Tomorrow
morning BBC Radio 4 will, for the last time, broadcast the early morning News Briefing. A fixture of Radio 4’s
schedule for nearly half a century it’s yet another victim of financial cuts.
News Briefing is a 13 minute round-up of
international and national news, a full weather forecast, sports news, review
of the newspapers, business news, sports news and ending with a on this day in
history feature.
The cuts in
the news division means not only the end of News
Briefing but also, from next month, that World Service bulletins will be
carried overnight on Radio 2, Radio 5 Live and BBC local stations.
Radio Times billing 3 July 1978
News Briefing, read by Eugene Fraser, was first broadcast as a 10-minute
bulletin at 6 am on Monday 3 July 1978 as part of a refresh which saw Today start at 6.30 am and the dropping
of the two editions of the notorious Up
to the Hour sequences.
The weekday
edition was dropped from 3 April 1998 leaving just the Saturday and Sunday
briefings. From that date on weekdays Radio 4 opened at 5.30 am with a World News bulletin followed by the Shipping Forecast. The World News is dropped at the end of
April 2000 and Radio 4 starts the day at 5.35 with the Shipping and Inshore Forecast. Meanwhile, from March 2003, the
Sunday edition, now reduced to 5 minutes, is just described as a news summary.
Radio Times billing 2 May 2006
On 2 May
2006 News Briefing returned as a
seven days a week programme of 13 minutes with a 5.30 start, after the Shipping Forecast, where it has, until
this week, remained. There was a brief hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic when
it was dropped from 30 March 2020 and Radio 4 started to leave the World
Service at the slightly later time of 5.32 for the Shipping Forecast. News
Briefing returned on Monday 13 July 2020.
The last News Briefing airs tomorrow at 5.30 am.
From Monday (24th) Radio 4 will leave the World Service at 5.00 am
for a news bulletin followed by Yesterday
in Parliament which moves back over from Radio 4 Extra where it has been
for the last year. There’ll be repeats at times when Parliament isn’t in
session. The Shipping Forecast moves
to 5.34 am followed by, as usual on weekdays, Prayer for the Day and Farming
Today.
Some audio
now, and the earliest News Briefing I
can lay my hands on comes from Tuesday 3 February 1998 where the lead story
centres on the libel suit by Richard Branson against GTech in the bid to run
the National Lottery. The reader is Andrew Crawford and there are correspondent
reports from Torin Douglas, Jon Silverman and Paul Reynolds. The weather
forecast is delivered by Sarah Wilmshurst and with the sports news it’s Garry
Richardson.
The second
edition dates from Saturday 29 September 2012 and is read by Corrie Corfield.
The weather forecaster is Chris Fawkes and the sports news read by Seth Bennett
with a report from golf correspondent Ian Carter.
After News Briefing was dropped during the
2020 lockdown it was, in the world of announcer Jane Steel an “auspicious date”
when it returned on 13 July. Here’s how the full morning sequence panned out
with the World Service handover, the Shipping Forecast read by Ben Rich and
then Jane with News Briefing. The business
report is by Andrew Wood and the sports report by Paul Sarahs.
The final News Briefing on 23 March 2025 was read by Jane Steel.
Fifty years ago the UK had joined the EEC, the IRA was
bombing London, a Cod War with raging with Iceland and mortgage rates were
running at 10%. In the midst of this, on 10 September 1973, BBC Radio 1
launched its extended news programme, Newsbeat.
Newsbeat was,
according to network controller Douglas Muggeridge "something I wanted to
bring in for some time. We shall not flinch from covering any sort of news
story." A cynic will also spot that the BBC’s timing may have also been
influenced by other events, the start of independent local radio just a month
later.
Airing for 15 minutes twice a day on weekdays at 12.30 pm,
during Johnnie Walker’s show, and at 5.30 pm during Radio 1 Club (Rosko’s Round
Table on Fridays) Newsbeat extended
Radio 1’s news coverage beyond the existing 1 or 2 minute bulletins on the
half-hour.
Mike Chaney, who’d been with the Corporation for 14 years,
was drafted in as the programme’s first editor. (1) He told the press that Newsbeat “will be a new sound on Radio 1 - and, we hope, a fresh
approach to radio journalism. Newsbeat
will be direct, outspoken, un-solemn and always ready for a laugh!" Mike’s
deputy was Colin Adams who’d been at Radio Sheffield and then news editor at
Radio Humberside. Both would go onto work on Radio 4’s Today programme, Mike as editor and Colin as deputy editor. (2)
Newsbeat’s first
presenters were Ed Stewart and Laurie Mayer (ex. Radio London) with Ed
initially doing four days a week and Laurie one day. Although Ed didn’t have a
journalism background he was chosen to make the programme seem part of the
network and less of an intrusion.
Drafted in as news producers were Karolyn Shindler and Roger
Gale. Gale had also been at Radio London with Laurie Mayer and had spent some
time in the mid sixties bobbing up and down in the Irish Sea working for Radio
Caroline North and then Radio Scotland. Was it coincidence that Radio Caroline
had also billed its news bulletins as ‘Caroline Newsbeat’?
Ed continued on Newsbeat
until January 1974 by which time Richard Skinner had joined from Radio
Solent. Together with John Walmsley (from Radio Brighton) who joined in
February 1974, Laurie and Richard presented Newsbeat
for the most of the remainder of the decade.
The Newsbeat format
remained unchanged for six years by still using Radio 2 announcer/newsreaders
to do a straight read of the headlines. That ended in November 1978 just before
the wavelength changes and a planned extension to Radio 1’s hours. (3) In the
event, due to industrial action, the schedule didn’t change until late January
1979 when an extra 10 minute Newsbeat
was added at 9.50 pm. (4) By this time, though still mostly reliant on Radio 2
newsreaders, Newsbeat was providing
some Radio 1 bulletins throughout the day and the early evening. (5)It wasn’t until September 1980 that Radio 1
had totally separate news bulletins read by the Newsbeat team on weekdays. (6) They still shared on weekends until 1984
(anyone have an idea of the exact date?).
Other voices you’ll have heard presenting Newsbeat or reading bulletins during its
first decade include Peter Mayne (from 1978), Stephen Cape (1979),Neil Bennett
(1979), John Andrew (1980), Bill Bingham (1980), Andrew Turner (1980),Ian
Parkinson (1981), Janet Trewin (1981) and Frank Partridge (1981).
