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Violet Berlin | |
|---|---|
 Berlin with former partner Gareth Jones in 2003 | |
| Born | 2 January 1968 |
| Occupations |
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| Career | |
| Show | WildBunch, Cool Cube, Bad Influence!, Saturday Disney, The Big Bang, Real Time Apollo: One Small Step, Gamepad |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Violet Berlin (born 2 January 1968) is a British television presenter, producer and script writer for films, games and immersive experiences, best known for her pioneering coverage of innovative technology and video games. [2]
Berlin first appeared on television screens in the 1990s, as a presenter on WildBunch on BBC1 and as writer-presenter for live youth magazine show Cool Cube for BSkyB from 1990 to 1992. [3] On Cool Cube she produced and presented the first regular coverage of computer and video games on British television. [4] She went on to present Bad Influence! between 1992 and 1996, a video gaming series which she hosted with Andy Crane on ITV. [5] As well as presenting from the studio, Berlin covered outside reports in the USA and Japan and wrote and presented her own opinion features as "Virtual Violet". [6]
Berlin then went on the host a number of other terrestrial shows, including live entertainment show Saturday Disney [7] and long running ITV popular science show The Big Bang [8] . On the 30th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 flight in July 1999, along with Jon Snow, she co-hosted the live UK Channel 4 programme Real Time Apollo: One Small Step. [9]
She helped devise branching narrative games[ clarification needed ] for the BBC and Science Museum, [10] she has written the scripts for large-scale projection-mapped films, including an immersive visual poem for Gardens by the Bay in Singapore [11] and she created the dramatic characters who appear as part of the British Museum's Temple of Amaravati interactive experience in 2018, where visitors summon pilgrims to an ancient Buddhist shrine. [12] [13]
Berlin lives in Stoke Newington with her two sons. [14] She sometimes appears on her ex-partner Gareth Jones's motoring podcast Gareth Jones on Speed which celebrated its 400th episode in October 2020. [15] Berlin and Jones have been separated since 2021, with Jones relocating to Wales. [16]
Berlin has cameos in at least five popular video games. [17] [ not specific enough to verify ] She is well known as a playable character in the 1994 Codemasters racing videogame Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament and subsequent sequels, including Micro Machines World Series revived from 2017, and also appears as a non-player character in Gabriel Knight 2 and Normality [18] and as herself in Peter Gabriel's game EVE . [17]
In 2022, Berlin played the role of Queen Isabella of France in an immersive film shown to visitors in the gatehouse when they visit Leeds Castle in Kent. [19] [20]
