Donal MacIntyre
Encyclopedia
Donal MacIntyre is an Irish
investigative journalist
, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. His work is in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled. He has won awards in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland for his work, but his style has also brought some detractors, from traditional journalists and among some people whose activities he had revealed.
The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on BBC TV and Five. In 2007 he directed the Sundance Film Festival
premiered A Very British Gangster. From April 2010, MacIntyre presented ITV
's London Tonight
local news show, departing after only a few months after taking up the post.
brothers, his father Tom is an Irish writer
and his American
mother is on the Irish
film board. One of five children, the family were brought up by their mother in Celbridge
, County Kildare
, after his father left in 1970. His elder brother Darragh is a reporter for BBC
's Panorama
, while his brother Tadhg and sister Deirdre are both psychologists.
MacIntyre was a sportsman, playing rugby union
and representing Ireland in canoeing
at the World Championships, where his highest world ranking was 11th. He raced around the globe from Australia
to Portugal
, and won many Irish and British titles at various levels. He was also a member of two Irish Olympic
training squads but failed to make the games because, in his own words he "simply wasn't quick enough".
MacIntyre was educated in Dublin and London
, and completed a Masters degree in Communication Policy at City University, London
.
reporter for the Sunday Tribune
and later with The Irish Press
in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first investigative reporting into the Law Society
investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for The Guardian
, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Express and the New Statesman
.
career at the BBC on the investigative sports strand On-The-Line in 1993. In the wake of the Lyme Regis
canoeing disaster
in which four school children drowned, his canoeing experience made him the natural choice to investigate the incident and the safety culture that had allowed it. He went undercover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry.
This investigation led to the development of MacIntyre's distinctive investigative reporting style, which he explained as being present for the story, rather than merely reporting accounts of it:
After shooting other documentaries for the BBC including Taking Liberties, he moved to ITV
to work for the acclaimed World In Action
series. MacIntyre received two RTS
journalism awards for his 1996 investigations for World In Action into the links between drug dealers and the private security firms who control night-club doors. MacIntyre lived for 11 months in character, adopting a new name and identity to win the confidence of the criminals he wanted to film.
, the series was first shown from late 1999 but had been in production for two years. The series covered his exploits among a gang of football hooligans, the Chelsea Headhunters
; in care homes for vulnerable people; and in the world of model agencies received widespread publicity. It proved to a major hit and was to transform investigative journalism on television subsequently, by forcing more traditional programmes to improve production values to attract a younger audience.
In 2000, Jason Marriner, a member of the Chelsea Headhunters
was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in organizing a fight with supporters of a rival team, based on evidence captured by Donal MacIntyre and his team. MacIntyre was placed under Police protection during the trial. It was the first significant victory against the hooligan fraternity since the flawed attempts at undercover work by the Police ten years previously, in the ill-fated own goal trials. MacIntyre also secured convictions against members of Combat 18
who were later to daub his car with their insignia and force the reporter to move home.
MacIntyre's expose of conditions inside a Kent care home resulted in the closure of one institution and the cautioning of two people for five offences of assault. The Sunday Telegraph subsequently claimed that the programme had been unfairly edited, quoting members of the Kent Police
who had investigated the home in the aftermath of MacIntyre's programme. The Kent force subsequently admitted they had libeled the reporter, withdrawing their criticism and paying him costs and damages. MacIntyre has used this case to campaign for MENCAP
and Action Against Elder Abuse. He has made three more programmes on this issue since his controversial hit show on BBC1.
Towards the end of his second series of MacIntyre Investigates for the BBC, he came under more open criticism from internal sources. The three programs were suggested to have cost as much as £2.5 million, while an episode of Panorama
by contrast typically cost £100,000 to £150,000. In return, BBC1's then controller Lorraine Heggessey
expected MacIntyre Investigates to deliver the ratings, a pressure that other investigative journalists believed undermined its editorial integrity.
In 2007, MacIntyre set out to create a documentary
because he wanted to "do a Michael Moore
for gangsters," in penetrating a world of super-rich villains who enjoy a life of luxury with no legitimate means of support: "It was interesting to make a 180-degree turn from my covert-reporting heritage and have full access. I wanted to build a bond."
