Tanya Byron

Tanya Byron ( Sichel; born 6 April 1967) is a British psychologist, writer, and media personality, best known for her work as a child therapist on television shows Little Angels and The House of Tiny Tearaways. She also co-created the BBC Two sitcom The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle with Jennifer Saunders, and still contributes articles to various newspapers. In 2008, she became Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Edge Hill University and was the first Chancellor of the same institution. Early life Byron's father was the film and television director John Sichel, founder of ARTTS International in Yorkshire. Her mother was a nursing sister and a model. When Byron was 15 years old, her German-born paternal grandmother was murdered by being battered to death by a woman who abused illicit drugs. Her grandmother knew the woman, who was in pursuit of money. Byron was perplexed by this cruelty. To try to understand how anyone could do such a terrible thing, she became interested in psychology.