Those who still doubt the couple's grasp on the zeitgeist should know that Jack and Chloe are the most popular names in the country for a boy and a girl."There are two views taken by people of who does what in our relationship," said Richard. "One is that Judy wears the trousers and I'm struggling to keep up with her, and the other is that I'm the driven, ambitious one, dragging the semi-reluctant Judy behind me Neither is true. Every decision we make about anything is a joint one."Friends say they really do spend every hour of every day together, at work or at home in Hampstead. Judy found it harder to move south than he did, and has frequently spoken about how exhausting live broadcasting can be When it goes wrong it goes spectacularly wrong. A week after hosting a crime prevention special on the show they were burgled. Richard's attempt at dressing up like Ali G was recently voted one of the worst television moments of all time.

During a phone-in a caller once asked him to steal her a bottle of wine. She was referring to his trial and acquittal for shoplifting in 1991. "Go spot trains or buy yourself an anorak, love," said Richard with more feeling than usual.This Morning cannot quite be dismissed as a confection. It has won three National Television Awards for best daytime show, and done things nobody else dared: the first trial of Viagra live on air, the first full examination of male genitalia for testicular cancer, the first gay wedding to be shown at that time of day. Tony Blair has sat on the sofa three times, once with Gordon Brown. In 1999 they coaxed Blair into unguarded comments that helped get the England football manager the sack.

These may not rival the moon landings for great moments in TV but they are certainly more interesting than a DIY show.After all these years together they have very clear ideas of how they want to be seen. Only last week they gave a taped interview to the Mirror, demanded to see the results, then rewrote more than 1,000 words of it – erasing, for example, the suggestion that Judy had been "emotionally bruised after months of unhappiness at work".Now Richard and Judy are reinventing themselves, seeking to acquire some of the cool their children say Channel 4 still has In return they can offer the station their popular touch. "I always say to myself that if it all went wrong tomorrow I can always go and work at Boots," she has said. "I genuinely mean that." You can almost imagine Judy managing the store, which says a lot about the woman's appeal Richard would be the junior in charge of shampoos.. Three years ago, David Veal was wondering whether he should resign. He was head of a school which was second from bottom of the secondary school league tables with just two per cent – actually one pupil – getting at least five GCSEs at grade C or above. It was dubbed locally as the school for the dumb and the only saving grace was that, because it didn't come bottom, the national press didn't turn up; only local reporters.

Biography Born: 1950Educated: Carre's Grammar School, Sleaford, Lincolnshire; Bradford University; Carnegie Institute (now part of Leeds University)Qualifications: First class degree in chemistry;post-graduate certificate of educationFamily: Married with two grown-up children Three years ago, David Veal was wondering whether he should resign. In the exam performance tables, 38 per cent of his pupils got at least five top GCSEs, making his one of the most rapidly improved schools in the country."When we got 2 per cent, I was very low," he says "I was bitterly disappointed. We had expected to get 6 per cent, to get another two pupils with five A-Cs, but it didn't happen. I wondered whether I could have worked harder to be successful.