TV industry pays tribute to Channel 4 publicist Lesley Land

Leading figures in the TV industry have paid tribute to Channel 4 publicist Lesley Land, who died suddenly last Friday aged 41.  

Land worked in PR for nearly 20 years, joining C4 in 2014 as publicity manager for comedy and entertainment, and most recently worked across its factual entertainment, entertainment and features and daytime slate.  

She is part of a British TV dynasty; her mother Anita is a talent agent and her uncle is Ofcom chair and industry veteran Michael Grade.  

Channel 4 described her as the driving force of many of its most memorable press campaigns of the last 20 years, including Gogglebox, The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, Stand Up To Cancer and Jews Don’t Count. 

“Lesley was a wonderful friend, a generous colleague and made tremendous fun wherever she went. But ultimately, family was at the core of Lesley’s life,” a C4 representative said. “Our hearts go out to them at this devastating time.” 

C4 chief exec Alex Mahon said Land was a “warm delight” to work with, describing her as “enthusiastic, expert, fun and full of joy; a light has been extinguished and it has happened far too soon”. 

David Baddiel, who worked with Land on the recent Mindhouse doc Jews Don’t Count, recounted how much the project meant to her on a personal level, quoting her last Instagram post in which she said that she had never been prouder to work on a programme in the 20 years she had been “at this lark”. 

“I found that very moving at the time, and now, incredibly so. It’s rare to find that sort of passion in TV, and she channelled it into amazing work publicising the film,” he said. “Beyond that, she was simply a joy: fun and upbeat and insightful and boundlessly energetic. I was very much looking forward to working with her again, and very sad that now I won’t.” 

Land worked with Miriam Margoyles on several projects, most recently on Blink Films’ Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond, with the actress describing her as “superb, hard-working and gifted” at her job. 

“I can’t bear to think of her passionate spirit, sense of fun and energy extinguished; the light she shed will be felt in the industry for a long time,” said Margoyles.  

Russell T Davies worked with her during his first stint showrunning Doctor Who and described her as “funny, ferocious and first to the fight” and with whom he continued to be friends after both moving on from the show.  

“There’s no one you’d rather be with when pushing a Dalek up a ramp at 3am. Of course, her uncle, Michael Grade, famously cancelled Doctor Who back in the 80s. ‘To hell with him!’ she’d say, hooting, loving him dearly,” he said. 

Emily Hudd, Rumpus Media’s joint-managing director, expressed her shock and sadness at Land’s sudden passing, recounting how she worked on the indie’s Joe Lycett projects for C4 and that she “took every bit of mischief in her stride in her pursuit of an impactful publicity campaign”. 

Studio Lambert’s deputy creative director Mike Cotton added that Land’s dedication to Gogglebox’s cast and production team knew no bounds.  

“She was so proud of working with the cast and would always go the extra mile for them. We all adored her and loved working with her and will hold in our hearts her utter professionalism, her love of life and her passion,” he said. 

She worked across a number of recent Expectation projects on Channel 4, including The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, The Big Narstie Show and I Literally Just Told You. Ben Wicks, deputy creative director of comedy entertainment at the indie said she fought for coverage of its shows in the “most headstrong and skilful way”.   

“She was undoubtably a ludicrously effective and talented strategist, but she was just as renowned for being fantastic fun to be around. She energised any room, Zoom or event she attended,” he said. “We all feel incredibly lucky to have known her.” 

Lesley Land is survived by her parents Anita and Brook and her brother Daniel.