So back to the start on 10 September 1973. The first edition
came during Johnnie Walker’s lunchtime show so he, for one, wasn’t happy with
having to stop the music for 15 minutes. “Just as I got the rhythm and atmosphere
going, it would all stop”. The schedule at that time had Johnnie start at 12
noon, then Newsbeat at 12. 30
followed by another hour and fifteen minutes of Johnnie. At 2 pm it was over to
David Hamilton. The BBC seemingly didn’t retain the first edition in their
archives. Fortunately the teatime edition on day two, during Radio 1 Club with Alan Freeman did make
it into Sound Archives.
This edition shows the light and shade, the mix of serious
and lighter items, that the team was aiming for. So we get the financial
pressures on mortgages, the aftermath of the Pisces mini submarine rescue mixed
with a lad who got into trouble for having a David Bowie haircut and a champion
butty maker. The reporters include Steve Bradshaw (another ex-Radio London recruit),
Nick Ross (at the time also reporting for The
World at One) and Mike McKay. Newsbeat
also relied on reports from BBC local stations so there are contributions by
Tony Cartledge (Newcastle), Ernie Brown (Cleveland) and Dennis McCarthy
(Nottingham). The newsreader is Peter Latham.
(1) BBC publicity of the time of his appointment to Newsbeat seemed obsessed with Mike
Chaney’s offspring stating “he is married with 12 children whose ages range
between 20 and 4”. Similarly when he joined Today
in 1976 the press release read: “Mike Chaney is married and lives in Dulwich.
They have 12 children, 3 from his previous marriage, four by his wife and
another 5 by his wife’s previous marriage”.
(2) Another Radio Humberside staff member, Paul Heiney,
would also move down to join Newsbeat
as a reporter. He too moved onto Today when Mike Chaney left.
(3) Sheila Tracy was the last Radio 2 newsreader to read the
headlines on Newsbeat on Friday 10
November 1978.
(4) The first 9.50 pm edition was Monday 29 January 1979
read by Peter Mayne.
(5) The Newsbeat
bulletins at 11.30 am and 4.30 pm allowed whoever was presenting that day to
plug the main programme the following hour.
(6) The first separate news bulletin was at 7.30 am on
Monday 1 September 1980 read by Andrew Turner.
Famously it was Winston Churchill who, speaking in
1939,said of Russia that "it is a
riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma".
By 1988 it was becoming less of an enigma as Gorbachev was
extolling the virtues of glasnost in a period of rapid change in what proved to
be the dying days of the Soviet Union. In this Radio 4 documentary Erik de
Mauny, the BBC's first Moscow correspondent, returned to the country to reflect
on the changes in the intervening years since he first reported on Wynne-Penkovsky
trial in May 1963. And there's a hint of the seismic events that are just
around the corner as he talks about "repressed nationalist sentiments."
Joining Erik (pictured above) on Inside
the Enigma are a number of former BBC Moscow correspondents: Dennis
Blakely, Daniel Counihan, Philip Short, Kevin Ruane, John Osman and Peter Ruff
as well as the then-current incumbents Jeremy Harris, the radio correspondent
and Brian Hanrahan who reported for BBC TV.
Inside the Enigma
was first broadcast on Thursday 28 April 1988 and was produced by Harry
Schneider.
"The World at One. This is William
Hardcastle with thirty minutes of news and comment this Monday lunchtime"
The notion
of a radio programme covering both
news and current affairs is so common that we regularly use the two terms interchangeably.
But in 1965 it was novel and worthy of comment itself when on Monday 4 October,
from Studio 3B at Broadcasting House, the BBC Home Service launched a brand new
programme, The World at One.
By
broadcasting a news bulletin within the programme and then following this with
analysis and discussion about the main news stories at a stroke it blurred the
lines between news and current affairs. This was an important distinction
behind the scenes at the BBC, if not for the listener, as news was in the remit
of the News Division and Current Affairs looked after any interpretive
programming. And, up until that point, never the twain shall meet.
WATO, as it eventually became in the
acronym-loving BBC, had a new hard-hitting Fleet Street edge thanks to main
presenter, for its first decade, William Hardcastle (pictured above). He was a former Reuters
Washington correspondent and editor of the Daily Mail. At the microphone his
voice was breathless and rumbling. He was described by fellow journalist and presenter
Anthony Howard as "an absolutely unorthodox broadcaster; he was an extraordinary
phenomenon in that no-one could have been less suited to do what the BBC used
to call 'microphone work'." His questioning
style was, according to BBC editor Eleanor Ransome "relentlessly
persistent, but seldom rude and abrasive".
The World at One was immediately popular and by the
end of the year pulled in 2 million listeners. By 1968 it hit 3.9 million,
making Radio 4's most listened-to programme.
On its
launch Brian Bliss set out the programme's agenda in that week's Radio Times:
News is
probably one of the most perishable, and at the same time most expensive,
commodities of our age. As world communications improve so the news-man's life
becomes more demanding. There is now a great appetite for news, but equally a
need for information about the news -
'background' as the journalist calls it - and all too often not enough of it is
given.
This aspect
of the news will be just one of the many features of The World at One which begins on Monday this week and be heard
every weekday from 1.0 to 1.30 in the Home Service. very simply, this new
half-hour programme will set out to do just what the title suggests - to keep
lunchtime listeners abreast of the news. But it will do so in two ways.
In the first
place there will always be a news bulletin, but a flexible one of seven to ten
minutes' duration according to the flow of news.
The other
items in this topical half-hour will be for listeners who want to hear not only
the news but also about the news. For
this we shall exploit all the mobility and resources of sound radio to bring
you voices and topics in and behind the headlines.
At the same
time we hope to retain some of the flavour and character of This Time of Day (which ended on
October1) and some of its most popular items and contributors will be heard in The World at One. The programme will be
presented by the well-known journalist William Hardcastle.
You'll note
that WATO didn't exactly appear out
of nowhere but was a follow-on from the early lunchtime show This Time of Day. Broadcast weekdays at
12.10 pm starting the previous December it was a 30-minute "topical
programme of sounds and voices" produced by the Radio Newsreel team. Its presenters were an unusual mix of William S. Churchill, the Earl of Arran,
James Mossman, Ludovic Kennedy and William Hardcastle. For its replacement Home Service controller Gerald
Mansell wanted a "harder, terser title" for a programme that would be
substantially more "newsy" and altogther "brisker". WATO would
also come from the Radio Newsreel
team with Andrew Boyle as its first editor.
