Who is David Bull

TV Presenter, Doctor and Author on Teenage Issues

What were you like at school?

Quiet and shy

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A doctor or a TV Presenter

What were your favourite / least favourite school subjects?

Chemistry

What was your favourite book when you were growing up?

The Narnia Chronicles and the Famous Five

What was your favourite TV show when you were growing up?

Swap Shop and Blue Peter

Who is the person you admire most?

Anyone who has stuck to their guns and done what they set out to achieve

What is your greatest ambition?

To be happy

What is your biggest worry?

Not being happy

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I'm too trusting

What are you having for dinner tonight?

Chicken and salad

When was the live chat with David Bull?

The livechat with David Bull took place on Tuesday 27th August at 5.35pm.

David Bull's interview

TV Presenter, Doctor and Author on Teenage Issues

BBC Host	Hello, and welcome to tonight's Live Chat with David Bull WOW! Here's the first question. We're off...
Steve	What was the first thing you presented?
David Bull	The first show I presented was Newsround. The first show I was a guest on was Sky Travel.
icecreamforjowes	David, is it hard to write books on teenagers when it is such a broad subject?
David Bull	It's very hard. However, I confine the books to health and medical issues, so I have to narrow it down, and the first book was just about sex so that was an even narrower topic. It was a difficult subject anyway, and everyone's different.
James	Hi! I'm a second year medical student, and I'm seriously looking at working in the media later on in my career - what tips would you give?
David Bull	Make sure you're qualified, then you have a trade. Try and keep up to date with medicine, but always follow your heart. Get work experience where you can, and badger everyone in sight!
Simon616	Why did you decide to move from being a doctor to a presenter?
David Bull	I've always wanted to work in TV and present programmes. I also wanted to be a doctor, and I've been lucky enough to do both. I decided to give myself one year to see if I could make it as a TV presenter, and six years later, I'm still going!
doctornick	Why did you decide to study medicine in the first place?
David Bull	I had wanted to be a doctor since I was a little boy. I loved making people better, but I hated the system. Working in the NHS is very tough, and I'm campaigning to make things better.
Charley	I've got an audition on Thursday for presenting and I've got no idea what they will ask me to do! What did you have to do on your first audition?
David Bull	I had to read autocue, I had to interview someone, and I had to handle a live show, and I was dreadful! It's really hard and difficult and it's a skill you learn. I'm still learning, but I've done six years of live TV being on screen every week - and you can't beat that sort of experience.
TeddyS	Was working on Healthcheck ideal as it combines both your jobs?
David Bull	Yes, it was, and not only that but I had the opportunity to interview government ministers, people in power, and ask them why things were going wrong - and being a doctor, I understood all the answers!
Nick	What would you change about the NHS if you could?
David Bull	I would completely change the NHS. I think it needs radical rethinking. It's got too big. It's trying to offer all things to all people. I just don't believe it's possible now that technology and science has moved on so much. I think the public should be consulted on what should happen.
icecreamforjowes	Do you think that hospital based soaps such as Holby City portray a romantic idea of what life as a doctor is like rather than showing the real side of being in the medical business, such as lack of sleep?
David Bull	I love Holby City! I think it's one of the more accurate medical dramas. I used to work for someone like Anton Meyer, and I think Holby particularly does show the pressures that junior doctors are under - for example, Victoria Meryick. Casualty is more far-fetching, but you have to remember that dramas are on BBC 1 to entertain people, and a drama about the realities of the NHS would be depressing!
Justice	What's your favourite report that you've had to do since becoming a TV presenter?
David Bull	I think my favourite was a Newsround Extra I made which was when I flew to India with the Flying Hospital, which was a plane completely gutted and equipped as a hospital. We went to India and treated kids with eye problems and cleft lip and palates. It's the one report I still watch and cry.
Al	Do you plan to focus your career in TV or return to full time medicine?
David Bull	I love TV too much! I can't imagine moving. It would also be very difficult to go back to full-time medicine as my lifestyle has changed enormously. I'm now entirely self-employed, I spent my time doing TV, writing books, having meetings with the government, and I've even set up my own company and employ five people. It's like a different life. But I still stay in touch with all my mates who are doctors, and I still believe that I can now do more to change the system and to help people in a different way by attacking those people at the top who are in charge until we get it right.
Bosley87	How did you get into presenting?
David Bull	I realised the way it was through medicine. I was young, I looked even younger, and I had the idea to do kids' health on television, which no-one had ever done. I approached Newsround with the idea. It was incredibly popular and I had 3,000 letters in the first three months at the BBC and my boss had to employ two secretaries just to deal with the post!
Eric	What's the worst thing that's happened live on air?
David Bull	I was with Boy George a couple of weeks ago and he swore really badly on live TV, and there's nothing you can do about it! The other thing that happened to me was I was doing a live show in Birmingham and I had food poisoning, and I thought I was going to vomit! I had to wait until the closing credits and I was then sick behind the sofa!
Leon	Should I get an agent? Can I get work without an agent?
David Bull	Yes you can work without an agent, and at the beginning I wouldn't work with an agent. Agents will take between 12.5 and 20 per cent of everything you earn, and if you're not earning very much, that's a lot of money. I always think that agents don't get you work, they just open doors. You get the work.