The resulting production became a film with the title A Very British Gangster which centred around the life of Manchester
based gangster
and hit man
Dominic Noonan
, whose brother Desmond Noonan
was stabbed to death during filming. MacIntyre intends to make more such films, focusing on other high-net-worth criminals, and has since directed the award winning anti-smoking commercials for the SMOKE IS POISON campaign. This series included the banned Polonium
commercial that the British Government banned out of sensitivity to the family of the murdered Russia
n dissident
Alexander Litvinenko
who was killed using the substance.
From 6 April 2008
MacIntyre has presented a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live
.
MacIntyre is a keen sportsman and has represented Ireland at Championship level in canoeing with a top world ranking of 11. He has used this background to branch out into adventure and travel presenting. His Wild Weather series for the BBC has been broadcast around the world and his recent series Edge of Existence for Five saw him live with tribes around the world from the Sea Gypsies
of Borneo
to the Insect Tribe
of Papua New Guinea
. He brought the Insect Tribe back to live with his family in London for 'Return of the Tribe' for Five which was regarded as a sensitive and charming experiment in reverse anthropology.
In 2008 MacIntyre produced documentary CCTV Cities
, which featured CCTV operators monitoring disturbances in Leeds
, London
, Wigan
, Blackburn and Edinburgh
.
that MacIntrye was taking part in the new series
of Dancing On Ice
. He found himself in the bottom 2 on the 1st week and was saved by the judges. As the weeks went on he built up more confidence and had been the most improved skater of the series causing him to become extremely popular with the public. He ended up in the final along with Jessica Taylor and Ray Quinn. In the final he went through the final 2 knocking Jessica out of the competition and performed the Bolero and battled it out with Quinn. Donal took 2nd place which was a "huge shock" to him as he was one of the least known celebrities on the show and his improvement caused him to receive overwhelming support from the public.
In June 2009, both he and his wife, Ameera de la Rosa (who was suffering from a brain tumour at the time) were viciously attacked and beaten at the Cloud 9 wine bar in Hampton Court in what is believed to have been a revenge attack, linked to the prosecution of Marriner and other Chelsea hooligans in the 1999 documentary.
In 2010, MacIntyre briefly co-hosted ITV1
's local news show London Tonight
, stepping down after just 6 months in the post.
In August 2011, Donal presented The Wright Stuff
in Matthew Wright's absence.
in Ireland
. They have two children.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
investigative journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. His work is in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled. He has won awards in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland for his work, but his style has also brought some detractors, from traditional journalists and among some people whose activities he had revealed.
The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on BBC TV and Five. In 2007 he directed the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
premiered A Very British Gangster. From April 2010, MacIntyre presented ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's London Tonight
London Tonight
London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...
local news show, departing after only a few months after taking up the post.
Early life
Born on 25 January 1966 in Dublin, as one of a pair of twinTWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
brothers, his father Tom is an Irish writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and his American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mother is on the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
film board. One of five children, the family were brought up by their mother in Celbridge
Celbridge
Celbridge is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the R403 and R405 regional roads....
, County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
, after his father left in 1970. His elder brother Darragh is a reporter for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
, while his brother Tadhg and sister Deirdre are both psychologists.
MacIntyre was a sportsman, playing rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and representing Ireland in canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
at the World Championships, where his highest world ranking was 11th. He raced around the globe from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and won many Irish and British titles at various levels. He was also a member of two Irish Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
training squads but failed to make the games because, in his own words he "simply wasn't quick enough".
MacIntyre was educated in Dublin and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and completed a Masters degree in Communication Policy at City University, London
City University, London
City University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name....
.
Newspaper journalist
After graduation he worked as a newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reporter for the Sunday Tribune
Sunday Tribune
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...
and later with The Irish Press
The Irish Press
The Irish Press was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995.-Foundation:...
in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first investigative reporting into the Law Society
Law society
A Law Society in current and former Commonwealth jurisdictions was historically an association of solicitors with a regulatory role that included the right to supervise the training, qualifications and conduct of lawyers/solicitors...
investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Express and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
.
1993–1999
MacIntyre began his televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
career at the BBC on the investigative sports strand On-The-Line in 1993. In the wake of the Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
canoeing disaster
Lyme Bay kayaking tragedy
The Lyme Bay kayaking tragedy was the deaths of four teenagers on a sea kayaking accident in the Lyme Bay area which led to legislation to regulate adventure activities centres working with young people in the UK....
in which four school children drowned, his canoeing experience made him the natural choice to investigate the incident and the safety culture that had allowed it. He went undercover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry.
