For four decades Ed Doolan was one of the broadcasters that
defined radio for the listening folk of the West Midlands. An intelligent
interviewer, a champion of consumer affairs and with one of the biggest contact
books in the business Aussie-born Ed became an honorary Brummie on BRMB and BBC
WM. His death was announced today.
Born in 1941 in Sydney, Australia Ed had always wanted to be
a broadcaster but his parents had other ideas and were keen for him to have a
career in teaching. But that didn't stop
him hanging around the Macquarie Broadcasting audience shows in the 50s and 60s
to get his radio fix.
Like many fellow young Australians he chose to pursue his
career in the UK and in 1966 he became a teacher in Edinburgh and then London. By
1970 he'd moved across to West Germany as part of an exchange programme and
dipped his toe into radio at Deutsche Welle. "Some friends who had
contacts in Cologne told me they needed an English voice on German Overseas
Radio. Mine was near enough". His
first broadcast was in September of that year on a 15-minute documentary called
Hitch-Hikers in Germany. He also
presented Afrika-Englisch Current Affairs for Deutsche Welle, Deutschlandfunk
English transmissions to Britain and Top
Marks School Quiz for the BFBS.
Ed moved back to the UK and joined the newly launched BRMB
station in Birmingham. Initially presenting the weekday afternoon show he later
moved into mid-mornings, a timeslot that later would become his natural home
for many years. He was keen to hone his craft and took to recording his own
shows. "Every night when I go home I listen to every link," he said
in 1975. If something had gone wrong "I
will sit and listen to it two or three times until I have put my finger on
where it went wrong". Incidentally Ed was a keen home taper and his
archive of TV and radio shows have since helped fill some of the gaps left
after broadcasters junked their tapes.
In September 1982 he jumped over to the opposition at BBC WM
presenting a show between 12 noon and 1 pm, later on the breakfast show and
then a mid-morning show. As well as covering the news stories of the day he
would interview many politicians and celebrities - some of those celebrity set
piece interviews have enjoyed repeats on Radio 7/4 Extra. By 1988 his programme
started to champion the cause of his listeners and he was adept at challenging
local government and companies to sort out injustices and shoddy service. His broadcasting style was, albeit briefly,
recognised by network radio when he sat in for Jimmy Young on Radio 2 in 1995
and 1996 but he remained loyal to his West Midlands audience. He was awarded an MBE for his services to
broadcasting and charity, won a Gillard Award and was inducted into the Radio
Academy Hall of Fame.
In 2011 he stepped down from his daily show, Lunch with Ed Doolan - at the time he
was also presenting a Sunday afternoon show, Ed Doolan: Other Side of - and just retained the Friday show and a
new 3-hour Sunday morning show. In 2015
he announced that he been coping with dementia for a couple of years but he
continued to record introductions for a one-hour Sunday show featuring
highlights from his big name interviews and radio archive, with the most recent
show going out just a few days ago.
This tribute programme aired in 2015 and is presented by Jasper Carrott.
This tribute programme aired in 2015 and is presented by Jasper Carrott.
Ed Doolan (E double D double O LAN) 1941-2018
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