{{Short description|English television presenter}} {{multiple issues| {{More footnotes|date=January 2011}} {{BLP sources|date=January 2011}} }} {{Use British English|date=July 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = William Woollard | image = WilliamWoollard2010.png | caption = Woollard in 2010 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1939|08|23}} | occupation = TV presenter, TV producer, screenwriter, fighter pilot, author | known_for = ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'', ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV Series)|Top Gear]]'' }}
'''William Woollard''' (born 23 August 1939) is a British historian and retired [[television producer]] and [[television presenter|presenter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941228/|title=William Woollard|website=[[IMDb]] |accessdate=9 August 2016}}</ref>
==Biography== Woollard went to a state [[grammar school]] in London and [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]]. He trained to be a fighter pilot with the [[Royal Air Force]]. He worked with an oil company{{which|date=March 2023}} in [[Borneo]] and [[Oman]].{{when|date=January 2012}} He has worked as a [[social scientist]] on [[corporate social responsibility]] with several American and European organisations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thereluctantbuddhist.com/page2.html|title=A note on the author|accessdate=9 August 2016|archive-date=19 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319130356/http://www.thereluctantbuddhist.com/page2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He has [[William Woollard#Publications|written]] about his [[Buddhism|Buddhist beliefs]].{{cn|date=March 2023}}
==Television career== Woollard has produced, written and presented many television documentaries and series, particularly on science and technology. They have been broadcast on the [[BBC]] and [[Channel 4]] in the United Kingdom, as well as the [[Discovery Channel]], the [[National Geographic Channel]] and the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] in the US.
He is known as a producer and presenter on the BBC's science magazine programme ''[[Tomorrow's World]],''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/raymond-baxter-416502.html|title=Raymond Baxter|website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |date=17 September 2006|accessdate=9 August 2016}}</ref> and on the BBC's motoring programme ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]''. On ''Tomorrow's World'' he was a presenter for 11 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=16750|title=Tomorrow's World|date=1 February 2010|accessdate=9 August 2016}}</ref>
Woollard fronted ''Top Gear'' for a decade from 1981,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/nov/24/broadcasting.motoring|title=Road shows|date=24 November 2004|accessdate=9 August 2016|work=The Guardian}}</ref> during which time it had an audience of up to 5 million. Woollard also presented ''[[Rally Report]]'', an offshoot of ''Top Gear'', covering the [[Lombard RAC Rally]] every year.
Woollard resigned from ''Top Gear'' in 1991 because his own production company, Inca, took off, producing documentaries for BBC and C4 in the UK and channels such as the Public Broadcasting Service and Discovery Channel in the US. Among Inca's commissions were the filming of the [[Royal Institution Christmas Lectures]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/woman-with-ideas-on-the-brain--science-1388609.html|title=Woman with ideas on the brain : SCIENCE|website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |date=27 December 1994|accessdate=9 August 2016}}</ref>
During the same period he was involved in writing and producing or presenting a range of other programmes, mainly under the banner of the BBC science documentary strand ''[[Horizon (BBC TV series)|Horizon]]''. These included: *''[[The Secret War (TV series)|The Secret War]]'', a seven-part series that revealed the role that Britain's scientists played in the winning of the [[Second World War]]. *''Too Hot to Handle''. A three-part series looking at the benefits and drawbacks of the [[nuclear power]] industry. *''The Energy Alternative''. BBC television's first look at the problem of [[global warming]], and the challenge presented by [[alternative energy]] technologies. *''Skyscraper''. A five-part series on the building of a skyscraper in central [[New York City]].
Since that time he has written or produced well over 100 programmes ranging over the fields of science and technology, from [[evolution]], to [[space exploration]], and from treasure hunting to the science of bridge building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shop.beverleyguardian.co.uk/I-NN-BDV022-AVI-1/memphis-belle-the-untold-story.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903135024/http://shop.beverleyguardian.co.uk/I-NN-BDV022-AVI-1/memphis-belle-the-untold-story.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 September 2012|title=Dealmonster – Deals with up to 90% off|accessdate=9 August 2016}}</ref>
In 2000, Woollard made cameo appearances in the sitcom ''[[The Grimleys]]'' playing science teacher "Mr Woollard".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/652324?view=cast|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100110221536/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/652324?view%3Dcast|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 January 2010|title=The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2000)|access-date=30 August 2012}}</ref>
Woollard has worked as a scriptwriter on documentaries and he has authored books including one recounting his experience as a practising [[Buddhist]].
==Publications== * ''The Reluctant Buddhist'', {{ISBN|978-1-906210-35-9}} * ''Buddhism and the Science of Happiness: A Personal Exploration of Buddhism in Today's World'', {{ISBN|978-1-907652-73-8}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0941228}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Woollard, William}} [[Category:1939 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Television personalities from London]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]] [[Category:Royal Air Force airmen]] [[Category:English television presenters]] [[Category:British Buddhists]]