Michael Mosley (broadcaster)

Born in Calcutta, India,[1] Mosley studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College, Oxford, before working for two years as a banker in the City of London. He then decided to move into medicine, intending to become a psychiatrist, studying at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School, now part of UCL Medical School.[2]

Upon graduation, having become disillusioned by psychiatry, Mosley joined a trainee assistant producer scheme at the BBC in 1985.[2]

He produced a number of science programmes, including The Human Face, three series with Professor Robert Winston, and the 2004 BBC Two engineering series Inventions That Changed the World hosted by Jeremy Clarkson.[3]

He presented Blood and Guts, Medical Mavericks and The Story of Science for television, and was the subject of a television documentary, 10 Things You Need to Know about Losing Weight. He presented Make Me for BBC One. In April–June 2010 he produced and presented the television series The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion broadcast by BBC Two.

In 2011 he made a series entitled The Brain: A Secret History, on the history of psychology and neuroscience. During the series, while studying the methods that are being employed to identify the brain structure of psychopaths, his personal tests revealed he himself shared these same brain traits. In the same year, he made a two-part documentary, Frontline Medicine with episodes called "Survival" and "Rebuilding Lives". These programmes focused on the medical advances in the treatment of military personnel during the 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and examine how these new techniques are being utilised in emergency medicine for civilian casualties in the United States and Great Britain.

His documentary The Truth About Exercise, shown first in 2012, aired current thinking about how different patterns of exercise might help achieve health benefits, the danger of sitting for prolonged periods and revealed how certain genotypes are unable to gain significant improvements in aerobic fitness (VO₂ max) by following endurance exercise programmes. His own genetic type can gain many of the benefits of exercise, primarily improved insulin response, through short, high-intensity training sessions as suggested by the research of Professor James Timmons.[4]

In January 2013, he presented The Genius of Invention. In the documentary named The Truth About Personality,[5] first aired on 10 July 2013, Mosley explores what science can tell us about optimism and pessimism and whether we can change our outlook.[6][7]

Mosley is credited with popularising the 5:2 diet, based on his close friend Dr Valter Longo's research and his bestselling book the Longevity Diet. After appearing in August 2012 in the BBC2 Horizon documentary Eat, Fast & Live Longer.[8] In early 2013 he published The Fast Diet with Mimi Spencer.[9][10]

He was nominated for an Emmy and BAFTA for his Horizon documentary reporting the link between Helicobacter pylori and gastric ulcers discovered by Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall. He was named Medical Journalist of the Year in 1995 by the British Medical Association.[2]

Mosley is married to Clare Bailey, a GP; they have four children.[10][13] He has reversed his Type 2 diabetes with diet.[13] In a BBC documentary on sleep, Mosley revealed he has chronic insomnia.[14] He published Fast Asleep in 2019.[10]

• Michael Mosley at IMDb
• Profile at JLA agency
• Michael Mosley on the Eden channel website
• Michael Mosley on the BBC One Show website