Sally James (born Sally Cann, 10 May 1950) is a British television presenter. She presented the ITV Saturday morning children's show Tiswas from 1977 until it ended in 1982. James's role on the show included conducting the "Almost Legendary Pop Interviews", interviewing musical acts including Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motörhead, Iron Maiden and Kate Bush, and serving as music editor.

Before joining Tiswas, James was an actress, appearing in the films To Sir, with Love (1967), Journey to the Unknown (1969), The Railway Children (1970), and Never Too Young to Rock (1975). Her television roles included parts in Castle Haven (1969), Cousin Bette (1971), and The Black Arrow (1973–74). She was a presenter on Saturday Scene (later titled Supersonic Saturday Scene), starting in 1974, and interviewed pop stars in a segment of the show. James was a member of the Four Bucketeers group, whose single "Bucket Of Water Song" reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. Her book Sally James' Almost Legendary Pop Interviews was published in 1981.

After Tiswas ended in 1982, James presented Ultra Quiz and Six Fifty-five Special, the latter being a nightly BBC Two programme co-presented by James with David Soul.

Early life and career Sally James was born in Chiswick on 10 May 1950, the daughter of Olive and Bob Cann. Bob Cann was a photographer, who later worked as the official photographer for the films Dr. No and A Hard Day's Night. James attended the Arts Educational Schools. She appeared as one of Sidney Poitier's pupils in To Sir, with Love (1967), credited as Sally Cann, after her father, who was working on the film, spoke to the director and got her the part. She subsequently used her father's middle name, James, in her stage name.

She appeared in Castle Haven (1969), a twice-weekly serial for Yorkshire Television, playing Jo Mercer, a woman newly married to a teacher. In the series, the couple are tenants of one of the flats in a pair of converted houses and are struggling financially. James Towler in The Stage reviewed the programme including the comment "more performances of the quality of Sally James would undoubtedly enhance the future of the series." She played the role of a "" in the comedy Turnbull's Finest Half-Hour (1972), which was set in a fictional television station, and was one of the cast praised for their performances in Towler's review in The Stage.

Her television roles included parts in Sanctuary, Dixon of Dock Green, Curry & Chips, Journey to the Unknown, Cousin Bette, The Two Ronnies, and The Black Arrow. Film roles included The Railway Children (1970) as a maid, and in the glam rock film Never Too Young to Rock (1975).

Presenting career James began presenting in 1973, for Saturday Scene, during which she interviewed pop stars, including David Essex and The Bay City Rollers in a quarter-hour long section of the show. The show was later renamed Supersonic Saturday Scene, and broadcast at different times in different ITV regions, including as a Saturday morning show in London. An album, Saturday Scene, that included both interviews and songs performed by James, was released in 1974. The review in The Stage called James "an ebullient personality in sound as well as vision", adding that "disc, screen or stage she's got the potential to adorn all of them." Paul Brookman of The Thanet Times thought that although the programme was popular, the album would have limited appeal as the interviews would soon be outdated, and "after hearing the album a few times it has nothing to offer."

In October 1976, the BBC started devoting a three-hour slot on BBC1 on Saturday mornings to a new show, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, which The Stage noted put the new programme "in direct competition with ITV's Saturday Scene presented by Sally James." By July 1977, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop attracted six million weekly viewers nationally, whilst Saturday Scene, which was not broadcast across all ITV regions, had three million viewers in London. Meanwhile, ATV had produced the Saturday morning children's show Tiswas since 1974, which was shown only in the ATV region until also being screened by HTV from 1976. It was announced that James and Jim Davidson would be joining the show, alongside existing hosts Chris Tarrant and Trevor East, for the series starting on 10 September 1977, and that the programme would be broadcast in three additional ITV regions. The following year, Tiswas was reduced from three to two hours' duration, with Tarrant becoming the producer, as well as being a main host beside James, and East taking a reduced role.

James's role on the show included conducting the "Almost Legendary Pop Interviews", interviewing many famous musical acts including Elvis Costello, Sting, The Clash, Motörhead, and The Pretenders. James remained as a presenter until the show ended in 1982. She was also music editor for the show. James was a member of the group the Four Bucketeers, alongside other Tiswas cast members Tarrant, John Gorman and Bob Carolgees. The group released the single "Bucket Of Water Song", which reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980, and they undertook a national concert tour.

A collection of her interviews, titled Sally James Almost Legendary Pop Interviews, was published as a book in 1981. It included interviews with Kate Bush, Motörhead, Adam Ant, Bad Manners, Roger Daltrey and Kim Wilde among others. Several of the interviewee pictures used in the book were taken by her father, Bert Cann. Paul Taylor's Popular music since 1955 : a critical guide to the literature (1985) says that "The quality varies widely from serious dialogues to those in which the interviewer is not being taken at all seriously."

Marion McMullen of the Coventry Evening Telegraph wrote in 2003 that "Tiswas turned [James] into a cult favourite and 21 years later she is still remembered as the woman who first brought sex appeal to children's telly." A piece in The Times in 1998 said "Kids at home adored the chaos ... while their dads admired the denim-clad charms of Sally James."; for The Guardian in 2007, Bibi van der Zee commented that James "was openly touted as, er, getting dads up in the morning".

