remember is another factor, because in
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  the 1970s, you might see a pattern here, folks, but the
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  economy wasn't that great until the package tour.
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  Holidays did sort of come towards the end of the 1970s,
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  making it much cheaper. So many people, particularly in
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  Britain, didn't really go on holiday abroad.
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  They were typically going to coastal countries or coastal
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  counties in, in the United Kingdom.
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  And so the idea that you could go to Spain or you go to France
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  or even somewhere further afield, you know, was, was
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  actually not really something that people would have done.
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  And of course, during the 1980s it did change dramatically.
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  I must admit that the idea of being able to see a sun drenched
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  beach, which is not something you always get at Great
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  Yarmouth, somewhere in contrast like the Bahamas maybe was
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  actually quite an appeal. So it's aspirational.
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  So did you ever feel, Mr. Pete, about sort of getting out your,
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  you know, Hawaiian shirt and your.
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  I have to say some. Shorts.
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  The show that she presented, it was a well presented show, as
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  we've been saying, but it didn't, didn't for me maybe
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  actually want to go to the places it was interesting.
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  I didn't actually want to go there.
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  A package holiday in which someone to decide you, you, you
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  get a, a beach and a hotel or a thing to sort of put together.
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  And then there's lots of other people going to the same place.
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  It's sort of like, not so much like a holiday, but for Mr.
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  Pete, more like hell, a trip to hell.
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  So I certainly wouldn't wouldn't want to go on one of those.
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  But you know, it was still, it still was watchable television.
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  And I suppose with her career lasting so long, she obviously
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  had a skill in making things accessible to people and keeping
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  them entertaining and light because was it 60 years she was
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  in broadcasting? Oh yes. 60 years broadcasting,
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  yes. Many adventures, yes.
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  So with her death, we're we're losing someone who made a great
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  contribution to broadcasting and as you were saying earlier, made
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  changes both with her regional accent and with the style of the
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  show. So many shows these days, if you
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  think about it, they go and show.
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  You say if it's travel, they go and show you exactly what's
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  going on. They go there and actually take
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  part and where clothing associated with holidaying and
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  look like they're enjoying and so many different in their
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  current era. Different YouTube videos and
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  other video sharing platforms are available.
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  Of course, go and experience different countries around the
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  world all really borrowing their their style that on that
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  particular concept from the changes in the holiday programme
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  that Judith Chalmers bought. Well, yes, and now when I sort
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  of bring it up to date, it's interesting because maybe I'm
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  sort of looking through rose tinted glasses when I think
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  about what Judas did through the Seventies, 80s and 90s.
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  But when I look at travel today, it is fraud with challenges.
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  We know there's the cost, there are visa issues, there's war
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  issues. And some people would say yes,
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  but Mark, you know, this has happened for many, many years.
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  But but, Mr. Pete, it seems as though maybe travel has lost its
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  allure. What?
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  What say you about that? Yes, I think, well, I think it's
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  there is something about the world today which is just scary.
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  I agree that this, yeah, I can't point to any statistics that
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  that show this. But there's there's a feeling
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  around, let's put it like like that.
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  There's something in the atmosphere which says people
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  you'd be better off staying at home.
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  There's a feeling of danger even in places that aren't
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  particularly dangerous. And, you know, we want to try
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  and enjoy ourselves at home and not go away and take the risk.
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  I don't know if that's, that's actually playing out, but you're
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  right that that is sort of a feeling that's out there, a
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  change in attitude. You know, we, we don't really
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  trust foreign places. I mean, partly because they're
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  full of foreigners and you don't know, you don't know what
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  they're going to get up to. And they're, sadly, there are
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  certain incidents, violent incidents that, you know,
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  support that idea. Yes, well, it seems listener,
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  that Mister Pete is probably going to exchange his sun cream
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  for salad cream and stay at home.
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  But I'll leave you with this thought from the family of
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  Judith Chalmers and they mentioned in the media recently.
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  We will miss her greatly, but she leaves behind a giant
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  suitcase of the happiest of memories.
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  Amen.