Nancy Banks-Smith Biography

Nancy Banks-Smith (born 1929) is a British television and radio critic. Born in Manchester and raised in a pub, she was educated at Roedean. She was a writer for The Sun in the 1960s, and left the newspaper in 1969 when it was bought by Rupert Murdoch who turned it into a sensationalist tabloid. She also worked briefly for the Daily Express in the 1960s. Banks-Smith began writing for The Guardian in 1970, with her television column becoming a leading feature of the newspaper. She has remained with The Guardian for over 40 years, and as of 2016[update] writes a monthly column for the paper entitled "A month in Ambridge", reviewing recent developments in the radio soap opera The Archers.