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Gwen Singleton obituary

Other lives : Journalist and researcher at Yorkshire Television for more than 30 years

Laura Singleton24 Aug 2026, 10:05 amUpdated 11h ago3 min readMediaMedia

Media — Laura Singleton

My mother, Gwen Singleton, who has died aged 84, was a television journalist and researcher who worked for more than 30 years at Yorkshire Television, making an important contribution to its current affairs, science and education programmes.

Gwen began her television career in the early 1970s as a reporter on YTV’s Calendar programme. At a time when few women worked in television news, she quickly earned respect, despite being underestimated by some colleagues for being a young, softly spoken woman with a “posh” accent. She soon proved her abilities, notably securing an important interview with the Leeds United manager Don Revie.

She later became a researcher on programmes including the science show Don’t Ask Me, featuring Magnus Pyke, David Bellamy and Miriam Stoppard, and the educational history series How We Used to Live.

Gwen was born in Naunton Beauchamp, Worcestershire, the youngest of five children of John Bakewell, a farmer, and his wife, Laura (nee Tandy). She attended Prince Henry’s grammar school in Evesham, where she excelled at science and maths and became the first member of her family to attend university, gaining a degree in chemistry from Queen Elizabeth College, London, now part of King’s College London, in 1964.

Gwen then pursued a career in journalism and worked as a reporter on a chemical trade magazine in London. She married Edmund Singleton, a veterinary surgeon, in 1966 and settled in Burton Leonard, North Yorkshire.

After moving to Yorkshire, Gwen worked as a librarian for the chemical manufacturer Albright & Wilson in Harrogate. She applied for a job at YTV after her husband had met a producer there and encouraged her to send in her CV.

Colleagues admired her ability to handle the unpredictable challenges of television with calm professionalism and humour, whether she was organising the transport of a giraffe to a television studio or reassuring nervous interviewees. One of her favourite memories was riding with Stirling Moss on the back of his motorbike through central London.

Following my father’s death in 1978, Gwen chose to remain as a researcher rather than pursue more senior positions and she stayed at YTV until her retirement in 2001.

In retirement, Gwen enjoyed gardening, playing bridge and joining me for some wonderful holidays to Vietnam, India and South Africa.

Friends and colleagues remember Gwen for her intelligence, kindness and positivity. Even during her final weeks in hospital, she retained her good spirits, enjoying playful banter with the doctors and nurses caring for her.

Gwen began her television career in the early 1970s as a reporter on YTV’s Calendar programme. At a time when few women worked in television news, she quickly earned respect, despite being underestimated by some colleagues for being a young, softly spoken woman with a “posh” accent. She soon proved her abilities, notably securing an important interview with the Leeds United manager Don Revie.

This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →

Source: theguardian.com · Laura Singleton. Published 24 Aug 2026, 10:05 am.

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