The shock death of British TV doctor Michael Mosley has been “felt by millions of people all around the world who regarded him as their doctor”, according to his BBC co-stars.
The BBC will be airing a “special tribute” on Friday at 8pm on BBC One to Mosley, who died of natural causes last week after he went missing on the Greek island of Symi.
The 67-year-old’s body was found on Sunday in a rocky area near Agia Marina beach.
Mosley first trained as a doctor before moving into the world of broadcasting, presenting a host of science programmes and films on the BBC including the series Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, which looked at healthcare in Britain.
In 2002, he was nominated for an Emmy for his executive producer role on BBC science documentary The Human Face, and he also ingested tapeworms for six weeks for a 2014 documentary called Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, who had worked with Mosley over the years including on The One Show which he joined in 2007 as part of the original line-up, explained how Mosley had transformed people’s lives through his work.
“Michael was absolutely charming,” she said during a tribute on The One Show.
“He was funny, he was clever, but what really came across was that he had this ability to communicate and he wanted to get important messages out.
“That man touched so many lives.
“He took really complicated science, then he turned it into something that resonated with everybody.
“And he said that by using himself as a guinea pig, he could make more difference than many doctors make in a lifetime…
“The ideas that he first brought out, he helped bring into the mainstream of health are now there and they continue to make a difference to the quality of people’s lives.”
Trust Me, I’m A Doctor co-star Dr Chris van Tulleken said Mosley “is one of the most important broadcasters of the last few decades, perhaps ever”.
The One Show co-presenter Alex Jones said on the BBC programme: “His death has been felt by millions of people all around the world who regarded him as their doctor.
“It’s still very hard to grasp what’s happened, I think everybody feels that… It’s an absolute shock.”
Dr Hannah Fry recalled a time when Mosley had saved the life of a BBC colleague.
She said: “Somebody collapsed in the BBC offices in the corridors, and he saw them collapse. He went over, he performed CPR on them for almost half an hour until the emergency services arrived.
“[He] saved her life, she’s gone on to have two children.”
It comes after Greek police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidou told the BBC that an initial post-mortem examination had been carried out, confirming there were no injuries on the body of Mosley.
It also estimated that the time of death was around 4pm local time on Wednesday.
Mosley had left friends on the island’s Agios Nikolaos beach at around 1.30pm to go for a walk.
Ms Dimoglidou said that the position of his body means he died of natural causes.
She also said toxicology and histology reports will take place.
Footage reportedly found by a beach bar at Agia Marina shows what appears to be the TV doctor making his way down a rocky slope close to a fence before he falls out of view.
