David Lancaster

I grew up in West London and attended the University of Warwick between 1984 – 1987 gaining a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and Literature. From there, I began work as the deputy editor on MotorCycle International, a title launched and published by Mark Williams, formerly of International Times and Oz.

I have worked in both television and print media, and briefly in radio. In broadcast I was a researcher on the Channel Four show Ride-On, presented and produced by Muriel Gray, and then joined BBC2’s Top Gear as a researcher and director.

In 2004 and 2005 I was script editor on the BBC2 food programme Full On Food. For Radio 4’s Afternoon Shift, I wrote and presented several first person pieces and have been a guest on Radio Five on several occasions.

In print, I was deputy editor of the Times Weekend section and motoring editor on the paper, and contributed Op-Ed pieces and columns to both the Times and Daily Express, as well as writing for numerous motorcycle, lifestyle and travel magazines.

I have launched two titles. Firstly, after taking the name and concept of the food, drink and travel magazine EatSoup to IPC Magazines, it launched 1996. EatSoup carried  interviews with Michael Caine, Marco Pierre White, Sir Terence Conran, Gordon Ramsay along with contributions from writers such as Will Self, Len Deighton, David Bowker and Nick Blincoe. With colleagues, I raised the private finance to launch Restaurant magazine in 2002 and a year later we launched its sister Restaurant Top 50 Awards. Restaurant is now published by William Reed Business Media and the Top 50 Awards is published every spring.

Between 2003 and 2005 I was a committee member of London Travel Watch, a statutory body appointed by the GLA. The committee regularly quizzed the Mayor and senior personnel from bodies such as British Transport Police and TFL about transport issues in the capital.

From 2001 to 2005 I was a trustee of Borough Market, London’s oldest market. During this time the market saw considerable growth and refurbishment, filed its first audited accounts and became a registered charity.

My latest project is the feature documentary Speed is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle (2023) which is narrated by Ewan McGregor. The film was written and directed by me, independently financed and is available on digital platforms in the USA and UK. It has been postively reviewed, including in The Guardian, won awards at film festivals in the UK, Portugal and Canada and screened at selected cinemas in the USA and UK in the autumn of 2023.

My next project is a feature documentary on food writer Elizabeth David.

• Food, chefs, the media
• Motorcycle culture

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.