David Dimbleby, 85, makes rare public appearance after Question Time exit

Former Question Time presenter David Dimbleby has been pictured making a rare public appearance after stepping down from his TV roles.

The veteran broadcaster, 85, is marking the end of his time as chairman of an art gallery by curating an exhibition with his daughter, Liza.

He was pictured at Towner Eastbourne gallery for their Drawing The Unspeakable art show, which is running until April 2025.

Artists Dennis Creffield, Elisabeth Frink, Eric Ravilious, Denzil Forrester, Emma Talbot, Ansel Krut and Emma Woffenden are among those with works featured in the exhibit, as well as work by painter David Bomberg, sculptor Barbara Hepworth, Madge Gill and caricaturist and printmaker James Gillray.

Speaking about the exhibition, Dimbleby said earlier this year: ‘Co-curating this exhibition has been an exhilarating experience.

‘Liza has always been my companion and guide through the world of art. For a time, during the Covid lockdown, rather than write to each other, we would exchange drawings by email.

‘This was what gave Joe Hill the idea of asking us to put on this exhibition – drawing taking the place of words.’

Accompanying the art is a written conversation between Dimbleby and Liza about their different viewpoints as journalist and artist, respectively, and as father and daughter.

He announced he was stepping down from the role of chairman at the art gallery five years after he quit Question Time.

The presenter fronted the political programme from 1994 until Fiona Bruce took over in 2019.

At the time, he said ‘it was the right moment to leave,’ adding: ‘It has been a privilege to work for a programme which brings voters face to face with those in power.’

He said he planned ‘to return to my first love: reporting’.

In the years since his Question Time exit, Dimbleby has made rare public appearances and not fronted as much coverage in recent years either.

In 2022, he covered the Queen’s funeral procession, coming out of retirement for the event, after he commentated on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Earlier this year, ahead of the General Election, Dimbleby said he did not miss certain aspects of his career like delivering the exit poll figures at 10pm on BBC One during the General Election, which he anchored from 1979.

With Clive Myrie and Laura Kuenssberg fronting political coverage in July, the journalist said he does not ‘miss it because I have spent five years not doing it’, but hailed doing the general election as ‘the Everest of broadcasting’.

He added he ‘never got tired’ and ‘never prepared’ for covering the election, but did acknowledge that when ‘you stop walking along a tightrope, you miss it’.

‘So I stopped doing Trooping the Colour because I got bored of it,’ he also said.

‘I stopped doing the State Opening of Parliament because it is the same ritual every year. The Cenotaph, I keep doing it. I must have done 35 years. I imagine I will do it again this year.’