Radio Times 4 October 1985
It should
also be recognised that the Home Service had already started to broadcast daily
news and comment when an extended 30-minute news programme, billed as Ten O'Clock was launched on 19 September
1960 (initially gaining an audience of 700,000). But The World at One was the start of a gradual expansion of news and
current affairs on the Home Service and subsequently Radio 4. It's spin-off
programmes were The World this Weekend
(1967) and PM (1970); all initially
presented by William Hardcastle and all, of course, still running today.
In October 1990 the programme marked its 25th anniversary with this report from Stephen Evans: The
earliest complete edition I can lay my hands on is from 28 January 1986 during
the tenure of Robin Day, who presented it between 1979 and 1987. The newsreader
is Pauline Bushnell. Listen out for an appearance by Jim Naughtie, at the time
the Chief Political Correspondent for The
Guardian and later a presenter of The
World at One.
Over the
past fifty years there have been about a dozen regular presenters of WATO. Below I've listed 27 names that
have been attached to the programme aside from Bill Hardcastle. This list is
not exhaustive and excludes anyone who's just appeared on a handful of
editions.
Ludovic
Kennedy, William Davis, Jack Pizzey, David Jessel, Nicholas Woolley, Robert
Williams, Gordon Clough, Michael Cooke, Brian Widlake, Robin Day, Peter Hobday,
Nick Ross, Susannah Simons, Michael Charlton, John Sergeant, Nick Worrall, James
Naughtie, Nick Clarke (to date the longest serving from 1994 until his death in2006),
James Cox, Sheena MacDonald, Alex Brodie, Tim Franks, Mark Mardell, Guto Harri,
Brian Hanrahan, Shaun Ley and Martha
Kearney.
Election debates. Leadership interviews. Question Time Special. Party Election
Broadcasts. It won't have escaped your notice that (in the UK) there's a
General Election happening next week.
The political spectrum is much more fragmented these days
and the parties are undoubtedly planning for coalition deals and agreements -
even if they publicly deny this.
Cast your mind back to the mid-80s, at the height of
Thatcherite Britain, and it was still a two-party system. But thoughts of a
possible coalition government were on the minds of the Liberals and the (now
defunct) Social Democrats who had formed the SDP-Liberal Alliance.
These four interviews feature the main party leaders (for
the majority of the decade). Three come from a series of conversations with
Michael Charlton, best known for Panorama, that were broadcast on BBC Radio 3
at a time when the station still carried current affairs amongst the classical
music and drama (see Six Continents).
From 10 December 1985 this is Labour leader Neil Kinnock:
From 3 December 1985 this is Liberal Party leader David
Steel:
From 26 November 1985 this is SDP leader David Owen:
And finally from an edition of The World this Weekend on 31 May 1987 is PM Margaret Thatcher talking
to Gordon Clough.
“This is London” they would intone,
then it was a quick blast of Lillibullero,
the pips and into the World News. But
what of the faces behind the voices of those BBC World Service announcers? Well
every now and again the London Calling
magazine used to publish their mug shots, in fact it was almost an annual
event.
For this post I’m recalling the names
from 1975 when we got a potted biography for most members of the team. All
you’ll see they range from the very detailed (Pam Creighton) to the lightweight
(Peter King). I’m presenting them as written with no indication as to what has
happened to these ladies and gentlemen since.
Brian Ashen
Born in London and educated in
Colchester, he worked briefly for a merchant bank before joining the BBC as a
finance assistant in 1964. He became a studio manager, and then switched to
announcing. His interests include music, reading and archaeology. He also likes
walking, particularly when he can look at a village church and a country pub
along the way. In London he spends much of his time visiting galleries and
museum, and he collects furniture, china, glass and books.
Michael Ashbee
After Cambridge (where he was a choral
scholar) and war service in the Army (which took him to the Far East) he joined
the BBC as an announcer in 1949 and has had a spell in Nigeria coaching
newsreaders and teaching English. This year, incidentally, he plans to holiday
in Nigeria resuming contact with many old friends. His family and his garden
keep him busy, he says, but he finds time to play the tuba in a brass band on
Sundays and sings in a choir occasionally. His hobby is collecting old
photographs.
Ashley Hodgson
Born in Claygate, Surrey, his father
was a dentist. Ashley was commissioned in the Royal Signals, serving in Greece
and the Middle East. After demobilisation tried several jobs including stock
controller for a large chain of stores and a spell with British Rail. Joined
the BBC on the engineering side in 1956, worked in control room and on
transmitters, then became a studio manager and finally an announcer in 1969.
Twice wed, he has a grown-up son by his first marriage and now a young family-a
6-year old boy and twin boys of 4 years. His wife is a teacher. Likes putting
on amateur plays, writing children’s stories, walking, sailing and sketching.
Leslie Tucker
Born in Ramsgate, Kent, he has spent
all his working life in the BBC External Services, entering as a very junior
transmitter engineer in 1942. After 10 years in studio operations, he took up
announcing. He became Chief Assistant (Presentation) in 1973, is in charge of
newsreading and announcing in the World Service and is responsible for all
presentation matters in London and in relay bases overseas. His great interests
are his family, European church architecture, Hollywood musicals, Mozart,
Billie Holliday, and cooking for his friends.
John Touhey
Born in London in 1937, and educated
at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich. After National Service, he joined the BBC as a
studio manager. His interests include music, reading theatre, and food and
drink. He lives in a book-lined flat near Battersea Park and pays frequent visits
to plays, ballet, recitals and the local pub. Says he makes futile attempts to
keep fit by unconvincing appearances on the tennis court.
Ian Gordon
Born in 1924 in New York of Scots
father, American mother. Lived in New York and Paris until he was 15. Says he
feels politically neutral in Britain but is a fervent Democrat-by-adoption in
the United States: his grandmother and Franklin Roosevelt’s mother were
sisters. Ian went to Milton Academy, USA, and then to Harrow in England. Spent
nine years in the British army, including service in Burma, and worked for two
years for ABC in Perth, Western Australia, before joining the BBC in 1952. Has
written 12 books mostly under his full name of Ian Fellowes-Gordon.
