Ben Slade
| Benjamin Rory Slade | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 Newport, South Wales |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Education | The Institute of Directors, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama & Cardiff Metropolitan University (joint course), Whitchurch High School |
| Occupation | Chief Executive Officer |
| Employer | Skill Force Development Ltd (SkillForce) |
| Known for | Devising the concept of a character and resilience award programme for 6 - 14 year olds which was launched as The Prince William Award by the education charity SkillForce in March 2017. Also known for being the youngest secondary school headteacher in the U.K. (2007) and as former presenter of BBC's cult children's TV magazine show Why Don't You...? |
| Title | CEO |
| Term | March 2015 - present |
| Website | www |
Benjamin Rory Slade (born 22 April 1976) is a British educator.
Formerly, he was the longest serving presenter of the cult BBC 1 network children's TV magazine programme, Why Don't You? He joined the series in 1988 as a member of the Cardiff presenting team (known as "the gang") wearing his trademark flat cap. These Cardiff programmes were the first written by the celebrated TV writer Russell T. Davies. Davies used this early opportunity to weave a dramatic storyline into the various activities, games and 'makes' to make the programme more interesting and appealing and to improve its ratings. It worked with audiences exceeding 2.3 million in the 9:30 am weekday school holiday slot on Children's BBC.
Slade's character became synonymous with "Why Don't You...?" and with Davies' scripts. As such, he was asked to join the Newcastle "gang" (presenting team) which also featured Ant McPartlin and he subsequently appeared as a lead character/presenter in two further series with two different Liverpool "gangs" which also featured soap star Alexandra Fletcher. All of these episodes were written and directed by Russell T Davies who went on to write and produce Doctor Who, Torchwood, Queer as Folk and Banana
Davies' scripts featuring Slade as a crazy young inventor were acknowledged as his first forays into writing television drama and undoubtedly helped launch his impressive writing career. Slade last appeared as a guest presenter on the final series directed by Trevor Stephenson-Long before pursuing a successful career in education. He is credited as the longest serving presenter in the cult television show's near 21-year run on network BBC 1.
Slade hails from Cardiff where he attended Whitchurch High School. He is featured in Russell T Davies' biography: T is for Television: The Small Screen Adventures of Russell T Davies (2008). In the book Davies reveals that he had great plans for Slade and some other characters from the series in a new TV Drama. However, the casting was overruled by the then head of Children's Television, Anna Home.
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