Philippa Forrester - Career

Career

Forrester first worked as a children's presenter for BFBS television in 1986, and was often seen reading out birthday cards onscreen. She became a presenter on Children's BBC from the late 1980s, becoming a more regular fixture alongside Toby Anstis from July 1990 until 1994. She then went on to host many programmes including Tomorrow's World, Barking Mad, The Heaven and Earth Show and Robot Wars.

She also co-presented the BBC's coverage of the solar eclipse of August 1999. At the end of the same year she was also part of the corporation's team covering the turn of the new Millennium, and was duped into appearing on the spoof documentary Brass Eye's notorious 2001 paedophilia special, in which she wore a large pair of gloves, and explained how a paedophile could use them to touch children through a screen, such as a television screen.

Her job as a pit reporter for Robot Wars was highlighted in the British sit-com Spaced. In episode 2.3 "Mettle", while Tim is explaining the name of the robot which he and Mike built to Daisy, Tim says "Philippa would've loved it." He goes on to explain that she no longer is on Robot Wars because she had a baby, and then asks Daisy to interview him and pretend to be Forrester. The mock interview is conducted with sexually suggestive banter and questions/answers about the robot. The joke ends with Tim saying Mike usually likes to be Forrester.

She has appeared in television adverts for Lloyds Pharmacy and supports the Recycle Now campaign to encourage more people to take up home composting.

Her first collaboration with her husband was My Halcyon River. Following its success, in 2003 they set up a production company, Halcyon Media, which specialises in wildlife productions. In 2007, they co-produced An Otter in the Family, a short documentary series about the adoption of an otter cub called Grace and their attempts to raise her as a wild animal in order to be released into the wild. She is a co-presenter with Brett Westwood on World on the Move, a BBC Radio 4 series that started in 2008 on migration in the animal kingdom.

Forrester and her husband also produced the four-part Halcyon River Diaries, the first episode of which was broadcast on 16 May 2010 on BBC1. The series follows the wildlife found near their home. An additional episode was shown at Christmas, 2010.

She is an avid environmentalist, and took a part-time degree in Ecology and Conservation at Birkbeck, University of London while presenting Tomorrow's World.

She has been Vice President of St Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital and Patron of The Seahorse Trust with Nick Baker and Vice President of the Avon Wildlife Trust with Simon King.