Bob Berry
Born in 1943 in South London and now
lives on the Essex coast. He joined the BBC in 1965 as a studio manager and has
been announcing since 1967. He has been married for four years and says he
supports as aging sports car, two demanding cats, and a healthy crop of weeds,
sometimes described as a garden. Likes the guitar, both classical and
folk/rock, and enjoys Baroque organ music. His other hobby is sailing and he is
particularly interested in the history of working sail of the 19th
and early 20th century in Britain and Northern Europe. He presents Strike Up the Band on World Service
every week.
Pippa Harben, Pam Creighton, Ann Every and Meryl O'Keefe
Pippa Harben was born at Bath,
educated in Bristol, and read history at Cambridge. She worked for a time as a
trainee buyer at a big West End store in London and decided it was not the life
for her. So she came to the BBC as a researcher and found it fascinating to
find out the facts and figures of all kinds of situations for the News and
other programmes. Then she moved to programme operations before finally to
announcing. She reads a lot, loves films, makes beer and wine and says she
really works to support two vast cats!
Pam Creighton was born in New Delhi
and lived all over India and Pakistan for 18 years except for five years at
Cheltenham Ladies College. Her father worked for the North Western Railway and
for the governments of India and Pakistan. Pam joined the BBC as a studio
manager 20 years ago and started announcing in 1957. Now she lives in a large
old house in Twickenham, a stone’s throw from the River Thames where she has
designed her own furniture and fireplaces. She comes from a musical family, has
studied the piano and ballet, and has a collection of over 1,000 LP records
(personal favourites: Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, Sibelius,
Vaughan-Williams and Britten) and discs of Dixieland jazz and the big bands.
She has extensive hi-fi equipment as her home, runs the local music club and
presents a 20-minute programme on new classical releases each week in the World
Service (New Records). She is an
expert on gardening, travels widely, reads science fiction and loves cricket
and rowing. And all that seems a very full life for anyone!
Ann Every says she had a sheltered
English boarding school education before becoming a speech therapist. Then she
decided to see what other people did, and tried being an au pair in
Scandinavia, a van driver in London and a scientific worker in a government
office, before joining the BBC as a studio manager with the intention of
staying one year. Sixteen years later she is still with the BBC and lives with
her cat in a little Victorian terrace house in London near the River Thames.
Her hobby is sculpture.
Meryl O’Keefe was born in Nairobi,
Kenya, and educated in South Africa where she began her radio career in the
South African Broadcasting Corporation in Johannesburg and Cape Town (she was
the first woman newsreader). She says she left to join the BBC in London to
gain wider experience and she has certainly done that. She has worked in radio
and television in Britain for 20 years… as a reported, presenter, disc jockey
and newsreader. During her career she has been thrown from a bolting horse in
Brighton’s traffic; washed ashore at Southsea in a Navy diver’s suit two sizes
too big; strapped to a dock harbour; hauled to the top of a TV mast and
photographed among the passing clouds. She considers travel a vital part of
life and perhaps that is why she finds the international atmosphere of the
World Service so enjoyable. She likes music, theatre, ski-ing and camping
around Europe in an old motor caravan.
Peter King
Born on April the First, 1921, and
says that things have never really improved! Grew up in the Isle of Thanet on
the Kent coast and contends that at least this was lucky, for it gave him a
love of fishing and cricket. It is a matter of great pride to him that his son,
after coaching from Knott and Underwood, smashed the blade of his size three
cricket bat with a gigantic hit before his 12th birthday had dawned.
Unfortunately it was from his own father’s bowling. Peter says that he likes
Peggy Lee, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, the Restoration period, old books,
furniture, pictures and silver. Dislikes waste, greenfly, and people who do
stupid things because they have pieces of paper which say they should.
Chris Chaplin
Educated at Watford and London
University, he gave up a short career in veterinary research to join the BBC
engineering division in 1963. Five years later he left the BBC to work for a
year on a schools radio programme for the4 Malawi government, returning to the
BBC as a World Service announcer. Like to travel and says that he is rapidly
developing talents as a gardener and general home handy-man to help eke out the
household budget. Also enjoys the theatre and cinema, chess and oil painting.
Peter Reynolds
Born in Scotland but has lived in
Rhodesia and South Africa. After Cambridge, became a captain in the Royal Engineers.
Joined the BBC in 1947 and became entitle to an extended holiday in 1972. ‘Do
something useful’ everyone told him. So he sailed the Atlantic in a small
yacht. His next holiday is a week’s gliding. He is intensely proud of his
family – his wife was formerly with the BBC – and lives in a Victorian house
near the Royal Botanical gardens at Kew. Other interests are music, languages
and mathematics.
Barry Moss
Born in Wellington, New Zealand (where
his father still lives). Came to Britain in 1950 to study musical composition,
and stayed. Drifted out of music and joined the BBC as an announcer in 1966;
now lives in London with two daughters who share many of his interests. He is a
Buddhist and is interested in oriental philosophy and religion. Says that he
questions the principle of a consumer society, as accepted in the West and as
spreading to the East, and describes his hobbies as music of all kinds… and
silence.
Peter Shoesmith
Born in 1936 and grew up in the south
coast town of Bexhill-on-Sea. He went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, had
two years in the army, and then had his first professional engagement as an
actor in his hometown. During the next seven years he appeared in theatre all
over Britain, in addition to several radio and TV plays. In 1965 he presented
three schools series for commercial TV, and since 1970 has worked for the BBC
in TV, domestic radio and the World Service where, in addition to newsreading,
he has contributed 20 talks to Letter
from London. He lives in Wimbledon and enjoys driving, gardening and
reading … he says he’d like to own a bookshop one day.
Roger Collinge
Born in 1924 in Birmingham. Spent some
time with an amateur acting company before joining the RAF. Served in India and
became interested in broadcasting when he linked up with Radio SEAC in Colombo.
Returned to Birmingham to join the BBC and then to London as a newsreader for
the World Service. Lives at Biggin Hill in Kent, a stone’s throw from the aerodrome,
so it is not surprising to find that he is still very interested in aero
affairs. He is married and has one daughter, a lawyer. He likes early Italian
music.
