"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, U.S. Patent 284,110)

A dynamo (from the Greek word dynamis; meaning power), originally another name for an electrical generator, generally means a generator that produces direct current with the use of a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-current alternator, and the rotary converter. Today, the simpler alternator dominates large scale power generation, for efficiency, reliability and cost reasons. A dynamo has the disadvantages of a mechanical commutator. Also, converting alternating to direct current using power rectification devices (hollow state or more recently solid state) is effective and usually economic.

The word still has some regional usage as a replacement for the word generator. A small electrical generator built into the hub of a bicycle wheel to power lights is called a Hub dynamo, although these are invariably AC devices.^{[citation needed]}

Description[link]

The dynamo uses rotating coils of wire and magnetic fields to convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct electric current through Faraday's law of induction. A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, called the stator, which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings called the armature which turn within that field. The motion of the wire within the magnetic field causes the field to push on the electrons in the metal, creating an electric current in the wire. On small machines the constant magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets; larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils.

The commutator was needed to produce direct current. When a loop of wire rotates in a magnetic field, the potential induced in it reverses with each half turn, generating an alternating current. However, in the early days of electric experimentation, alternating current generally had no known use. The few uses for electricity, such as electroplating, used direct current provided by messy liquid batteries. Dynamos were invented as a replacement for batteries. The commutator is essentially a rotary switch. It consists of a set of contacts mounted on the machine's shaft, combined with graphite-block stationary contacts, called "brushes", because the earliest such fixed contacts were metal brushes. The commutator reverses the connection of the windings to the external circuit when the potential reverses, so instead of alternating current, a pulsing direct current is produced.

Historical milestones[link]

Faraday's disk

The first electric generator was invented by Michael Faraday in 1831, a copper disk that rotated between the poles of a magnet. This was not a dynamo because it did not use a commutator. However, Faraday's disk generated very low voltage because of its single current path through the magnetic field. Faraday and others found that higher, more useful voltages could be produced by winding multiple turns of wire into a coil. Wire windings can conveniently produce any voltage desired by changing the number of turns, so they have been a feature of all subsequent generator designs, requiring the invention of the commutator to produce direct current.

Jedlik's dynamo[link]

Pixii's dynamo. The commutator is located on the shaft below the spinning magnet.

In 1827, Hungarian Anyos Jedlik started experimenting with electromagnetic rotating devices which he called electromagnetic self-rotors. In the prototype of the single-pole electric starter, both the stationary and the revolving parts were electromagnetic. He formulated the concept of the dynamo about six years before Siemens and Wheatstone but did not patent it as he thought he was not the first to realize this. His dynamo used, instead of permanent magnets, two electromagnets opposite to each other to induce the magnetic field around the rotor.^[1][2] It was also the discovery of the principle of dynamo self-excitation.^[3]

Pixii's dynamo[link]

The first dynamo based on Faraday's principles was built in 1832 by Hippolyte Pixii, a French instrument maker. It used a permanent magnet which was rotated by a crank. The spinning magnet was positioned so that its north and south poles passed by a piece of iron wrapped with insulated wire. Pixii found that the spinning magnet produced a pulse of current in the wire each time a pole passed the coil. However, the north and south poles of the magnet induced currents in opposite directions. To convert the alternating current to DC, Pixii invented a commutator, a split metal cylinder on the shaft, with two springy metal contacts that pressed against it.

Pacinotti dynamo[link]

Pacinotti dynamo, 1860

These early designs had a problem: the electric current they produced consisted of a series of "spikes" or pulses of current separated by none at all, resulting in a low average power output. As with electric motors of the period, the designers did not fully realize the seriously detrimental effects of large air gaps in the magnetic circuit. Antonio Pacinotti, an Italian physics professor, solved this problem around 1860 by replacing the spinning two-pole axial coil with a multi-pole toroidal one, which he created by wrapping an iron ring with a continuous winding, connected to the commutator at many equally spaced points around the ring; the commutator being divided into many segments. This meant that some part of the coil was continually passing by the magnets, smoothing out the current.

Siemens and Wheatstone dynamo (1867)[link]

The first practical designs for a dynamo were announced independently and simultaneously by Dr. Werner Siemens and Charles Wheatstone. On January 17, 1867, Siemens announced to the Berlin academy a "dynamo-electric machine" (first use of the term) which employed self-powering electromagnetic field coils rather than permanent magnets to create the stator field.^[4] On the same day that this invention was announced to the Royal Society Charles Wheatstone read a paper describing a similar design with the difference that in the Siemens design the stator electromagnets were in series with the rotor, but in Wheatstone's design they were in parallel.^[5] The use of electromagnets rather than permanent magnets greatly increases the power output of a dynamo and enabled high power generation for the first time. This invention led directly to the first major industrial uses of electricity. For example, in the 1870s Siemens used electromagnetic dynamos to power electric arc furnaces for the production of metals and other materials.

