GMB presenter praises Dexter Fletcher for inspiring her to become a journalist

Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte Hawkins has thanked actor and film director Dexter Fletcher after he inspired her to become a journalist with his role in Press Gang.

Fletcher, 56, played Spike Thomson in the 1989 comedy drama series about a group of school children running a newspaper.

ITV broadcaster Hawkins, 47, told him: “I was saying earlier that I owe you a thank you because I was such a huge fan of Press Gang and for me that was what made me want to be a journalist.

“I am taking you back in time now but it was such an influential programme.”

Fletcher, who appeared on Good Morning Britain virtually from Los Angeles, said: “It was written by the great Steven Moffatt and they had a fantastic cast.

“It’s really wonderful for all of us to hear that there is a whole slew of journalists and people who got into the industry because of the influence of that show, which was about a bunch of kids running a teenage newspaper.

“Writing so creatively but expressive, it is lovely and really gratifying and feels like something special when you do meet journalists who say to you ‘I write because of that’. I am very proud of that.”

Fletcher also gave fans an update on Sherlock Holmes 3.

“I would love to be able to tell you lots about it but it hit a huge bump when Covid came along and then it got put on the ‘maybe let’s do it later’ list.

“Unfortunately there is no exciting updates on that,” he said.

Fletcher has directed new biographical drama series The Offer, about the people who made The Godfather, starring Miles Teller, Matthew Goode, and Juno Temple.

He added: “The series deals with so many of the problems they faced. That is one of the wonderful things about lifting the curtain on a film like this… they fought tooth and nail to stop it from happening.

“Its a really fascinating story. It makes you marvel that any film gets made.”