Steve Crabtree
Editor, BBC Horizon
Behind the scenes at the world’s longest-running science documentary series
Steve Crabtree is Editor of BBC Horizon, the world’s longest-running science documentary. In this in-depth interview, he discusses his ‘humble origins’ as a self-described ‘local lad’ from Barrow-in-Furness. After dropping out of school with no qualifications, he worked at the shipyards painting nuclear submarines, reading comic books and playing in a local band – but determined to succeed in media, he took a creative arts degree and moved to London. Now Editor of the very programme from which he was initially rejected, he discusses how the programmes are made, the challenge of making science accessible to the public yet maintaining ‘journalistic rigour;’ and reveals how the current BBC restructuring will affect the show’s future.