Gramme ring dynamo[link]

Small Gramme dynamo, around 1878

How Gramme dynamo works to produce a smooth output waveform.

Zénobe Gramme reinvented Pacinotti's design in 1871 when designing the first commercial power plants, which operated in Paris in the 1870s. Another advantage of Gramme's design was a better path for the magnetic flux, by filling the space occupied by the magnetic field with heavy iron cores and minimizing the air gaps between the stationary and rotating parts. The Gramme dynamo was the first machine to generate commercial quantities of power for industry. Further improvements were made on the Gramme ring, but the basic concept of a spinning endless loop of wire remains at the heart of all modern dynamos.

Brush dynamo[link]

Charles F. Brush assembled his first dynamo in the summer of 1876 using a horse-drawn treadmill to power it. U.S. Patent #189997 "Improvement in Magneto-Electric Machines" was issued April 24, 1877. Brush started with the basic Gramme design where the wire on the sides and interior of the ring were outside the effective zone of the field and too much heat was retained. To improve upon this design, his ring armature was shaped like a disc rather than the cylinder shape of the Gramme armature. The field electromagnets were positioned on the sides of the armature disc rather than around the circumference. There were four electromagnets, two with north pole shoes and two with south pole shoes. The like poles opposed each other, one on each side of the disc armature.^[6] In 1881 one of The Brush Electric Company dynamos was reported to be; 89 inches long, 28 inches wide, and 36 inches in height, and weighs 4,800 pounds, and ran at a speed of about 700 revolutions per minute. It was believed to be the largest dynamo in the world at that time. Forty arc lights were fed by it, and it required 36 horse power.^[7]

Discovery of electric motor principles[link]

While not originally designed for the purpose, it was discovered that a dynamo can act as an electric motor when supplied with direct current from a battery or another dynamo. At an industrial exhibition in Vienna in 1873, Gramme noticed that the shaft of his dynamo began to spin when its terminals were accidentally connected to another dynamo producing electricity. Although this wasn't the first demonstration of an electric motor, it was the first practical one. It was found that the same design features which make a dynamo efficient also make a motor efficient. The efficient Gramme design, with small magnetic air gaps and many coils of wire attached to a many-segmented commutator, also became the basis for the design of all practical DC motors.

Large dynamos producing direct current were problematic in situations where two or more dynamos are working together and one has an engine running at a lower power than the other. The dynamo with the stronger engine will tend to drive the weaker as if it were a motor, against the rotation of the weaker engine. Such reverse-driving could feed back into the driving engine of a dynamo and cause a dangerous out of control reverse-spinning condition in the lower-power dynamo. It was eventually determined that when several dynamos all feed the same power source all the dynamos must be locked into synchrony using a jackshaft interconnecting all engines and rotors to counter these imbalances.

Dynamo as commutated DC generator[link]

After the discovery of the AC Generator and that alternating current can in fact be useful for something, the word dynamo became associated exclusively with the commutated DC electric generator, while an AC electrical generator using either slip rings or rotor magnets would become known as an alternator.

An AC electric motor using either slip rings or rotor magnets was referred to as a synchronous motor, and a commutated DC motor could also be called an electric motor though with the understanding that it could in principle operate as a generator.

Rotary converter development[link]

After dynamos and motors were found to allow easy conversion back and forth between mechanical or electrical power, they were combined in devices called rotary converters, rotating machines whose purpose was not to provide mechanical power to loads but to convert one type of electric current into another, for example DC into AC. They were multi-field single-rotor devices with two or more sets of rotating contacts (either commutators or sliprings, as required), one to provide power to one set of armature windings to turn the device, and one or more attached to other windings to produce the output current.

The rotary converter can directly convert, internally, any type of electric power into any other. This includes converting between direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC), three phase and single phase power, 25 Hz AC and 60 Hz AC, or many different output voltages at the same time. The size and mass of the rotor was made large so that the rotor would act as a flywheel to help smooth out any sudden surges or dropouts in the applied power.