This investigation led to the development of MacIntyre's distinctive investigative reporting style, which he explained as being present for the story, rather than merely reporting accounts of it:
I think print can be very reactive. It just means getting on the end of a phone and getting a quote. For TV it doesn't happen unless it's filmed and that means you have to be there. Our particular brand is called Show Me television - we don't tell you, we show you.
After shooting other documentaries for the BBC including Taking Liberties, he moved to ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
to work for the acclaimed World In Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
series. MacIntyre received two RTS
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
journalism awards for his 1996 investigations for World In Action into the links between drug dealers and the private security firms who control night-club doors. MacIntyre lived for 11 months in character, adopting a new name and identity to win the confidence of the criminals he wanted to film.
1999–2003
Given his own series MacIntyre Undercover on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, the series was first shown from late 1999 but had been in production for two years. The series covered his exploits among a gang of football hooligans, the Chelsea Headhunters
Chelsea Headhunters
The Chelsea Headhunters are an English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea.-Background:The Headhunters have rivalries with counterparts who follow other London teams, such as Arsenal, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.There was widespread...
; in care homes for vulnerable people; and in the world of model agencies received widespread publicity. It proved to a major hit and was to transform investigative journalism on television subsequently, by forcing more traditional programmes to improve production values to attract a younger audience.
In 2000, Jason Marriner, a member of the Chelsea Headhunters
Chelsea Headhunters
The Chelsea Headhunters are an English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea.-Background:The Headhunters have rivalries with counterparts who follow other London teams, such as Arsenal, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.There was widespread...
was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in organizing a fight with supporters of a rival team, based on evidence captured by Donal MacIntyre and his team. MacIntyre was placed under Police protection during the trial. It was the first significant victory against the hooligan fraternity since the flawed attempts at undercover work by the Police ten years previously, in the ill-fated own goal trials. MacIntyre also secured convictions against members of Combat 18
Combat 18
Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...
who were later to daub his car with their insignia and force the reporter to move home.
MacIntyre's expose of conditions inside a Kent care home resulted in the closure of one institution and the cautioning of two people for five offences of assault. The Sunday Telegraph subsequently claimed that the programme had been unfairly edited, quoting members of the Kent Police
Kent Police
Kent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway.-Area and organisation:The force covers an area of with an approximate population of 1,660,588 . The Chief Constable is currently Ian Learmonth, who was appointed in 2010 and is the former...
who had investigated the home in the aftermath of MacIntyre's programme. The Kent force subsequently admitted they had libeled the reporter, withdrawing their criticism and paying him costs and damages. MacIntyre has used this case to campaign for MENCAP
Mencap
The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the UK that works with people with a learning disability.-Profile:Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers...
and Action Against Elder Abuse. He has made three more programmes on this issue since his controversial hit show on BBC1.
Towards the end of his second series of MacIntyre Investigates for the BBC, he came under more open criticism from internal sources. The three programs were suggested to have cost as much as £2.5 million, while an episode of Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
by contrast typically cost £100,000 to £150,000. In return, BBC1's then controller Lorraine Heggessey
Lorraine Heggessey
Lorraine Heggessey is a British television producer and former Chief Executive of the production company Talkback Thames...
expected MacIntyre Investigates to deliver the ratings, a pressure that other investigative journalists believed undermined its editorial integrity.
2003–2008
The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. MacIntyre joined Five at the start of 2003, where his work has won further praise and awards, particularly for his Underworld Strand which has put some of the UK's most feared criminals under the spotlight. Unable due to his fame to go undercover, MacIntyre decided to get close to the very criminals he once exposed covertly, resulting in 13 programmes. MacIntyre later presented Street Crime Live.In 2007, MacIntyre set out to create a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
because he wanted to "do a Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
for gangsters," in penetrating a world of super-rich villains who enjoy a life of luxury with no legitimate means of support: "It was interesting to make a 180-degree turn from my covert-reporting heritage and have full access. I wanted to build a bond."
The resulting production became a film with the title A Very British Gangster which centred around the life of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
based gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
and hit man
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
Dominic Noonan
Dominic Noonan
Dominic Noonan is an English organised crime figure. Dominic Noonan, with his brother Desmond "Dessie" Noonan, headed a criminal organisation or "crime firm" in Manchester, England during the 1980s and 1990s and is a member of one of Manchester's most infamous crime families.Noonan has more than...
