Catherine Saunders has worked in both broadcasting and public relations. She began as a radio announcer and produced a number of documentaries, before crossing to television. In the mid 60s, Saunders reported for Town and Around (paid half what the male reporters earned). Later she did 12 years as a panelist on Beauty and the Beast, and hosted chat show Tonight with Cathy Saunders, before joining 50 Forward, a show aimed at older viewers.
In this ScreenTalk interview, Saunders talks about:
- Doing 'silly' stories on regional news show Town and Around
- Working with intelligent, articulate women
- How female presenters today have thin waists and big breasts
- Shooting three weeks of shows in one day on Beauty and the Beast
- Tackling controversial topics on the show and offering serious advice
- How the audience didn't want advice from men on the show
- Working with the genius that was host Selwyn Toogood
- Being surprised by a protest while making chat show Tonight with Cathy Saunders
- The reason co-host Geoff Sinclair left talk show Saunders and Sinclair
- Having fun at a gym with Gordon McLauchlan on 50 Forward
This video
was first uploaded on 10 January 2012, and
is available under
this Creative Commons licence.
This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and
photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.
Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside
We were the first group of people, those women, to actually speak publicly about sexual abuse, about contraception, adoption, the Adoption Law Reform Bill...
– Catherine Saunders on tackling sensitive topics on Beauty and the Beast)