Denise Robertson

This article is about the British writer and television broadcaster. For the Australian sprinter, see Denise Boyd.

Denise Robertson MBE DL (9 June 1932 – 31 March 2016) was a British writer and television broadcaster. She made her television debut as the presenter of the Junior Advice Line segment of the BBC's Breakfast Time programme in 1985, though she is best known as the resident agony aunt on the ITV show This Morning from its first broadcast on 3 October 1988 until her death.^[3] In the course of her career, she dealt with over 200,000 letters from viewers seeking advice.^[4] In 2006 she was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to broadcasting.^[4]

Denise Robertson MBE, DL
Robertson at Durham railway station in November 2015
Born	Margaret Denise Mary Broderick (1932-06-09)9 June 1932 Sunderland, County Durham, England[1]
Died	31 March 2016(2016-03-31) (aged 83) London, England[2]
Resting place	Sunderland Cemetery
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Writer, television broadcaster, agony aunt
Years active	1985–2016
Employer	ITV
Known for	Agony aunt role on This Morning
Spouse(s)	Alex Robertson ​ ​ (m. 1960; died 1972)​ Jack Tomlin ​ ​ (m. 1973; died 1995)​ Bryan Thubron ​ (m. 1997⁠–⁠2016)​
Children	1

Early life

Born Margaret Denise Mary Broderick on 9 June 1932 in Sunderland, County Durham, she was the youngest of two daughters of Herbert Stanley (1889–1961) and Catherine Maud Broderick (née Cahill, 1896–1970).^[1] Herbert ran a shipping business that failed before she was born. She attended Sunderland High School.^[5][6]

Career

Robertson's first job was as a clerk at Sunderland Royal Infirmary. She then progressed to the position of medical secretary, and later became a counsellor. She won a BBC competition to write a play, and became an agony aunt on Metro Radio in Newcastle.^[4]

From its 1988 inception until shortly before her death in 2016, Robertson was a familiar face on ITV's flagship daytime magazine programme This Morning, appearing as its resident agony aunt. Over her 27 years on the show, Robertson dealt with an estimated 200,000 letters from viewers wanting advice.^[7][8][4]

In addition to This Morning, Robertson briefly hosted her own television series, Dear Denise, in 2000.^[9] She also featured as a love and relationships pundit on Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment in 2002. Robertson ran an advice website called DearDenise.com, and wrote a monthly column for national magazine Candis. She also made regular appearances on Channel 5's Big Brother's Bit on the Side.^[9]

Robertson was a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's political debate programme Any Questions? She also served as an independent councillor for her local council and drove for the Meals on Wheels service. She was also chair of her local physically handicapped club for over ten years. In 1983, she formed a trust with five others to provide work for the long-term unemployed.^[4]

In addition, Robertson wrote fiction and non-fiction books. Her first novel, Nurse in Doubt (1984), was published by Mills & Boon. Her second, The Land of Lost Content, was awarded the 1984 Constable prize for fiction.^[4]

Personal life

Robertson was twice widowed; she married Alexander Inkster "Alex" Robertson (1919–1972) in 1960 and they had a son Mark Alexander (born 1962).^[10] Alexander Robertson died of lung cancer in 1972.^[9] In 1973, she married John "Jack" Tomlin (1921–1995); he died of a stroke in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

She then married her childhood friend Bryan Thubron in 1997.^[11] Robertson was a keen supporter of Sunderland A.F.C.^[12] and had worked with the University of Sunderland, appearing as guest speaker at graduation ceremonies. She lived in East Boldon, South Tyneside.^[13]

Honours

In 1998, Robertson was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham.^[14] She was given the Freedom of the City of Sunderland in 2006 and appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Birthday Honours that year for "services to Broadcasting and to Charity".^[15][16]

Death

Robertson died on 31 March 2016, aged 83, at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London after being diagnosed in early 2016 with pancreatic cancer. She made the diagnosis public in February 2016 on the television show This Morning after being absent from her usual posting as its agony aunt.^[17] This Morning aired a special edition tribute programme on 1 April 2016. Her funeral took place on 13 April 2016 at Sunderland Minster, and she was buried in Sunderland Cemetery in Grangetown.^[18]

Filmography

Year	Title	Production company	Role	Notes
1985–86	Breakfast Time	BBC	Presenter	Junior Advice Line segment
1988–2016	This Morning	Granada Television/ITV Studios	Agony aunt	Until her death
1993	Robson's People	Tyne Tees Television	Episode 1.12	Interviewee
1993–94	Close to the Edge	Granada Television	Presenter	All 11 episodes
1996	A Spark of Joy	BBC	Contributor	Documentary on Catherine Cookson
1998	Modern Times	BBC	Contributor	Episode 7.3 'Agony Aunts'
2000	Dear Denise	Granada Television for ITV	Presenter/expert
2002	Loose Women	ITV Studios	Panellist	Episode 3.04, 3.16
2002	Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment	BBC	Contributor	All 6 episodes
2003	The Weakest Link	BBC	Contestant	Episode 9 August 2003
2003	Little Friends	Planet 24 for Channel 4	Guest appearance
2003	My Favourite Hymns	Granada Television	Subject	Episode 2 November 2003 and episode 16 November 2003
2004	The Impressionable Jon Culshaw	ITV	Guest appearance	Episode 1.6
2005	The Paul O'Grady Show	Granada Television for ITV	Interviewee	Episode 2.48
2011, 2012	Loose Women	ITV Studios	Guest	Episode 15.133, 16.097
2011–2016	Big Brother's Bit on the Side	Channel 5	Panelist	Multiple appearances

Works

• Don't Cry Aloud Hopcyn Press 2015 ISBN 9780992893323
• Winds of War Little Books 2009 ISBN 9781906264079
• None To Make You Cry Little Books 2009 ISBN 9781906264062
• The Promise Little Books 2008 ISBN 9781904435976
• The Second Wife Little Books 2008 ISBN 9781904435952
• Agony? Don't Get Me Started... Autobiography Max Press 2006 ISBN 9781904435846
• The Bad Sister Little Books 2005 ISBN 9781904435426
• Relax It's Only a Baby Little Books 2005 ISBN 9781904435464
• Men Are From Earth. Women Are From Earth.: Deal with It! Little Books 2005 ISBN 9781904435327
• Sir Tom Cowie, A True Entrepreneur: A Biography University of Sunderland 2004 ISBN 9781873757840
• A Relative Freedom ISBN 9781904435853
• Wait For the Day ISBN 9781904435556
• The Beloved People (Belgate Trilogy 1) 2004 ISBN 978190443534-1
• Strength for the Morning (Belgate Trilogy 2) 2004 ISBN 9781904435358
• Towards Jerusalem (Belgate Trilogy 3) 2005 ISBN 9781904435372
• A Year of Winter 1986 ISBN 9780094672307
• The Land of Lost Content 1985 ISBN 9780094664401
• Blue Remembered Hills 1987 ISBN 9780753102473