Denis McQuail was born in Wallington, London on 12 April 1935 to Irish immigrant parents Annie (nee Mullan) and Christopher McQuail. After schooling at St Anselm’s college in Birkenhead, where he showed an aptitude for languages, he spent his national service in the Intelligence Corps learning Russian and studied history at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. McQuail obtained his BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1958, and the next year his MA in Public and Social Administration. He obtained his PhD in social studies from the University of Leeds in 1967 with the thesis, entitled "Factors affecting public interest in television plays".