The technology of rotary converters was replaced in the early 20th century by mercury-vapor rectifiers, which were smaller, did not produce vibration and noise, and required less maintenance. The same conversion tasks are now performed by solid state power semiconductor devices. Rotary converters were still used for the West Side IRT subway in Manhattan into the late 1960s, and possibly some years later. They were powered by 25 Hz AC, and provided DC at 600 volts for the trains.

Modern uses[link]

Dynamos still have some uses in low power applications, particularly where low voltage DC is required, since an alternator with a semiconductor rectifier can be inefficient in these applications. Hand cranked dynamos are used in clockwork radios, hand powered flashlights, mobile phone rechargers, and other human powered equipment to recharge batteries.

See also[link]

Energy portal

• Alternator
• Bottle dynamo
• Crank
• Electrical generator
• Henry Brooks Adams
• Henry Wilde
• Hub dynamo
• Magneto
• Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
• Solar cell
• Thermogenerator
• Welding sets.
• Wind turbine

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dynamos

Fearne Cotton
Born	(1981-09-03) 3 September 1981 (age 30)[1] Northwood, Greater London, England
Nationality	British
Education	Haydon School
Occupation	Radio and television presenter voice-over artist
Years active	1998–present
Employer	BBC Radio 1
Predecessor	Jo Whiley
Successor	Incumbent
Parents	Lin and Mick Cotton
Relatives	Bill Cotton (first cousin, twice removed, deceased)
Website
OfficialFearneCottonWebsite BBC Radio 1 minisite

Fearne Cotton (born 3 September 1981) is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show. She currently presents Radio 1's weekday mid-morning programme, having replaced long-time host Jo Whiley, and is a team captain on the comedy panel show Celebrity Juice.

Biography[link]

Cotton was born in Northwood, London to Lyn and Mick Cotton; she has a younger brother, Jamie. Her father was a signwriter for events such as Live Aid and her mother worked in alternative therapy.^[2] She grew up in Eastcote, Hillingdon and was educated at Haydon School. She is a pescatarian and an animal lover.^[3] She runs 5 km at least three times a week,^[4] and has participated in several half marathons for charity.^[5] Former BBC executive Bill Cotton (1928–2008) was her paternal grandfather's cousin.^[6] He was the son of the well-known entertainer and band leader Billy Cotton.

She began her presenting career in 1998, at the age of 17, with early morning GMTV children's programme The Disney Club, after she was discovered in a nationwide talent search during the show.

Cotton studied art at A level,^[7] a skill she made much use of whilst presenting the series Draw Your Own Toons. She also enjoys body art and claimed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that she has eleven tattoos over her body, the most notable of which is a fern leaf, covering her right hip up to her rib cage.^[8]. She also plays the trumpet.

Cotton has been romantically linked to several celebrities including Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins,^[9] Fame Academy's Peter Brame,^[9] and Channel 4 presenter Steve Jones.^[10] Her long-term, on-again-off-again boyfriend^[11] is skateboarder Jesse Jenkins; he proposed on her 29th birthday.^[12] The engagement was called off and the couple split 9 months later.^[13] Cotton is currently dating Jesse Wood, son of The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.^[14]

She is good friends with fellow TV presenter Holly Willoughby, with whom she has co-presented several shows.^[15] Cotton and Sarah Cawood acted as two of the bridesmaids at Willoughby's wedding to Dan Baldwin on 4 August 2007.^[16]

Presenting career[link]

UK children's TV[link]

After being discovered by The Disney Club in 1996, Cotton continued with the show and with its replacement Diggit. She left in 2000, to concentrate on her other projects with CITV, including Draw Your Own Toons and Mouse, aimed at encouraging children to use computers.

Cotton joined CBBC in 2001 to present children's science programme Eureka TV. In 2002 she presented Finger Tips, an arts and crafts programme for children, with co-presenter Stephen Mulhern. She later co-presented on CBBC's Sunday morning show, Smile and on The Saturday Show. She has also made appearances in CBBC show 'Only in America' alongside her friend Reggie Yates.

UK mainstream TV and radio[link]

In 2003 Cotton moved over to mainstream broadcasting. She and Simon Grant (her co-presenter from The Saturday Show) presented the spin-off show Top of the Pops: Saturday (later renamed Top of the Pops: Reloaded) that year. In 2004, she moved up to work alongside Reggie Yates on the main programme, Top Of The Pops (the then flagship chartshow for BBC-TV) becoming one of the last regular presenters for that programme, which ended in July 2006. Due to other commitments, she was unable to present the final show itself, appearing instead in a short film shown at the head of that show, in which she made her personal farewells. Cotton and Yates presented the one-off Christmas and New Year specials in both 2008 and 2009, as well as the Comic Relief special in 2009.