Lindsay MacDonald
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in
1928, he read music and modern languages at University of New Zealand,
supporting himself by periodic announcing in Wellington. After graduating, he
joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, and finally left for England
in 1956 to continue with his studies of the organ. He had a short spell as a
school teacher and then came an offer to join the BBC. Apart from playing the
organ (and searching out interesting instruments in Britain and in Europe
generally); he travels a great deal, particularly in France, and collects
books. He is married to a New Zealander and they have a nine-year-old daughter.
Keith Bosley
Lives with his singer wife, son,
foster-daughter and cat in a house which needs a coat of paint, he says, and a
garden which badly needs attention. He spends much of his time writing,
translating, reviewing poetry or playing keyboard instruments for his wife. His
favourite pastimes are entertaining friends and exploring the countryside on a
cycle. He likes Indian food, Hungarian wine and Japanese crackers.
George Eason
Born in Berkshire in 1938, grew up in
the English countryside, and went to Oxford University. Married with three
children. Passionately interested in music, ranging from Palestrina to Duke
Ellington, Charlie Parker and beyond. Likes reading, English literature and modern
European history.
John Gordon
He was an announcer in the 1950s but
had an ambition to become an actor and went to drama school. He had several
years in repertory around Britain and was seen on television. The he became a
TV announcer in Southampton before rejoining the BBC and producing plays and
arts programmes for the African Service. After several years, which included
two spells in East Africa, he returned to newsreading.
John Wing
Was born in Cardiff in 1928 and
appeared as the boy hero in serial plays at the age of 14. He has worked in
Forces broadcasting and in BBC radio and television. Between his periods of
duty at the World Service microphones, he retreats rapidly to his home in
Hertfordshire where he relaxes with his rose garden, his antique furniture and
a vast collection of records.
In addition Peter Lewis, Tony
Szeleynski and John Stone were pictured (below) but no information was provided.
The above was all taken from the
February, March and April editions of London
Calling from 1975 very kindly loaned to me by Chrissy Brand.
It’s all change on BBC Radio 2 this year. A new set of jingles, the first in 15 years. And now voices that have been with the station for many years will be heard no more.
In June of this year a report prepared for Tim Davie, Head of Audio and Music (what we used to call radio!) by John Myers on the “synergies“ within Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2 and 6 Music stated that “over at Radio 2 they have a team of announcers who read the news on the hour (outside of breakfast) but do not write any of the news material themselves. Instead the BBC newsroom writes the news and feed this to the newsreaders for them to read out of their own broadcasting booths. They have very little interplay with the general presenters, and due to the nature of their structure, they do little else until the next hour’s bulletin”.
One of Myers’ conclusions was that the networks reduce recharges from the BBC news department. One consequence of this is that broadcast journalists, some of whom can currently be heard on 6 Music and occasionally overnight on Radio 2, will be writing and reading the bulletins on the station. So it’s goodbye to the station’s freelance newsreaders, some of whom have been on air for three decades or more.
I guess it’s hard to argue with the cold economics of this decision but Myers overlooks the other technical duties performed by the newsreaders who, especially in the evenings and at the weekend, hold the network together. Ironically just the other Saturday Charles Nove had to fill-in when the line to Edinburgh went down. And of course it does mark the end of an era, one I thought worthy of mention.
If my Blogger stats are to be believed the single most visited page is Radio 2 Announcers A-K and the third most popular Radio 2 Announcers L-Z. So I’m taking this opportunity to complete the list and add another 74 people who have been on continuity announcing and newsreading duties since Radio 2 started in 1967 and bringing it right up-to-date.
This updating has proved a difficult task. Firstly I wasn’t listening to Radio 2 back in ’67, I’d only just started infants school at the time. I have very few recordings from that era (found on the net or given to me). To complicate it further newsreaders had a habit of popping up on other networks in the days before a dedicated Presentation Editor in 1972 and you also had “floating” newsreaders borrowed from Radio 4 should the newsreader be unable to read a bulletin on either Radio 1 and Radio 2, this being in the days when they would work on both stations and handle any programme junctions.
Secondly in more recent times the station has used freelance newsreaders, sometimes on short-term contracts or appearing on other stations at the same time, so finding out who’s been on and when is far from easy.
For this post I’m especially grateful to Colin Berry who’s helped me identify some mystery voices from Radio 2’s past. Thanks also to the following who kindly responded to my requests for information: Jon Briggs, Charles Carroll, Michael Collie, Dominic Cotter, Nick Page and Humphrey Walwyn.
Recordings – all the recordings in this post come from Radio 2 bulletins and announcements, Radio 1 bulletins and the Light Programme. Whilst I have recordings of Peter Donaldson and Peter Jefferson on Radio 4 I’ve not located any Radio 2 audio. If you have any please contact me. In addition if you have any audio for Dan Austin, Michael Collie, Pat Doody and Kate Williams I’d love to hear from you.
Missing? – this post together with the two existing blog posts lists some 109 newsreaders/announcers. Even so I’ll have missed someone off the list. If you think someone is missing, and you have dates and audio, please let me know.
Nick Abbott
On a six-month secondment to Radio 2 in late 1982. Not the Nick Abbot on Virgin/LBC etc but other than that no information found.
Barry Alldis
Best known for his days on Radio Luxembourg. On the BBC from 1966 to 1975 where he presented Monday, Monday!, Late Night Extra and The Early Show.
Dan Austin
Radio 2 in 2002 (4 months). Previously presenter at BBC Radio Bristol and BBC TV announcer. BBC Channel director 2002-2011. Now Continuity Producer at BSkyB.
Simon Bates
Worked on radio in New Zealand and Australia before returning to the UK in 1971 and joining the BBC as newsreader announcer, initially on Radio 4 and then Radio 2. Presenter of Late Night Extra and The Early Show (1974-75) before joining Radio 1 as DJ. Left in 1993 moving to Atlantic 252, Talk Radio, Liberty Radio, Classic FM, LBC, Smooth Radio and BBC Radio Devon. Currently (as of 2024) on Boom Radio.
Pete Brady
Canadian born DJ first on Radio
Jamaica before joining pirate station Radio London in 1964. From 1966 on the
BBC Light Programme with shows such as Midday
Spin and Swing Into Summer. Also
heard on Radio Luxembourg. Part of the launch team on Radio 1 initially with a
daily afternoon show before moving to Saturdays in July 1968 when he joined
Thames TV’s Magpie (alongside Susan
Stranks and Tony Bastable). Pete was back at the BBC in 1972 taking turns on The Early Show, newsreading shifts and
the occasional Night Ride. He left in September 1973.
