Paxman is ‘putting up’ with his Parkinson’s

Jeremy Paxman may be one of the most recognisable faces on the small screen, but he’s also just about as famous for his businesslike and no-nonsense approach.

The Leeds-born journalist was no stranger to difficult assignments during his career, after joining the BBC in 1972.

He graduated from local station BBC Radio Brighton to Belfast, where he reported on The Troubles, returning to London in 1977. Two years later, he began working on the Panorama show, fronting hard-hitting stories from around the world.

In 1984, Jeremy moved again to front the Six O’Clock News, before joining the BBC’s Breakfast Time programme in 1986.

Three years after that, he took up presenting duties at Newsnight, where he would cement his reputation as a tough, sometimes abrasive interviewer – especially when it came to politicians. He famously asked former Home Secretary Michael Howard whether he threatened to overrule Derek Lewis, then head of the prison service, 13 times, later admitting he was simply playing for time as a subsequent news item wasn’t ready.

In April 2014, Jeremy stepped down from Newsnight with the quip: “after 25 years, I should rather like to go to bed at much the same time as most people”.

However, he still had plenty of irons in the fire, including becoming only the second-ever host of long-running quiz show University Challenge.

Anyone hoping to see Jeremy’s softer underbelly would be disappointed. If a student flubbed what he thought was an easy answer, he wouldn’t hesitate to make his irritation plain.

However, after 28 years he announced the time had come to step down from the presenter’s chair, with his final episodes due to be broadcast next year. Jeremy said: “I’ve had a blast hosting this wonderful series for nearly 29 years. I’ve been lucky enough to work with an amazing team and to meet some of the swottier brains in the country. It gives me hope for the future.”

The decision came a year after the 72-year-old publicly revealed he was being treated for “mild” Parkinson’s disease symptoms. The news gave audiences arguably the second glimpse at the man beneath the steely interviewer. The first was during his participation in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?, when cameras captured tears in his eyes as he learned about an impoverished ancestor. That snippet caused a media sensation, but the reception of his Parkinson’s diagnosis generated much more sympathetic headlines.

In this one-off, hour-long special, Jeremy allows cameras into his life for the first time, as he reflects on how Parkinson’s has impacted on him, physically and mentally. He talks to experts who are at the leading edge of research, including observing a brain dissection, and also speaks to other high-profile people living with the degenerative disease.

He meets Jane Asher, the president of Parkinson’s UK, attends an English National Ballet therapy dance class – that should be interesting – and learns how to play bowls.

Statistics show one in 37 people in the UK will be diagnosed in their lifetime and, proving there’s still very much life in the old journalist dog yet, Jeremy investigates and busts some of the myths surrounding Parkinson’s disease.