Cotton has hosted many reality TV programmes. In 2006 Cotton presented the second series of Love Island with Patrick Kielty on ITV, taking over from Kelly Brook. She also presented the Friday night live eviction programme that year for the Five reality TV series Make Me A Supermodel. In 2007, she took over from Ben Shephard as the host for the X Factor spin-off programme, The Xtra Factor on ITV2. She presented it for one series before resigning to work in America.^[17] Starting on 5 September 2007, Cotton hosted a dating programme, alongside Holly Willoughby, called Holly & Fearne Go Dating. In this programme they find dates for lonely singles.

Cotton has also presented many telethons. In July 2005 she presented Live 8 in Hyde Park. During the event, the British pop-star Robbie Williams flirted with her in front of the cameras, causing much speculation in the media at the time, but which was later repudiated by the pair.^[9] She has also hosted the BBC's annual telethon, Children in Need, alongside Terry Wogan and Natasha Kaplinsky, since 2005. On that first appearance in 2005, she was spectacularly sawn in half by Scott Penrose. In 2006, she designed the official BBC Children in Need t-shirt - featuring a henna style design of the charity's mascot, Pudsey Bear.^[18] In 2008, she hosted a Strictly Come Dancing special as part of Children in Need 2008.

She has hosted parts of the Red Nose Day telethon for Comic Relief (2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011) presenting several strands alongside Jonathan Ross and Lenny Henry. In 2009, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, alongside Ben Shephard, Gary Barlow, Alesha Dixon, Ronan Keating, Denise Van Outen and Chris Moyles, and Girls Aloud members Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh. Cotton and others collapsed from altitude sickness during the five-day climb. She was in the first group (with Van Outen, Shephard and Cole) to reach the summit and helped raise £3.3m.^[19] Cotton filmed a video piece for Comic Relief about Malaria. She visited a children's Hospital in Uganda where she witnessed a young child in pain through Malaria. Cotton had to walk out the room and collapsed as she did so but was able to continue shortly after. The child died later. Cotton also recorded her voice for the BT Speaking Clock to raise funds for Comic Relief.^[20] In 2011, she appeared in an all-in-one swimsuit after viewers of Alan Carr's Late Hour of Red Nose Day donated over £1M to the charity via more than 100,000 text messages in less than an hour, joking that she felt she looked like a 13-year-old boy.

In September 2005 she joined BBC Radio 1, to present the Friday early morning slot with Reggie Yates,^[21] whom she had previously worked with on CBBC, Only in America and Top Of The Pops. Since 14 October 2007, Cotton and Yates presented BBC Radio 1's Chart Show, taking over from JK & Joel, who had left the station.^[22] Cotton then became the first ever permanent female presenter of a BBC radio chart show. (Jo Whiley had preceded her as the first female presenter of The Official UK Top 40, as it was then called, but presented it only once, on November 24, 2002.)

Cotton has presented parts of the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. On 20 May 2006 she read the United Kingdom's votes at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, Greece. On 17 March 2007 she, along with Terry Wogan, hosted Making Your Mind Up 2007,^[23] the show to decide which song the UK sent to the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. On the night, after the final "sing-off" between the two remaining acts, Wogan and Cotton simultaneously announced different winners. Since Wogan was the more experienced presenter, it was assumed that he was right. In fact, Wogan had accidentally announced the wrong artist, Cyndi, as the winner. Cotton had to persist in repeating the correct name until the confusion was resolved.^[24] The group Scooch was quickly proclaimed as the correct winner but came only second from bottom in the main competition, just avoiding Nil Points.^[25] Cotton also presented the United Kingdom's votes at the show itself, held in Helsinki, Finland on 12 May 2007.

She has made many other TV appearances in the UK.

She also presented the Isle of Wight Festival 2009 on ITV2 alongside Rufus Hound. On 16 July, it was announced that Cotton would become the new presenter of BBC Radio 1's weekday mid-morning show, taking over from Jo Whiley. Her new programme began on 21 September 2009.^[26][27][28]

It was reported in the press^[29] on July 21, 2009, that whilst presenting the Radio 1 Chart Show two days previously Cotton had been the target of threatening text messages. These messages had been sent via the station's listener SMS service and seem to relate to Cotton taking over Jo Whiley's show. Cotton was driven home after the show by police escort and a 21 year old male was arrested and charged with harassment.

Cotton presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside Patrick Kielty and others.

