Tribute to ‘charming’ Michael Mosley as BBC announces special in memory of TV doctor

The death of TV doctor Michael Mosley was “felt by millions of people around the world who considered him their doctor”, according to his BBC co-stars. The BBC will broadcast a “special tribute” on Friday at 8pm on BBC One to Mosley, who died of natural causes last week after disappearing on the Greek island of Symi.

The body of the 67-year-old man was found on Sunday in a rocky area near the Agia Marina beach. Mosley first trained as a doctor before moving into broadcasting, presenting a number of science programs and films for the BBC, including the series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain.

In 2002, he was nominated for an Emmy for his role as executive producer of the BBC science documentary The Human Face, and also ingested tapeworms for six weeks for a 2014 documentary called Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four.

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Dr Sarah Jarvis, who he has worked with over the years, including on The One Show, which he joined in 2007 as part of the original line-up, explained how Mosley has transformed people’s lives through his work. “Michael was absolutely charming,” she said during a tribute on The One Show. He was funny, he was smart, but what really came out was that he had this ability to communicate and he wanted to deliver important messages.

“That man touched so many lives. He took really complicated science and then turned it into something that resonated with everyone. And he said that by using himself as a guinea pig, he could make more of a difference than many doctors make in a lifetime.

“The ideas he pioneered that he helped bring into mainstream health are now out there and continue to make a difference in people’s quality of life.” Trust Me, I’m A Doctor co-star Dr Chris van Tulleken said Mosley “is one of the most important broadcasters in decades, maybe ever”.

The One Show co-presenter Alex Jones told the BBC programme: “His death has been felt by millions of people around the world who considered him their doctor. It’s still very hard to understand what happened, I think everyone feels that… It’s an absolute shock.”

“Michael Mosley saved her life, had two children”

Dr Hannah Fry recalled a time when Mosley had saved the life of a BBC colleague. She said: “Someone crashed into the BBC offices from the corridors and saw them collapse. He pulled through, performed CPR on them for almost half an hour until emergency services arrived. (He) saved her life, she went on to have two children.”

It comes after Greek police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidou told the BBC that an initial post-mortem examination had been carried out, confirming there were no injuries on Mosley’s body. He also estimated the time of death to be around 4pm local time on Wednesday. Mosley had left friends at the island’s Agios Nikolaos beach around 1.30pm to go for a walk.

Ms Dimoglidou said the position of his body meant he died of natural causes. She also said toxicology and histology reports would be forthcoming. Footage found by a beach bar in Agia Marina shows what appears to be the TV doctor walking down a rocky slope close to a fence before disappearing from view.

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