Fielding began work at the BBC in 1979 as a regional researcher on the news magazine "Nationwide". She progressed to working as a production manager on various children’s and light entertainment shows. In 1985 Fielding produced a live satellite broadcast from a refugee camp in Eastern Sudan for the launch of "Comic Relief". She also wrote and produced documentaries in Africa for the first two "Comic Relief" fundraising broadcasts. In 1989 she was a researcher for an edition of the Thames TV "This Week" series "Where Hunger is a Weapon" about the Southern Sudan rebel war. These experiences formed the basis for her debut novel, "Cause Celeb".