Bosley87	What is your favourite show that you have presented?
David Bull	I love them all, otherwise I wouldn't do them, but I think it's important to move on, so I am loving Tomorrow's World, and I'm not sure whether the show knows quite what has hit it! It's very different to how it was in 1964.
Lucky	I'm starting to write a book myself, (about a teenager growing up with a mentally ill parent.) Do you have any tips for me? I always find it hard to fit writing in around my day job.
David Bull	So did I! Some days you will have a really good day writing, and others will be pants, and that's completely normal. Write when you feel inspired, and don't underestimate how long it will take. It seems to go on forever, and you have no friends! Make sure your publisher understands the pressure on you.
Funnyhaha	All my mates say I’m really good at speaking clearly and projecting my voice, could I be a presenter?
David Bull	Yes, you could, but presenting is very tough. Lots of people want to be a presenter. You have to make sure you really want to do it. It's a very unstable career, and you have to be very confident about yourself. Many people will try and knock you, but if you really want to do it, and you put all your effort into it, you will do it.
Jamie	Do I have to get an equity card to do presenting?
David Bull	No - I don't have one. Equity is the actors' union, and I don't think it's as important as it used to be. None of my friends who are presenters have one
Carlye	I am 16 and I really want to be a presenter. Is it a good idea to go to the Edinburgh Festival and get myself known there?
David Bull	Edinburgh is great fun and very useful once you're in the industry. It's a good place to meet people, but you must get yourself a showreel (that's clips of you on video). Make sure you know the type of programme you want to present, and send it to the people who make those programmes. You can find out who they are by watching the credits at the end of your favourite shows.
Spidey	Who do you think is the best presenter on TV and what is it you like best about them?
David Bull	I like different presenters depending on the show. I think Graham Norton's show is very good - he's very funny, but he couldn't do Panorama! I think the news presenters have enormous credibility, but they couldn't present an entertainment show - and I love Katie Knapman who I present Tomorrow's World with! She's funny, intelligent and witty, and I trust her..... and that's vital when you're presenting a live show.
Bob	How long does it take to become a presenter?
David Bull	There's no kind of recipe. I think it takes two years of continually being on television before anyone knows who you are. Some people become a presenter very quickly, others take a lot longer. But, one really good way to get into television is to be an expert. It doesn't matter what it's in, for example, you could be the person who knows the most about antiques or CDs or needlework...... and you might get a break that way. Mine just happens to be in medicine and health.
Lucky	Between presenter, doctor and writer, which is the hardest of your jobs?
David Bull	They are all hard, but in different ways. People think I only turn up at seven o'clock to work for half an hour on television! It's not true. There's a lot of work behind the scenes. And when you're freelance, you have to make sure you earn enough money to pay the bills. The great thing about being a TV presenter as opposed to being a doctor is that I get to go to sleep every night!
Louise	I was wondering what it was like when you first went into presenting on live tv? I've done it in a college studio, but never for real.
David Bull	It's very similar. You learn the same skills, you can still look like a monkey when you get it wrong. I just have more people watching! And before EastEnders... it can be as many as 12 million. Now that is scary!
BBC-Host	That is all we have time for. Here's David Bull with a final word...
David Bull	The most important thing you can do is make sure you want to do it. It's tough, and it's very competitive, but it's fantastically rewarding. I love hosting a live show on BBC 1...it's an enormous adrenalin kick, and if it goes well, it's a fantastic experience. You really feel that you've achieved something. I wouldn't swap my job for a million pounds.
BBC-Host	Thanks to our guest David Bull, and to all of you who logged on tonight. Sorry if your question didn't get answered - there just wasn't enough time to cover them all.

Notes

Sky Travel was first launched in 2003 as Sky Travel Shop, and showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies, and documentaries, with Sky Travel Shop being the adverts for travel agencies.

Holby City is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.

The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999.

National Health Service of the United Kingdom used as a generic term for the main national health services in that country.

Newsround (originally called John Craven's Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972.

Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.

Equity (formerly known as the British Actors' Equity Association) is the trade union for actors

Panorama was launched on 11 November 1953 on the BBC Television Service, it focuses on investigative journalism.

Graham William Walker is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist, known by his stage name Graham Norton. He is the host of the comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show and the BBC commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Katie Knapman is a presenter with 10 years experience behind and in front of the camera working in live television, factual programmes, science and education.

EastEnders is a long –running British television soap opera, first broadcast in the UK on BBC 1 1985. It currently ranks as one of the most watched shows in the UK.

WHILE READING.

1. Read the first part of the interview up to the question: What is the worst thing that happened live on air? Decide if these are true (T) or false (F)

1. The first show he presented was Sky Travel.

2. He decided to give up medicine and make it as a TV presenter.

3. He has no attemption to change NHS radically

4. He plans to return to full time medicine

5. He writes books on medical issues

6. He got in TV accidentally

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