Josephine Buchan

Josephine Buchan is a television presenter, producer and actress  who was born in London on 1st January 1957. She is the daughter of Daphne Parnell and William Buchan and grand-daughter of the author John Buchan. Early years spent in London and the Home Counties before moving to Meribel-les-Allues in Haute Savoie for 3 years at the age of 7. Returned to England to attend one boarding-school (miserable) for two years and another, St. Helen’s in Northwood, Middx. (happy) for the next six. University years were spent reading Philosophy at University College London which preceded a variety of jobs including advertising and film PR, interrupted only briefly by a foray into the music business. A chance meeting, while accompanying the actor Elliot Gould to the BBC, resulted in the offer of a job to present a BBC1 children’s programme called Take Two. It was the start of a long-running affair with television which included Pebble Mill at One, Contacts, The Full Treatment and Wish You Were Here. Josephine moved to the country and was mother to Sophie, Sam and Max. An inability to keep still led to her becoming involved with a secondary modern school in the area, to which she is still closely allied, where Josephine organises workshops and events which bring children closer to the arts, thereby optimising their understanding and enjoyment of everything from straight theatre to street dance. The move to producing came via an old friend, Drew Jaymson, who’d had the idea of turning the 1964 Warner Bros film ‘Robin and the 7 Hoods’ into a stage musical. This proved to be a springboard from which Josephine made the leap into producing.