2025 Programmes

Jude Dobson

Jude Dobson

Jude Dobson is an award-winning documentary producer and best-selling author based in New Zealand. She has a particular interest in World War I and II and enjoys exploring history through the personal stories of people who lived through the experience. That desire has seen her spend a lot of time with war veterans, which she enjoys immensely.

One of those veterans, Pippa Latour only decided to finally tell her (previously untold) story when she was 101! Their conversations resulted in Pippa’s memoir The Last Secret Agent, so called because Pippa was the very last of the F (France) section agents from SOE (Special Operations Executive) to pass away. There were very few female SOE agents in WW II, and Pippa was one of them. The book became an instant best-seller in NZ when it was released in April 2024, came out in the UK to great reviews in November 2024 and is released in the USA in May 2025. Jude holds the film rights for Pippa's remarkable story and is moving her writing efforts to producing a screenplay.

Although Jude’s first chosen career was as a registered nurse, she soon took up an opportunity in television and has stayed in media (both in front of and behind the camera) ever since. Jude was the presenter of six different prime-time lifestyle shows through the 1990s and eventually hosted her own show, 5.30 with Jude.

Through her own production company, she went on to produce broadcast content enabling her to grow new skills as a show runner, producer, director, writer, and researcher. She is also the driving force behind the parenting website Raising Children.