“Among the prizes television has been tediously awarding itself recently, there really should be one for best listener,” opined a television critic back in 1987. And by broad consent, the person deserving of that accolade was Mavis Nicholson, a quick-witted Welsh broadcaster, who by dint of natural talent had forged a prominent career in television that began when she was 40 and would last for more than 25 years.
Nicholson, who has died aged 91, became for a time the favourite interviewer of both critics and stars, and can arguably claim a place in television history as the first solo female interviewer with a regular show on British TV.