, whose brother Desmond Noonan
Desmond Noonan
Desmond "Dessie" Noonan was a British organised crime figure in Manchester of Irish descent who acted as a political fixer for the Noonan crime family...
was stabbed to death during filming. MacIntyre intends to make more such films, focusing on other high-net-worth criminals, and has since directed the award winning anti-smoking commercials for the SMOKE IS POISON campaign. This series included the banned Polonium
Polonium
Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive element, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uranium ores. Polonium has been studied for...
commercial that the British Government banned out of sensitivity to the family of the murdered Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
who was killed using the substance.
From 6 April 2008
MacIntyre has presented a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
.
MacIntyre is a keen sportsman and has represented Ireland at Championship level in canoeing with a top world ranking of 11. He has used this background to branch out into adventure and travel presenting. His Wild Weather series for the BBC has been broadcast around the world and his recent series Edge of Existence for Five saw him live with tribes around the world from the Sea Gypsies
Bajau
The Bajau or Bajaw , also spelled Bajao, Badjau, Badjaw, or Badjao, are an indigenous ethnic group of Maritime Southeast Asia...
of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
to the Insect Tribe
Swagap tribe
The Swagap tribe belong to the indigenous tribes of Papua New Guinea. They are also known as the Insect Tribe.-Homelife:The tribe lives in a village that sits above the waters of the Sepik River, named Sawagap...
of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. He brought the Insect Tribe back to live with his family in London for 'Return of the Tribe' for Five which was regarded as a sensitive and charming experiment in reverse anthropology.
In 2008 MacIntyre produced documentary CCTV Cities
CCTV Cities
CCTV Cities is a 2008 British television documentary program, produced and presented by journalist Donal MacIntyre. Each episode featured a British town or city. Leeds , Wigan, Edinburgh and London were all featured...
, which featured CCTV operators monitoring disturbances in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
, Blackburn and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
2009-2011
On 5 January 2009, it was announced on This MorningThis Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
that MacIntrye was taking part in the new series
Dancing on Ice (Series 4)
The fourth series of Dancing on Ice began on ITV on Sunday 11 January 2009. The series features legendary skaters Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill, presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and judges Karen Barber, Nicky Slater, Jason Gardiner, Ruthie Henshall and Robin Cousins.The...
of Dancing On Ice
Dancing on Ice (UK)
Dancing on Ice is a British television show co-hosted by Christine Bleakley and Philip Schofield, in which celebrities and their professional partners figure skate in front of a panel of judges. The format, devised by LWT and Granada Television, has been a prime-time hit in eight different...
. He found himself in the bottom 2 on the 1st week and was saved by the judges. As the weeks went on he built up more confidence and had been the most improved skater of the series causing him to become extremely popular with the public. He ended up in the final along with Jessica Taylor and Ray Quinn. In the final he went through the final 2 knocking Jessica out of the competition and performed the Bolero and battled it out with Quinn. Donal took 2nd place which was a "huge shock" to him as he was one of the least known celebrities on the show and his improvement caused him to receive overwhelming support from the public.
In June 2009, both he and his wife, Ameera de la Rosa (who was suffering from a brain tumour at the time) were viciously attacked and beaten at the Cloud 9 wine bar in Hampton Court in what is believed to have been a revenge attack, linked to the prosecution of Marriner and other Chelsea hooligans in the 1999 documentary.
In 2010, MacIntyre briefly co-hosted ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's local news show London Tonight
London Tonight
London Tonight is a regional news programme broadcast on ITV London . Produced by ITN, the programme is broadcast at 6pm every weeknight, also including local sports news and local features of interest.Like all regional news programmes on ITV in England and Wales and Channel Television, it uses...
, stepping down after just 6 months in the post.
In August 2011, Donal presented The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and currently airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am....
in Matthew Wright's absence.
Personal life
In July 2006 Donal married Ameera de la Rosa at Slane CastleSlane Castle
Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham Marquessate since the 18th century....
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. They have two children.
External links
- Macintyre.com Donal MacIntyre's website
- Donal Macintyre at BBC Radio Five LiveBBC Radio Five LiveBBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...