Rob Bell (TV presenter)

Rob Bell
MSc
Rob Bell by the Millau Viaduct in France
Born1979
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Bath
Years active2012–present
Websitewww.robbell.tv

Rob Bell (born 1979) is a British TV presenter and STEMnet ambassador.[1] He has appeared on TV programmes on BBC, Channel 5, Travel Channel (now DMAX) and Yesterday.

In 2015, Bell became one of just a few people to complete seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.[2]

Early life

Born in Buckinghamshire in 1979, his father's work with General Motors took the family to the United States when Rob was six and on to the outskirts of Paris when he was nine. His mother was a big influence for what was to become a passion for engineering.[3][4]

He achieved a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering with French at the University of Bath,[5] completing his dissertation at University in Lyon, France.[6] He had previously worked for French radio station Connexion FM and the Energy Saving Trust before he started in television.[7]

Career

His first television work was the BBC series Engineering Giants, which he co-hosted with engineer turned comedian Tom Wrigglesworth in 2012.[8] In 2013 he presented the Travel Channel programme Rob Bell's Engineering Enigmas and its series Man Vs World, where he participated in several adventure sports in different locations around the world.[9] This was followed up in 2014 by the BBC programme The Science of D-Day,[10] and another Travel Channel programme Secrets and Mysteries London[11] and the Channel 5 six-part series Underground Britain.[12]

In 2015 Bell presented the BBC history programme Haslar: Secrets of a War Hospital,[13] and then completed seven marathons on seven continents for the Travel Channel series Monster Marathon Challenge.

In 2016 Bell presented the BBC documentary Tank Men to commemorate 100 years since the first use of tanks,[14][15] and narrated the BBC series Sea Cities.[16] He also presented the Channel 5 series Britain's Greatest Bridges.[17] He also appeared as a contributor to the Yesterday series Abandoned Engineering, which was later adapted to the 2017 US series Mysteries of the Abandoned on the Science Channel.

During 2017 he presented further Channel 5 programmes: Inside the Tube – Going Underground,[18] Great British Royal Ships,[19] and The World's Greatest Bridges.[20] He co-presented The Great Fire (with Dan Jones and Suzannah Lipscomb)[21] and Brunel:The Man who Built Britain.[22] He also presented the BBC show Invented in The South.[23]

In 2018 Bell presented further programmes for Channel 5 with The Flying Scotsman airing in February,[24] World's Tallest Skyscrapers in June[25] and Walking Britain's Lost Railways in September.[26] A second series of Walking Britain's Lost Railways premiered in 2020.

In 2021, Bell presented the Channel 5 series London's Greatest Bridges with Rob Bell.[27]

Filmography

Year Television series Role Notes Ref
2012 Engineering Giants Co-presenter 3 episodes [28]
2013 Rob Bell's Engineering Enigmas Presenter
2014 The Science of D-Day Presenter Documentary [29]
Secrets and Mysteries of London Presenter Documentary [30]
2015 Underground Britain Presenter TV series [31]
Haslar: Secrets of a War Hospital Presenter Documentary [32]
Monster Marathon Challenge Presenter TV series [33]
2016 Tank Men Presenter Documentary [34]
Sea Cities Co-presenter TV series [35]
Britain's Greatest Bridges Presenter TV series [36]
2017–present Abandoned Engineering Co-presenter TV series [37]
2017 Mysteries of the Abandoned Co-presenter TV series [38]
Inside the Tube – Going Underground Presenter TV series [39]
The World's Greatest Bridges Presenter TV series [40]
The Great Fire: London Burns Co-presenter TV series [41]
Brunel:The Man who Built Britain Presenter TV series [42]
Invented in... Presenter; episode "The South" TV series [43]
2017–2020 Great British Royal Ships Presenter TV series [44]
2018 Sea Cities Presenter TV series [45]
The Flying Scotsman Presenter TV series [46]
Numb Skulls Presenter TV series; episode "Atlantic Crossing" [47]
World's Tallest Skyscrapers: Beyond the Clouds Presenter TV series [48]
2018 – present Walking Britain's Lost Railways Presenter TV series [49]
2019 Building the Channel Tunnel: 25 Years On Narrator TV series [50]
London: 2000 Years of History Presenter TV series [51]
The Blitz: Britain On Fire Co-presenter TV series [52]
Secret Nazi Bases Co-presenter TV series [53]
When Buildings Collapse: World's Worst Engineering Disasters Presenter Documentary [54]
2020 Britain's Lost Battlefields with Rob Bell Presenter TV series [55]
On Board Britain's Nuclear Submarine: Trident Presenter Documentary [56]
2021 London's Greatest Bridges with Rob Bell Presenter TV series [57]
The Buildings That Fought Hitler Presenter TV series [58]
2021 – present Building the Impossible Presenter TV series [59]
2021 Britain's Top 10 Ships Presenter Documentary [60]
The Stonehenge Enigma: What Lies Beneath? Presenter Documentary [61]
When Big Things Go Wrong Contributor TV series [62]
2022 British Planes That Won the War with Rob Bell Presenter TV series [63]
2023 Britannia: Secrets of the Royal Yacht Presenter Documentary [64]
2024 Inside Nuclear - Heysham 2 Presenter Documentary