Jon Briggs
On Radio 2 1992-97 and presenter of Night Ride. Reporter on Radio 4’s The Chip Shop. Host of Morning Edition on BBC Radio 5 (1990-92). Also on Radio 4 1992-93 and read the news overnight on Radio 1 1993-95. Later on LBC and Radio 5 Live. Was the ‘voice’ of Radio 2 between 1997-2010 providing many of the on-air promotional trailers. Announcer on Channel 4, Sky Movies. BBC Radio Oxford Saturday morning show until 2013. His voice was also heard on BBC TV’s The Weakest Link (2000-12) and on Apple’s Siri app.
Louise Bruce
Started as a Studio Manager. Radio 4 announcer 1992-95 and again briefly in 1996. Prior to that on Radio 2 in late 1991 when she also presented a handful of editions of Night Ride.
Charles Carroll
On Radio 2 from 1998 but only occasionally on the station of late. Mainly heard on BBC World Service and Radio 4. Visiting Lecturer in Broadcast Journalism at University of Westminster.
Richard Cartridge
On BBC Radio Solent from the late 70s and did the odd newsreading stint on Radio 2 in 1981. Performed with his own band and presented a weekly show on Solent until June 2020. Died in August 2020 aged 72.
Chandrika Chevli
Radio 2 2005-12. Also on Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live. Actress and voiceovers.
Harvey Cook
On BBC Radio 5 live from 1997 and then 6 Music and Radio 2. Previously on Radio Kent (1995-97). Also a Workplace Mediator.
Jeff Cooper
Radio 2 1974-5 also presenting Music Through Midnight and holiday cover for Simon Bates on The Early Show. Radio career started at Radio Veronica then Piccadilly Radio. Extensive radio career at Trent, Clyde, Radio Manchester, City, LBC Music Radio in Italy, Beacon, Chiltern Radio WM, The Superstation, Rock FM, Hallam FM, Silk FM, Peak 107, online version of Radio Trent and, until 2020, running Radio 2XS.
Michael Collie
Broadcasting career started as newsreader at Radio WM then working on Radio 4, BFBS and the World Service. Moved into TV on shows such as Countryfile, Top Gear and Paddles Up. Presenter on London news station Channel One before returning to Birmingham for BBC’s Midlands Today in 1995. Newsreader on Radio 2 between 1999 and 2002. Also presented on BBC Radio’s Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Coventry & Warwickshire.
Dominic Cotter
Broadcast journalist reading the news on Radio 2 between 2005 and 2010. Previously at LBC Radio. Presenter/producer at BBC Radio Oxford and currently at BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
Was in charge of Radio 2's presentation until his retirement in 2015 and, of course, best known as the “voice of the balls” on the BBC’s lottery programmes. Started as station assistant at BBC Radio Birmingham and then presenter/producer on Radio Devon. Joined Radio 2 in 1987 and presented Nightride and The Early Show. Joined Victory Radio in 2023.
Peter Dickson
Famously now shouting the likes of “It’s time to face the music” and “Olly Murs” etc. on ITV’s The X Factor he started as a journalist and presenter at BBC Radio Ulster before joining Radio 2 in 1984. Presenter of You and the Night and the Music, Nightride and Nightcap. Also popped up on Radio 1 – reporting for Newsbeat and Walter’s Weekly and as ‘Voiceover Man’ on Steve Wright in the Morning. On Melody Radio (1990-4) and has since done hundreds of voiceover and narration jobs.
Pat Doody
For many years was a continuity announcer on Border TV and Tyne-Tees. Started with the BFBS in Cyprus where he met and married Jean Challis and trained a young Peter Donaldson (see below). On Radio 2 in the late 60s where he also presented Night Ride and Strings by Starlight.
Peter Donaldson
After an early career as an actor he applied for a job as an announcer with the BFBS. Joined Radio 2 on 6 April 1970 and was presenter of Night Ride, Breakfast Special and The Early Show. On Radio 4 from 1973 apart from a short break when he joined Radio Hallam for its launch. Chief Announcer 1988-2003 and still reading the news as a freelance having retired in 2005.
Brian Empringham
For many years a newsreader on the BBC World Service. Also on Radio 4 as well as Radio 1 and Radio 2 in the early 70s.
Adrian Finighan
Radio 2 1991-94 as newsreader and presenter of Night Ride. Started at Gwent Broadcasting then DJ on Radio Broadland, Radio Cambridgeshire and Radio Norfolk. BBC TV announcer. TV newsreader from 1994 for BBC Business News, BBC World, News 24 and CNN. Continued to read the news on Radio 2 at intervals until 2003. Now on Al Jazeera.
Eugene Fraser
Born in Fiji and educated in New Zealand where he worked on radio and television. He came to Britain in 1967 and joined the BBC as announcer and newsreader. Initially on Radios 1 and 2 he presented such shows as Night Ride, Friday Night is Music Night and Brass and Strings. In 1975 he moved to Radio Victory in Portsmouth. By 1978 he was back at the BBC, this time as announcer/newsreader on Radio 4. He left the station in the 1990s.
Fenella Fudge
Radio 2 1996-2012. Joined the BBC as a trainee secretary and then various TV production posts. Freelance as announcer on Radio 4 and voiceover artist. Voiceover trainer with A1Vox.
Fran Godfrey
Radio 2 1990-2012. Started at Radio 2CR in Bournemouth. Famously one of Wogan’s “underlings” with a penchant for locking young man in the cupboard under her stairs! Breakfast show presenter on Mellow Magic since 2016.
Chris Grant
Radio 1 DJ from 1969 before joining the presentation department and voicing trails etc. Newsreader around 1972-73 leaving the BBC to work at UBN. Worked at various commercial stations either in commercial production or programme director. Also trailer voiceovers for Thames & LWT. For many years has been voicing commercials from his home studio.
Justine Greene
Newsreader on BBC Radio 5 Live and co-presented Breakfast and Drive. Previously at BBC London, Radio Wales, Choice FM, Radio XL, Swansea Sound, The Wave, BBC Radio Leicester and Mercia FM. Between 2012-2020 a presenter on BBC CWR. On Radio 2 since 2011.
