As some of you will have seen on a post on this site, former Questors member David Knowles died recently.
I first encountered David when I taught him in our youth theatre groups (which his younger brother Andrew also attended), which he joined in 2004. Subsequently he went on to perform in an impressive number of QYT productions including ‘Brave New World’, ‘Guards Guards’, ‘Unseens’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Arabian Nights’, not to mention numerous end of year showcase appearances.
In addition to these he also performed in a number of our Christmas productions including ‘Oliver!’, ‘Peter Pan’ and, perhaps most notably, he featured as The Tin Man in our production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in 2008.
After leaving QYT he gained a place at The National Youth Theatre where he performed in a production of ‘Silence’ by Moira Buffini. Subsequently, he studied theology for five years at Durham and Strasbourg, where he continued his passion for drama by taking sketch comedy to The Edinburgh Festival three years running and directing a production of ‘Dracula’ in the environs of Durham castle.
He eventually settled on a career in the world of digital journalism.
In 2020 David joined the Daily Telegraph’s social media team where he worked as a senior audio journalist and presenter, quickly rising to the post of head of social media. He made a name for himself when he created, produced and presented the podcast ‘The Ukraine – The Latest’ which launched on Twitter spaces after the Russian invasion of The Ukraine in 2022. This subsequently became a fully fledged podcast and went on to become The Telegraph's most popular podcast which (at the time of writing) was approaching 100 million downloads, having broadcast nearly 700 episodes to a global audience. It remains as the UK’s only remaining daily audio offering covering the conflict.
Over the past two and a half years David made four trips to The Ukraine to report on the situation, capture stories and interview ordinary Ukrainian people whose lives a have been affected by the war. His reporting earned himself a place on Russia’s banned list.
David died in Gibraltar from an undiagnosed heart condition. He was 32. His funeral was at St Brides Church, Fleet Street, with a burial to follow on the Isle of Islay.
I recall David as a pleasure to have in the drama groups that I taught. Even when young he was a charming, keen and motivated individual who threw himself into many projects, as evidenced by the number of productions that he managed to chalk up over the years that he was with The Questors.
I would like to express my personal condolences, and those of The Questors, to his family and friends.
Alex Marker
9 October 2024