Jay Blades Tackles Reading in New BBC One Doc

The new BBC One and iPlayer commission Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 will see the presenter confront his struggle to read.

Jay Blades, presenter of The Repair Shop, revealed well into adulthood that he had the reading ability of a child, having left school with no qualifications and a reputation as a fighter. In Learning to Read at 51, Blades works to improve his reading skills in midlife.

Over the years, Blades has found ways of avoiding the written word, with Learning to Read at 51 digging into how this has shaped him. He will learn to read with a charity that organizes volunteer coaches to work one-to-one with readers, using a system that was started in prisons. Blades will join forces with other people also learning to read, and together they will support, cajole and encourage one another to get over their fear of the printed word.

Along the way, Blades will revisit key moments in his life shaped by not being able to read—from the ‘Learner’ class at school, to receiving an important letter from the hospital and having to find a stranger on the street to read it to him. He will also discover the human stories behind the nation’s shocking illiteracy statistics.

Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 is a Hungry Jay Media production for BBC One and iPlayer.

Blades said: “Learning to read is going to be the toughest challenge for me. On this journey, I’ll be meeting people who can’t read, for whatever reason, and hopefully helping them. I’d love this film to inspire the millions of other adults in the same situation as me.”

Dan Baldwin, executive producer, said: “This is going to be a gargantuan task for Jay. He will have to work incredibly hard and this film will see Jay completely out of his comfort zone. This will be an inspiring, influential and important film for many people who struggle to read.”

Jack Bootle, head of commissioning for science and natural history at BBC, said: “We all love watching Jay on The Repair Shop—but very few of us know about his long-term struggles with reading. To achieve what he’s achieved with very limited literacy is amazing. I’d like to thank Jay for his bravery in sharing his story with BBC viewers and I hope his journey will provide support and encouragement to other non-readers.”