In America, she went to high school and art school, and rode horses. In Australia, she cut her teeth in journalism, writing about good gigs in local tabloids. Back in Britain, she taught riding for a bit, but decided she was not an outdoor person, not in winter anyway. So there followed another brief youthful folly: a spell as a British Airways stewardess. Anyone who has heard her interviews might well think: poor passengers!

Then it was back to university, to break into journalism proper, as in the BBC, of course. She worked as a local and then national news reporter, as well as a reporter on the BBC’s Woman's Hour.

It was a chance phone call from a news editor looking for a weekend reporter that brought Judy to the World Service. She has never looked back; reporter, producer, editor, and since 1994, presenter of Newshour.

In that time, she has also reported extensively from the Middle East, India, China, Algeria, across the United States, South America, the Falkands and South Africa, as well as returning to her old stomping ground, Northern Ireland.

Judy has also made around 30 documentaries, including the series, The World's Policemen and The Path to Power.