Sheena McDonald

Sheena McDonald
Sheena McDonald hosting After Dark in 1994
Born (1954-07-25) 25 July 1954 (age 70)
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Professional Broadcaster
FatherVery Rev William J. G. McDonald

Sheena Elizabeth McDonald (born 25 July 1954, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.

Early life

She was the daughter of Very Rev William J. G. McDonald, minister of Mayfield church in Edinburgh, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1989. He himself was a broadcaster, contributing to Thought for the Day for many years.[1]

She was a pupil at George Watson's Ladies College,[2] and then read English at the University of Edinburgh from where she graduated in 1976 before gaining a postgraduate certificate in radio, film and television studies from the University of Bristol. Whilst at university in Edinburgh, she had a relationship with then-Rector and fellow student Gordon Brown.[3] She co-founded the Edinburgh Festival Fringe newspaper Festival Times with Garfield Kennedy and wrote the "Central Belt" column for The List magazine between 1987 and 1989.

Broadcasting

In 1978 she began her professional broadcasting career as a producer and presenter at BBC Radio Scotland. She switched to television in 1981 as a presenter, continuity announcer and newsreader at STV, then went freelance in 1986, moving on to anchor such national radio and television news programmes as The World at One, Channel 4 News, 'The World This Week', After Dark and International Question Time and, in 1995, she received the first-ever 'Woman in Film and Television' Award.[4]

Accident

In February 1999 she was struck by a police van on its way to a 999 call in Clerkenwell, London.[5] She sustained head injuries, and it was almost five years before she returned to television, in a biographical documentary in which she spoke of her recuperation process and coming to terms with the psychological effects of her injury.[6][7]

In 2019 she wrote a book Rebuilding Life after Brain Injury: Dreamtalk for a series presenting brain injury survivor stories, describing in detail her injury and the progression of her recovery, with contributions and commentary from her husband Allan Little and her rehabilitation specialist Gail Robinson.

Personal life

She married BBC reporter Allan Little in 2006. The two have been together since 1993.[8]

Presenting roles

McDonald's presenting roles have included:

Television

Radio

References

  1. ^ "Tribute to former Moderator of the General Assembly the Very Rev Dr William McDonald". www.churchofscotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016.
  2. ^ Sheena McDonald (Class of 1972), George Watson's Ladies College 150th Anniversary website. Accessed 2022-11-02
  3. ^ Brian Wheeler The Gordon Brown story, BBC News, 27 June 2007
  4. ^ a b CastleFM application for the Edinburgh Radio Licence Archived 25 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 2004; page 7
  5. ^ Sheena McDonald, Am I still me?, BBC News, 16 January 2004
  6. ^ Sheena McDonald, Is that me in the mirror?, The Observer, 18 January 2004
  7. ^ Sheena McDonald Q&A Archived 21 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine Follow-up to Who am I now?, broadcast in Storyville, BBC Four, 20 January 2004, repeated 1 August 2004
  8. ^ Murray Scougall, ‘We were walking an unmapped path’, Sunday Post, 2 May 2022
  9. ^ What's your problem? : the essential guide to everyday living. Glasgow: Scottish Television PLC. 1982. ISBN 978-0-906391-31-0.
  10. ^ "Sheena McDonald". Curtis Brown. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013.
  11. ^ Talking Point Archived 9 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine Teachers TV
  12. ^ General Assembly, BBC Programme Index. Accessed 2022-11-02
  13. ^ Boyd McAdam, Mayfield Radio's half century, Grapevine, Mayfield Salisbury Parish, July/August 2021, pp 8-11