Barri Haynes
Radio 2 1971-72, first presenter of The Early Show. Continuity announcer at LWT. Commentator on Come Dancing. BBC Radio Wales. Died in 2019.
Ellis Hill
Worked for the BBC on radio and TV between 1965 and 1992. During the 1970s presented the BBC East regional opt-out programme Roundabout East Anglia. Joined Radio 2 in 1986 initially to provide cover for Derek Jameson on the Breakfast Show. Newsreader and presenter of Nightride 1988/1990-92. Presenter on Blue Danube Radio 1992-97. Died in 2016.
Paul Hollingdale
Career started with the BFBS in Germany, CNBC (an early pirate station based in Holland) and then Radio Luxembourg. Joined the BBC as announcer on the Light Programme in September 1967. Presented Morning Music, Breakfast Special, Swing Into Summer, Mack is Back, This Must Be the Place and Nordring on the Light. First voice heard opening the new Radios 1 & 2 in September 1967. Continued on Breakfast Special as well as Nordring and Dancing Round Europe. Sacked by the BBC in 1970 he went into music management and was part of the launch team at Radio 210. Moving to Vienna he worked for Blue Danube Radio, providing film commentaries and shows for international airlines. Died in 2017 read my tribute here.
Peter Jefferson
Career started on the BBC World Service, moving from studio manager to announcer. On Radio 2 1970-72 and presented Night Ride. Long on Radio 4 as announcer/newsreader between 1974 and 2009.
Sean Kelly
On BBC Light Programme and Radio 2 between 1964 and 1973. Presented Morning Music, Sounds of the Night,Breakfast Special, The Late Live Show, Starlight Serenade, The Sound of Strings, It’s One O’Clock, Music All the Way, Night Ride and Star Sound. Former actor in films and the occasional tv series between 1957 and 1964 (633 Squadron amongst his credits). Later joined Capital Radio as one of the hosts of Night Flight.
Andrew Lane
Radio 2 1990-92 and occasional host of Nightride. BBC Studio Manager 1974-77, BFBS 1977-1990, Southern Radio 1992-94, BBC Weather Producer 1994-2002, Manager of BBC Weather Centre 2002-2008, Head of Operations at Redemptorist Publications 2008-2012. Recently a public speaker for the Motor Neurone Association and now performing a similar role for Cats Protection and a volunteer at Cinnamon Trust.
Peter Latham
Born in Lancashire but educated in New Zealand where he worked as announcer on NZBC 1953-1963. Joined the BBC Light Programme in 1964. Presented Morning Music, Breakfast Special and Melody Hour. Continued on Radio 2 1967 until 1974 hosting Breakfast Special,Night Ride, Late Night Extra, Melody Fair and Star Sound. Returning to New Zealand in the mid 70s he became a priest.
Paul Leighton
Radio 2 1981-2000 Started as trainee reporter on Birmingham Post. First broadcast as newsreader on Campus on BBC Radio Nottingham in 1971. Radio Derby’s Political Affairs Producer. Announcer on Radio 4 and presented Morning Has Broken before joining Radio 2. Now Chairman of Broadcasting Division of the Chartered Institute of Journalists.
Alex Lester
Radio 2 from 1987 first as newsreader/announcer and one of the presenters of Night Ride and The Early Show. Regular overnight presenter (“The Best Time of the Day”) from January 1993 to 2017. Radio Aire 1981-3, Radio Tees 1983-6, BBC Essex 1986-7. Now heard on Greatest Hits Radio and GHR 60s.
Andrew Lodge
Radio 2 in 1975. Actor and voiceover on TV shows such as Catchphrase and Family Fortunes.
Jack McLaughlin
Jack McLaughlin (aka Yak MacFisheries, aka The Laird of Cowcaddens) had been a pirate DJ on Radio Scotland, Britain Radio, Radio 390 and Radio 270 (under the name Steve Taylor).He went legit and was with the original team at Radio Clyde and also worked as an announcer/presenter on Grampian Television and STV (Pop Scotch, Thingummyjig and Junior Try for Ten) and on BBC Radio 2 as announcer and presenter of Folk 74 and Folk 75. Moved to Capital Radio and then Radio Victory where by 1977 he was Head of Programmes and News. Later established Radio Scotland Worldwide Ltd, an internet broadcast company.
Steve Madden
On the BBC World Service and Radio 4 before joining Radio 2 in 1983. Regular presenter of Night Ride and The Early Show and then the overnight show 1995-98 alternating with Charles Nove. Later on BBC Eastern Counties with the evening show. Early morning show on BBC Radio Berkshire until March 2020. Currently on Victory Radio.
Bryan Martin
First broadcast in 1946 on Children’s Hour. Joined the staff of the BBC in 1957 as a studio manager on the BBC General Overseas Service. A full-time announcer from 1963 he also presented Morning Music and Family Fare on the Light Programme.Joined Radio 4 in the early 70s becoming senior newsreader. Retired in 1992. Died in 2009.
John Marsh
John ‘Boggy’Marsh is, thanks to Terry Wogan, now best known for the Janet and John stories, owning a shed and playing the organ. Broadcasting career started in TV as a cameraman and then technical operator and studio management. Announcer on BBC World Service 1970 and Radio 4 from 1973. Transferred to Radio 2 in 1982. Presented Marching and Waltzing. Retired in 2007 but on-air until 2010.
Roger Moffat
BBC announcer in the 1950s long associated with the Northern Dance Orchestra show Make Way for Music. In the 60s he also presented It’s One O’Clock, Music Through Midnight, Startime,Stay Late and Midday Spin. Continued with Radio 2 on Night Ride and Things Are Swingin’. Left the BBC and was next heard on Radio Hallam in the mid-70s. Died in 1986.
BBC Radio 1959-73 mainly Home Service/Radio 4. Regular host of the Sports Service in 60s. Presented BBC2 tv News Review. Joined SABC in 1974. Died in Cape Town in 1999.
Colin Nicol
Born in Australia his first job was as radio announcer on 6PM-AM and then 6KY. Travelling to Europe he signed up with Radio Atlanta in 1964 before transferring to Radio Caroline. Radio England, Britain Radio and Radio Luxembourg followed until he became a BBC staff announcer in 1968. One of the presenters of Night Ride. Moved to BFBS in Malta and Gibraltar before a return down under and back to Radio 6KY. Now retired and living in Perth (WA).
