Getting to know Faversham’s media mogul Peter Williams

With an incredible 70 years of experience in broadcasting and journalism, Faversham based author and film-maker Peter Williams has published a fascinating new book titled Being There: Titanic, Marlon Brando and the Luger Pistol.

 

The book explores and reveals some of the world’s biggest milestone events that Peter was able to have privileged inside access to through his role in media. Being There casts fresh light on incidents and personalities in the most controversial areas of human activities.

We were able to catch up with Peter Williams and find out more about his wonderful career…

 

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Really, I was writing about milestones in my life, and revisiting subjects which had fascinated me over the past 50 years, and which had developed in sometimes surprising ways since.

 

If you could pick a top 5 moments throughout your career as an author and film-maker, what would you choose and why?

It’s difficult to pick a top 5 – I always say the next project is the most interesting. At the moment, I’m writing a book on the history of the Canterbury Festival, whose Board I chaired for 21 years, and am now its president. The Luger Pistol came into my life when, during my 14 years as a reporter/producer for This Week, the ITV current affairs weekly programme, we set out to examine violence in London Street, and found a man who would “kill for £2,000”. He then produced, much to my surprise, a Luger pistol as proof.

All access is also a privilege. People trust you with their life stories and their emotions. One of the most moving stories was our exclusive on the births of the first IVF babies in both Britain (Oldham) and the US (Norfolk Virginia) – Louise Brown, and Elizabeth Jordan Carr. In both instances, as with the discover of the wreck of the Titanic and the “lost” plutonium at Dounrea, we were on the inside of the story, with the world’s press on the outside.

 

Away from writing, what else do you enjoy doing and what makes Faversham such a great place to live?

I’m mad keen on cricket, and am chair of The Century Club at Kent County Cricket Club, and was lucky enough to see Wally Hammond’s last season, while at school in Bristol.

I’m Welsh and came to Kent for the first time to open ITV’s studios in a former bus garage in Ussell Street, Dover – my first job in television. I came on a six-month contract – and stayed in Kent for 60 years. Though I worked in London for Thames Television and the BBC, Kent was the preferred place to bring up a family.

 

You can purchase Being There for £16.99 from Waterstones, Amazon and directly from Peter Williams by emailing [email protected].