Tributes to the broadcaster, producer and health campaigner Michael Mosley have poured in from across the industry after his death was announced yesterday.
A body confirmed as Mosley’s was found on a beach on the Greek island of Symi, four days after he had been reported as missing.
Over a 40-year TV career, starting as a producer and later moving front of camera, Mosley worked on flagship science and health shows for the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Australian broadcaster SBS.
Mosley had been working right up to his death, with his final episode of Radio 4 series Just One Thing airing last week. He had also been working with BBC Studios Science Unit on a planned 10-part TV version of the show for BBC2.
Secrets of the Big Shop, a series made with Plum Pictures, aired on Channel 4 in January. Production recently wrapped on his first Channel 5 series, Storyboard Studios’ Wonders of the Human Body, which has yet to air.
A regular face on BBC2’s Horizon and BBC1’s The One Show, Mosley fronted many docs and formats include the BBC’s The Truth About… strand, Wall to Wall’s C4 series Lose a Stone in 21 Days with Michael Mosley and BBC popular science format Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, which Mosley produced in its initial incarnation in the late 1990s before returning as one of its hosts on a reformatted version that launched in 2013.
'A thoroughly kind and decent chap'
Writing on LinkedIn, Women in Film and TV chief executive Katie Bailiff recalled how Mosley’s championed her early in her career.
“I was young, inexperienced and full of self doubt, but Michael was so enthusiastic about the hard won access I’d secured that he encouraged me to direct my first TV hour for BBC1,” she wrote.
“Despite my protestations about not being a ‘science director’, Michael never doubted for a moment that when he sent us off to a remote island in the Philippines that we wouldn’t come back with the goods. He said ‘use your curiosity and heart to tell the story’. After the film went out we were overwhelmed with donations - and that’s when [children's charity] Operation Smile UK was born. He was proud of that legacy. What a thoroughly kind and decent chap. Thank you Michael.”
Storyboard Studios chief executive Natalie Humphreys said it had been a “joyful experience” to work with Mosley over the years.
“Michael helped so many people around the world through his content and even people who had not met him in person were able to feel a keen connection with him. That’s his incredible impact,” she wrote. We are struggling for the right words to express how big a hole he leaves.”
In a statement, BBC Studios lamented the loss of “one of the most trusted and popular science personalities on radio and television”.
“His work with the Science Unit, both in front of and behind the camera, spanned three decades. With shows like Horizon, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, alongside his contributions to The One Show and Morning Live, he brought ground-breaking insights from the worlds of science and medicine to millions,” it said.
“Michael was a brilliant programme maker and presenter. His kindness, sense of humour and inspirational mind will be missed by so many of us.”
C4 stated: “Michael was passionate about using his medical knowledge to help the nation live healthily. We are proud of the inspiring and engaging programmes he made for us and feel privileged to have worked with him. Michael will be greatly missed by both colleagues and viewers.”
BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore described him as a “brilliant science broadcaster and programme maker, able to make the most complex subjects simple … he was also passionate about engaging and entertaining audiences, inspiring us all to live a healthier, fully life.”