Charles Nove
On BBC Radio Scotland from 1978 before joining Radio 2 in 1981. Presenting duties included You and the Night and the Music, Nightride, The Early Show and Cinema 2. Freelance from 1989 he also appeared on Magic 105.4, Jazz FM, Oneworld and Saga.BBC TV continuity announcer (1987-9) and commentator on Come Dancing. Presented a Sunday morning on BBC Radio Oxford until 2018, is MD of A1 Vox Sound Studios and used to co-own a fleet of vintage buses along with other former Radio 2 colleagues Ken Bruce, Alan Dedicoat and Steve Madden. Joined Scala Radio (now Magic Classical) in 2019.
Hilary Osborn
Radio 2 1986-90 also presented String Sound. TV continuity announcer on LWT, TVS and Meridian. Radio 4 announcer for a while in 1984. Originally joined the BBC as a secretary then studio manager before moving into presenting at BBC Radio London (Woman in Town).
Geoff Oxley
Whilst working in education, presented arts shows on BBC Radio Nottingham and news bulletins for BBC East Midlands TV. Joined Radio 2 in 1989. Presenter of Night Ride, 1992-96 news presenter on Look East. Became a humanist funeral celebrant and now retired but busy as a crossword setter for The Daily Telegraph,The Independent and the village magazine.
Nick Page
First broadcast on Radio Medway then to LBC, IRN as newsreader and BBC Radio Wales. Presented a Sunday morning show on Radio 2 1979-83. Worked on Radio 2 as announcer/newsreader 1984-92. Presented Nightride,Songs from the Shows, String Sound and European Pop Jury. Covered for Ray Moore and John Dunn. Narrated Radio 4 schools programme Together. Also on elevenSEVENTY AM, KFM and Premier Radio. Now director of the International Christian Media Commission and runs Shorehill Arts.
Andrew Peach
Radio career started in 1991 at BBC Radio Oxford then Radio Berkshire, Radio 2 from 1998 as freelance newsreader and Radio WM. Occasionally on BBC Radio 5 Live and the World Service (News Briefing). Presented the Breakfast Show on Radio Berkshire until December 2023. Now freelance he reads the news on Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, LBC News and presents The Newsroom and BBC OS on the World Service.
Iain Purdon
Radio 2 1982-94 where he was Presentation Editor and only occasionally on-air. Previously at BBC Radio Scotland and Radio CWR, Moved to BFBS and than BBC World Service (from 1995) as newsreader. Read the last ever news bulletin from Bush House in July 2012.
Tina Richie
Radio 1 newsreader mid-1990s best known for being on Chris Evans Breakfast Show. Started in radio on the BBC’s Trainee Reporters Scheme. Reporter for BBC Essex then producer/presenter for GLR before joining Radio 1. Moved to Virgin Radio and became Head of News. Returned to newsreading on Radio 2 from October 2010. Joined Radio 4 in 2019 as announcer/newsreader.
Ricky Salmon
Radio 2 newsreader from 1998 to 2013. Announcer on World Radio Network. Previously at Ocean Sound, Radio 5 and Radio 5 Live, Southern Radio, LBC and Radio Solent. MD of BigFish Media Ltd.
Tom Sandars
Radio 2 newsreader from 2007 to 2017 also working on BBC Radio 5 Live. Provided interval programmes for Friday Night is Music Night and arts news slot on Claudia Winkleman's show. Radio career started at Radio Shropshire then Radio WM. Presenter on Midlands Today and Sky News. Now a newsreader/announcer on Radio 4
Andrea Simmons
Radio 2 newsreader 1992-2009 also working regularly on BBC Radio 5 Live. TV continuity announcer and voiceover work.
Keith Skues
Radio career began with the BFBS in a number of postings in Cologne (alongside David Hamilton, Paul Hollingdale and Bill Crozier), Kuwait, Nairobi and Aden. Joined Radio Caroline followed by Radio Luxembourg and Radio London before signing up with the BBC Light Programme where he also presented Swingalong.Part of the original line-up on Radio 1 in 1967 taking over from Brain Matthew on Saturday Club. Also on What’s New. Became a staff announcer and presented Night Ride and Sunday with Skues. Left the BBC to become Programme Director and DJ at Radio Hallam, later on Yorkshire Radio Network and Classic Gold.Back to the BBC initially on Radio Sheffield and then Radio Norfolk where, until March 2020, his Sunday night show was broadcast across the eastern counties stations.
Alan Smith
Occasional newsreader on R2. Started on BBC Radio Cumbria before moving to Radio 4 as announcer, also on Radio 7/4 Extra
John Terrett
Radio 2 newsreader and presenter of Night Ride 1991-93, but still occasionally reading bulletins up to 1998. Previously at Radio Solent, BSB News, BBC Radio Surrey. Later on London News 97.3, Radio Northampton, BBC World. Was the Washington correspondent for the Al Jazeera English service and now New York correspondent for CGTN America.
Linda Thomas
Radio 2 1981-2. BBC tv announcer 1982-3 then on Channel 4 and TVS. Again on Radio 2 in 1989 as Olumide Thomas.
John Toogood
Radio 2 mid-80s. Regular presenter on BBC Radio London. Contributed Toogood’s Travels to the Nightride shows.
Humphrey Walwyn
BBC newsreader 1970-71 on Radios 1, 2 & 4 and World Service. One of the presenters of Night Ride. Head of Popular Music at BBC World Service 1974-85, Head of BBC Records & Tapes 1985-88, CEO Mainstream Records 1990-96, Director of Product Development at Linguaphone 1996-2000.
Sarah Watts
Read the news in the mid-80s. No further information.
Dwight Whylie
BBC’s first black announcer joining the BBC in 1965. Previously chief announcer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and then working in the High Commissioner's Office in London. Presenter on Night Ride. Returned to Jamaica in the early 70s and headed the JBC. Died in 2002.
Kate Williams
Radio 2 2002-7. Reporter at BBC Radios Norfolk, Northampton, Look East and Radio 5 Live 1990-2002, Assistant Editor BBC College of Journalism 2007-2009, Presenter Farming Today 2009-10, Presenter The World Today 2005-2011 and Call You and Yours reporter 2009-11. Heavily involved in journalism training including University of Northampton and Broadcast Journalism Training Council.
The following Broadcast Journalists have also read overnight bulletins on Radio 2 in the last year or so:
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