James was one of the presenters of the first series of the TVS show Ultra Quiz (1983), alongside Michael Aspel and Jonathan King. The programme, a version of the Japanese game show Trans America Ultra Quiz, started with 2,000 contestants, who were reduced to a final pair, by eliminating participants who answered questions wrongly, taking place at a variety of locations. The winner's prize was £10,000, a large amount for a British quiz show at the time. TVS controller Michael Blakstad described the show as "quite awful", and it was revamped for the following season with a new presenting team.

In the 1984-85 pantomime season, James appeared in the title role in Aladdin at the Towngate Theatre, Poole, whilst pregnant. In The Stage, Stan Sowden wrote that James "establishe[d] a quick rapport with the audience, particularly the younger members." After a career break, James appeared on Back to the Drawing Board in 1986 and guested on Countdown for a week in 1987.

Later career Some 25 years after Tiswas ended, James presented a reunion show Tiswas Reunited alongside Tarrant on ITV on 16 June 2007. Lasting 90 minutes, the show featured contributions from celebrities who enjoyed the show as children and appearances by people who had been on the show. In 2010 she had a programme on BBC Radio WM.

James appeared on stage in Harpenden for Christmas 2013 as Fairy in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, around 30 years after her previous pantomime appearance. In 1992 she started a business called Unismart, based in Surrey and selling school uniforms, which she still ran in 2016. she is still listed (as Sally Smith) as a director of the company.

Personal life She is married to agent and entrepreneur Mike Smith. They have three sons, including Sky Sports presenter Adam Smith. She lives in Surrey ().

Filmography +YearTitleRoleNotes1967To Sir, with LoveSchoolgirl1968Half a Sixpence1970Maid1975Never Too Young to RockHerself +

Television Year Title Role Notes 1967 Z-Cars Girl in Cafe Episode: "Ever Seen a Happy Cop? Part One"Mickey Dunne 1967-1968Sanctuary Jan 2 episodes1968Armchair Theatre Susan Episode "The Three Wives of Felix Hull" Dixon of Dock Green Sally CooperEpisode: "The Hard Way" 1969Curry and Chips Secretary 1 episode Castle Haven TV series Journey to the Unknown Peggy Episode "The Last Visitor" Journey to the Unknown Compilation film 1970 Joyce Menace Jane Episode "The Elimination" 1971Death Sentence Jean Cousin Bette Marie Parts 2 to 5 Paul Temple JeanEpisode: "Death Sentence"Father, Dear Father Felicity Episode An Affair to Forget 1972 on-screen participant Christmas Night with the Stars shop assistant (The Two Ronnies) Turnbull's Finest Half Hour dolly bird Harriet's Back in Town Eileen 2 episodes Crown Court Episode: "A Genia Man" 1972-1974 Various 6 episodes 1973Sixes and Sevens Millie Arthur of the Britons Lenni 2 episodesA Funny Kind of Day Kate 1973–1974The Black Arrow Megs 6 episodes Saturday Scene presenter 1974 Rosie all the Way Millie London Bridge presenter (3 episodes) Lift Off with Ayshea guest The ProtectorsGordon's SecretaryEpisode: "Trial" 1975-1977Pop Quest Panellist, Presenter 1976Supersonic (Saturday Scene Inserts 1977) cast member 1977Sally James, Peter Gabriel, Mack and Katie Kissoon 1977–1982 Tiswas presenter 1980-1981Give Us a Clue on-screen participant 2 episodes 1981 1981–1984Punchlines 9 episodes 1981-1985Blankety Blank 3 episodes 1981–1990 8 episodes 1981About Books presenter 1982Square One on-screen participant (2 episodes) 1982–1983Six Fifty-five Special presenter 1983Show Business cast member Ultra Quiz presenter Show Business (Pilot) 1984On Safari on-screen participant 1986Back to the Drawing Board presenter 1987Countdown cast member 1990 You Bet! on-screen participant 1991 1992Video View 2000Collectors' Lot presenter 2001 herself 2002After They Were Famous on-screen participant 2004Banzai 2007Have I Been Here Before? 2007TISWAS Reunited

Pantomime Year Title Role Venue 1975–76 Aladdin New Victoria Theatre, London 1983–84 Aladdin Towngate Theatre, Poole 1985–86 Dick Whittington Dick Whittington Princes Hall, Aldershot 2013–14 Jack and the Beanstalk Fairy Harpenden Public Halls

Discography + Sally James discography Year Title FormatNotes 1974 "Isn't It Good" / "Wake Me When It's Over" Single Vocalist. Philips Records 6006 418 1976 "Copycat" / "(Help Me By) Loving Me Baby" Vocalist. DJM Records DJS 10721 1980 "The Bucket Of Water Song" Vocalist (as part of The Four Bucketeers) CBS: 8393

References

External links

Saturday Scene album at Discogs.com