Pamela Ayres MBE (born 14 March 1947) is a British poet, comedian, songwriter and presenter of radio and television programmes.

[2][3][4] After leaving Faringdon Secondary School at the age of 15, she joined the Civil Service as a clerical assistant and worked at the Army (RAOC) Central Ordnance Depot in Bicester.

[6] While at Smiths, Ayres began performing at a local folk club,[7] and this led eventually to an invitation to read on BBC Radio Oxford in 1974.

[7] In September 2006, the BBC's Magazine Monitor's "10 Things...", claimed, though without providing details, to have learnt that week (1-8 Sep) that Bob Dylan inspired Ayres to write poetry.

"[14] In a 2006 interview (aired on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon programme, 24 October 2006), she stated that, at the age of twelve, she enjoyed writing parodies of the Lonnie Donegan songs popular at that time.

It traces her life and career from growing as the youngest of six children in a council house in the Vale of the White Horse, Berkshire, her time in the Women's Royal Air Force and the string of events that led to Opportunity Knocks.

The poet John Cooper Clarke has cited Ayres's early success on Opportunity Knocks as being highly influential on his career.

[28] She is a patron of the British Hen Welfare Trust, Cheltenham Animal Shelter and Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre.

[30] On the first occasion, she chose "The New St George" by John and Chris Leslie, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, and a large basket of sugared almonds as her favourite song, book and luxury item respectively; on her second appearance she chose The Fureys' "When You Were Sweet Sixteen", The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose: From William Caxton to P.G.Wodehouse by Frank Muir, and a medicine cabinet including mosquito repellent.