Cotton will host Sky1's latest talent search Must Be The Music.^[30]

US mainstream TV[link]

In 2008, Cotton moved to the USA to host The Guinness Book of Records - Live.^[31] Cotton later co-hosted the NBC reality show Last Comic Standing. She resigned her presenting role on The X Factor spin-off The Xtra Factor to concentrate on her US career, and was replaced in that role by her friend Holly Willoughby. Cotton was also seen making a special appearance on the show of Katie Price and Peter Andre, where she was seen in a gift lounge before the Oscars.^[32]

TV appearances[link]

Bibliography[link]

Cotton and Holly Willoughby wrote an advice book entitled The Best Friends' Guide to Life which was published in October 2010.^[33]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Fearne Cotton Radio 1
• Fearne Cotton at the Internet Movie Database
• Fearne Cotton on Myspace
• Fearne Cotton on Twitter
• Pictures of Fearne

Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross at Live 8 on 2 July 2005
Born	Jonathan Stephen Ross (1960-11-17) 17 November 1960 (age 51) Camden, London, England[1]
Nationality	British
Occupation	Broadcaster, film critic, Talk show host, Comedian
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Jane Goldman (m. 1988) «start: (1988)»"Marriage: Jane Goldman to Jonathan Ross" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jonathan_Ross)
Children	2 daughters, 1 son
Parents	Martha Ross

Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE (born 17 November 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011. Ross also hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2, and acted as a film critic and presenter of the Film programme. Other regular roles have included being a regular panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over from 1999 to 2006, and presenting the annual British Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2007, and 2009 onwards.

Ross began his television career as a programme researcher, before débuting as a television presenter for The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4 in 1987. Over the next decade he had several radio and television roles, many through his own production company, Channel X. In 1995 he sold his stake in Channel X, and embarked on a career with the BBC. In 1999, Ross took over presenting the Film programme from Barry Norman, and also began presenting his own radio show, while two years later he began hosting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. For the chat show, Ross won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for Best Entertainment Performance, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. By 2006 Ross was believed to be the BBC's highest paid star. In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting.^[2] Ross has been involved in controversies throughout his broadcasting career.^[3][4] As a result, in 2008 he wrote a semi-autobiographical work titled Why Do I Say These Things?, detailing some of his life experiences.

Ross has been married to the author, journalist and broadcaster Jane Goldman since 1988; they have three children. Ross and Goldman have together established the television production company Hotsauce TV. Ross is known as an avid fan and collector of comic books and memorabilia, and has written his own comic book, Turf. Ross is known for his distinctive voice, flamboyant style of dress,^[2] and his light-hearted banter. He is also known for his characteristic difficulty in pronouncing the sound 'r'.

Personal[link]

Ross was born in Camden, London, England on 17 November 1960, a son of British actress and radio presenter Martha Ross.^[5] He grew up in Leytonstone^[1] and is the brother of journalist, television editor, and media personality Paul Ross; TV producer/actor Miles Ross; TV producer Simon Ross, and music industry professional Adam Ross. He was educated at Norlington School for Boys, a comprehensive school at the same time as his elder brother Paul, and at Leyton County High School for Boys, a comprehensive school. He also attended Southampton College of Art, now known as Southampton Solent University. ^[6] He then studied Modern European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University of London.^[7]

Ross with his wife Jane Goldman at the British Academy Television Awards 2009

Ross married author/journalist/broadcaster Jane Goldman, ten years his junior, in 1988, when Goldman was 18. They have since had three children: Betty Kitten (named after Bettie Page), Harvey Kirby (named after Jack Kirby, a comic book creator whom Ross especially admires), and Honey Kinney. The family lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb.^{[citation needed]}

Ross and others have used his rhotacism for comic effect and he is sometimes known as "Wossy,"^[8] including on his Twitter feed (@wossy).

Ross is known for owning exotic pets. He is a big music fan and the first band he saw live was punk rockers X-Ray Spex at Islington's Hope and Anchor pub in North London.^[9] He is a big fan of David Bowie, Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, Queen (he was in the audience for Queen at Wembley), British punk rock, Spandau Ballet, Sparks, Star Trek, Doctor Who (his favourite Doctor was Jon Pertwee), and comic books. Ross has even co-owned a comic shop in London with Paul Gambaccini and released Turf, his first comic book, in 2010, with American artist Tommy Lee Edwards.^[10] He was also the visual inspiration for the main character in the comic book Saviour. Ross is also greatly interested in Japan, presenting a BBC-TV series on many different aspects of Japanese culture, Japanorama, for three series between 2002–07. He was a regular at London's Blitz club during the early 1980s (famous for the Blitz Kids). He is a fan of the singers Morrissey and George Michael.^{[citation needed]}

