# William Woollard > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Woollard > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Woollard.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Woollard > Source revision: 1325324388 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English television presenter This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "William Woollard" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message) William Woollard Woollard in 2010 Born (1939-08-23) 23 August 1939 (age 86) Occupations TV presenter, TV producer, screenwriter, fighter pilot, author Known for Tomorrow's World, Top Gear **William Woollard** (born 23 August 1939) is a British historian and retired [television producer](/source/Television_producer) and [presenter](/source/Television_presenter).[1] ## Biography Woollard went to a state [grammar school](/source/Grammar_school) in London and [Oxford University](/source/University_of_Oxford). He trained to be a fighter pilot with the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force). He worked with an oil company[*[which?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words)*] in [Borneo](/source/Borneo) and [Oman](/source/Oman).[*[when?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)*] He has worked as a [social scientist](/source/Social_scientist) on [corporate social responsibility](/source/Corporate_social_responsibility) with several American and European organisations.[2] He has [written](#Publications) about his [Buddhist beliefs](/source/Buddhism).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] ## 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](/source/BBC) and [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) in the United Kingdom, as well as the [Discovery Channel](/source/Discovery_Channel), the [National Geographic Channel](/source/National_Geographic_Channel) and the [Public Broadcasting Service](/source/Public_Broadcasting_Service) in the US. He is known as a producer and presenter on the BBC's science magazine programme *[Tomorrow's World](/source/Tomorrow's_World),*[3] and on the BBC's motoring programme *[Top Gear](/source/Top_Gear_(1977_TV_series))*. On *Tomorrow's World* he was a presenter for 11 years.[4] Woollard fronted *Top Gear* for a decade from 1981,[5] during which time it had an audience of up to 5 million. Woollard also presented *[Rally Report](/source/Rally_Report)*, an offshoot of *Top Gear*, covering the [Lombard RAC Rally](/source/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](/source/Royal_Institution_Christmas_Lectures).[6] 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](/source/Horizon_(BBC_TV_series))*. These included: - *[The Secret War](/source/The_Secret_War_(TV_series))*, a seven-part series that revealed the role that Britain's scientists played in the winning of the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). - *Too Hot to Handle*. A three-part series looking at the benefits and drawbacks of the [nuclear power](/source/Nuclear_power) industry. - *The Energy Alternative*. BBC television's first look at the problem of [global warming](/source/Global_warming), and the challenge presented by [alternative energy](/source/Alternative_energy) technologies. - *Skyscraper*. A five-part series on the building of a skyscraper in central [New York City](/source/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](/source/Evolution), to [space exploration](/source/Space_exploration), and from treasure hunting to the science of bridge building.[7] In 2000, Woollard made cameo appearances in the sitcom *[The Grimleys](/source/The_Grimleys)* playing science teacher "Mr Woollard".[8] Woollard has worked as a scriptwriter on documentaries and he has authored books including one recounting his experience as a practising [Buddhist](/source/Buddhist). ## Publications - *The Reluctant Buddhist*, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-906210-35-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-906210-35-9) - *Buddhism and the Science of Happiness: A Personal Exploration of Buddhism in Today's World*, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-907652-73-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-907652-73-8) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["William Woollard"](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941228/). *[IMDb](/source/IMDb)*. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["A note on the author"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160319130356/http://www.thereluctantbuddhist.com/page2.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.thereluctantbuddhist.com/page2.html) on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Raymond Baxter"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/raymond-baxter-416502.html). *[Independent.co.uk](/source/Independent.co.uk)*. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Tomorrow's World"](http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=16750). 1 February 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Road shows"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/nov/24/broadcasting.motoring). *The Guardian*. 24 November 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Woman with ideas on the brain : SCIENCE"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/woman-with-ideas-on-the-brain--science-1388609.html). *[Independent.co.uk](/source/Independent.co.uk)*. 27 December 1994. Retrieved 9 August 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Dealmonster – Deals with up to 90% off"](http://shop.beverleyguardian.co.uk/I-NN-BDV022-AVI-1/memphis-belle-the-untold-story.htm). Retrieved 9 August 2016.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2000)"](http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100110221536/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/652324?view%3Dcast). Archived from [the original](http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/652324?view=cast) on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2012. ## External links - [William Woollard](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941228/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) Authority control databases ISNI VIAF --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Woollard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Woollard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Woollard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.