References

  1. ^ "Engineer, TV Presenter, Broadcaster, Adventurer, Rob Bell Visits Vinehall – IAPS". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  2. ^ "7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days – the '777' experience". AW. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Railways in the Media" (PDF). Hornby the Collector. 119: 39–40.
  4. ^ "Travelling by Man Power Alone – stuff.co.nz p.10 November 2013". 9 November 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  5. ^ "High Fliers! – Institution of Engineering Designers p.1 September 2018". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Man power inspires SA adventure – IOL.co.za p.11 November 2013". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Who is Rob Bell? - biogs.com". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  8. ^ "TV review: Engineering Giants; Thelma's Gypsy Girls – The Guardian Dowling.T p.15 July 2012". TheGuardian.com. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Man Vs World: Rob Bell travels four nations via mountain board, paraglide and white water canoe – Radio Times Bremner.J p.21 November 2013". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  10. ^ "The science behind the D-Day landings – BBC News 6 June 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Underground London: 5 secret places to visit in and around the city – Radio Times Bremner.J p.2 October 2014". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Secrets of Underground Britain". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Haslar: The Secrets of a War Hospital, BBC Two, review: 'gruesome' – The Telegraph Howse.C p.24 June 2015". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Tank Men – bbc.co.uk". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Tank Museum plays part in BBC documentary on first ever tank battle – Daily Echo Durkin.J p.9 September 2016". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Series 1 Episode 1 Plymouth – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  17. ^ "The Tyne Bridge is the star of a national TV programme: When is it televised? – The Chronicle Morton.D p.17 November 2016". 17 November 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Going underground: how London's Central Line was built (and why it's so unreliable) – wired.co.uk". Wired UK. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  19. ^ "Great British Royal Ships – myfive". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  20. ^ "The World's Greatest Bridges – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  21. ^ "The Great Fire: London Burns – What you need to know about the 1666 blaze – International Business Times Binding.L p.31 May 2017". 31 May 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  22. ^ "What's on TV today Friday December 8: our television, film and radio picks = The Sunday Times p.3 December 2017". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Invented in – BBC.co.uk". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Tonight's TV: Collateral and The Unstoppable Flying Scotsman – The National p.26 February 2018". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  25. ^ "World's Tallest Skyscrapers – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  26. ^ Horsford, Simon (21 September 2018). "On the trail of Britain's lost railways – The Telegraph Horsford.S p.21 September 2018". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  27. ^ "London's Greatest Bridges with Rob Bell". channel5.com. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  28. ^ "Engineering Giants". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  29. ^ "The Science of D-Day". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  30. ^ "Secrets & Mysteries". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  31. ^ "Underground Britain". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  32. ^ "Haslar: Secrets of a War Hospital". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  33. ^ "Monster Marathon Challenge". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  34. ^ "Tank Men". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  35. ^ "Monster Marathon Challenge". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  36. ^ "Britain's Greatest Bridges". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  37. ^ "Abandoned Engineering". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  38. ^ "Mysteries of the Abandoned". tvguide.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  39. ^ "Inside the Tube – Going Underground". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  40. ^ "Great British Royal Ships". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  41. ^ "The Great Fire: London Burns". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  42. ^ "Brunel:The Man who Built Britain". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  43. ^ "Invented in..." radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  44. ^ "Great British Royal Ships". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  45. ^ "Sea Cities". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  46. ^ "The Flying Scotsman". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  47. ^ "Numb Skulls". imdb.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  48. ^ "World's Tallest Skyscrapers: Beyond the Clouds". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  49. ^ "Walking Britain's Lost Railways". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  50. ^ "Building the Channel Tunnel: 25 Years On". tvmaze.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  51. ^ "London: 2000 Years of History". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  52. ^ "The Blitz: Britain On Fire". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  53. ^ "Secret Nazi Bases". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  54. ^ "When Buildings Collapse: World's Worst Engineering Disasters". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  55. ^ "Britain's Lost Battlefields with Rob Bell". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  56. ^ "On Board Britain's Nuclear Submarine: Trident". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  57. ^ "London's Greatest Bridges with Rob Bell". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  58. ^ "The Buildings That Fought Hitler for Yesterday". uktv.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  59. ^ "Lighthouses: Building the Impossible". thetvdb.com. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  60. ^ "Britain's Top 10 Ships". channel5.com/show. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  61. ^ "The Stonehenge Enigma: What Lies Beneath?". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  62. ^ "When Big Things Go Wrong". plimsollproductions.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  63. ^ "British Planes That Won the War with Rob Bell". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  64. ^ "Britannia: Secrets of the Royal Yacht". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.