He is a friend of comedian Ricky Gervais and bought him a kitten after Gervais' previous cat, Colin, had died. The cat's name is Ollie and was presented to him on an episode of Ross' talk show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.^[11] He was one of the special celebrity guests in the final episode of Gervais's second season of Extras, in which Gervais's character, Andy Millman, and Ross were shown to be the best of friends after a fictional appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.^[12]

He is also a close friend of author Neil Gaiman, and he and his wife appear in Gaiman's short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch", collected in Fragile Things.

In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.^[13] He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols on his Radio 2 show.^[14]

When interviewing Colin Farrell on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 February 2010, Ross claimed not to have consumed alcohol for ten years.

Ross has attended a fund raiser for the James Randi Educational Foundation called The Amazing Meeting in London in 2009 and 2010. Interviewed by Rebecca Watson, Ross described himself as a big fan of James Randi and the other speakers – who were mainly prominent sceptics – and said that he and his wife had come to have a sceptical view of the world.^[15] Ross has been supportive of Simon Singh's efforts to defend an accusation of libel by the British Chiropractic Association and Ross has posed for the Geek Calendar 2011, a fund raiser for the libel reform in the UK.^[16]

At a book signing event in Central London in September 2010, Ross stated that as a youngster he went to school in Leyton (Leyton Senior High School) and supports Leyton Orient F.C.^{[citation needed]}

On 6 June 2011, it was announced that Ross' beloved pug Mr Pickle had been killed in an accident on board a train while Ross was filming a new travelogue show for ITV.^[17] Mr Pickle was well known to both viewers and listeners of Ross' TV and radio shows.

Career[link]

Child actor[link]

Following the acting lead of his mother, who appeared as an extra on television shows such as East Enders, Ross appeared in television ads as a child actor. His first, for the breakfast cereal Kellogg's Rice Krispies, gave him his television debut in 1970, when he was 10 years old.^[18][19] He also appeared in an ad for the laundry detergent Persil.^[20]

Early career[link]

Ross began his adult career as a researcher on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk. After leaving this, he worked on various other shows before beginning another research job on Soul Train, which became Solid Soul. It is believed his first appearance on television was as an extra in the 1981 It Ain't Half Hot, Mum episode, The Last Roll Call.^[21]

Channel X: 1987–95[link]

Whilst on Solid Soul, he met fellow researcher Alan Marke, and the two devised what would prove to be a breakthrough hit for Ross in 1987, The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross.

The pair based their concept on the successful American show Late Night with David Letterman, and formed a new production company called Channel X, to produce a pilot. Ross was not originally slated as the show's host, but with little time to find one Jonathan Ross stepped in and made his debut on the show in January 1987.^[22]

While the series was initially a co-production with Colin Calendar, ownership transferred to Marke and Ross, meaning that the latter retained a great deal of control as well as being presenter.^[23] The show proved popular for both Ross and for Channel 4, making him one of the major personalities on the channel.

A year later, his documentary series The Incredibly Strange Film Show introduced many to the works of cult filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Jackie Chan.

In 1989, he co-presented the biennial BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, the same year he launched One Hour with Jonathan Ross a short lived chat show on Channel 4, most notable for the game show segment "Knock down ginger" which introduced comedians such as Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to television.

In 1991, he presented the annual British Comedy Awards on ITV. He has presented the event each year since, but in 2008 announced he would be stepping down from the role following his suspension from the BBC.^[24] In 1992 he presented an interview with Madonna about her Erotica album and Sex Book promotion.

In 1993, he was the narrator for FIA Formula One 1993 Season Review video.

Ross has appeared in numerous television entertainment programmes on several channels throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He was a regular panellist on the sports quiz They Think It's All Over, and hosted the panel game It's Only TV...But I Like It. Other projects include the BBC joke-quiz Gagtag, the Channel 4 variety show Saturday Zoo, new-acts showcase The Big Big Talent Show, and the ITV programme Fantastic Facts.

In 1995 he left Channel X, despite its profitable nature. He was quoted in a 1998 article as stating:

It was to do with a deliberate change in my life, moving away from TV as the core of my existence to focus on my family more. So I had to give up everything to do with Channel X, and I literally got only £1 for my share, which was unbelievable.^[25]

Television 1995–2006[link]