Peter was born in Belfast. His name and face may not be as familiar as his voice, which has featured in some of the biggest UK TV entertainment shows. He was educated at The Belfast Royal Academy and obtained a Bachelor of Arts honours degree from Queen’s University, Belfast. Peter possibly holds the record for youngest ever continuity announcer on UK TV: at the age of 17, he joined BBC Northern Ireland, whilst still at school.
…Singleton, Valerie
Valerie trained as a dancer at the Arts Education School. She studied for two years at RADA (winning a one-term scholarship) and spent a year at Bromley Repertory as an assistant stage manager, playing small parts. Over the next few years, Val did a lot of acting in both theatre and on TV. A number one tour, Nest of Robins starring Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale was followed by a season at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge and the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 1959, she starred in five episodes of the BBC sitcom The Adventures of Brigadier Wellington-Bull and also became one of the top female voiceover commentators for TV commercials.
…Allan, David
Born Gordon Allan in Manchester, David is a broadcaster with over 50 years’ experience and, for people of a certain generation, is a very recognisable voice. Certainly one of the great broadcast voices of all time.
…Smith, Oliver
Oliver has been a continuity announcer on Turner Classic Movies, BBC America, Sci-Fi Channel and The History Channel. He has also voiced trails for television including BBC, ITV, Sky, UKTV Gold and Zone Thriller.
Miles, David
David was born in 1954. He joined the BBC in 1975, working initially as a studio manager in Bush House. He was a trainee announcer on BBC Radio 4 (1980 – 1981). He had an attachment as a BBC TV network announcer from April 1983; he later performed the same role on contract (February 1984 – 1987 and 1988 – 1995).
Just before 1.10am on 12th June 1995, David bowed out of BBC TV continuity, closing down BBC One with these words: “…but as I say, BBC One has come to an end for another night and I’ve come to the end of this channel for the present. Many thanks for your company now and in the past. And on behalf of everyone working at Television Centre, this is David Miles wishing you a very peaceful night. Goodnight.”
And upon closer inspection, the words “…the end of this channel for the present…” sounded very much like “the end of this channel 4 the present…” – undoubtedly an intentional reference to his new job. He moved to Channel 4, taking on a similar out-of-vision announcing role (1995 – 1996) – minus the vision mixing which he would’ve been used to in his BBC role. Incidentally, at the time of his departure from the BBC, the network control areas had just been replaced and the new regime meant that continuity announcers no longer performed any vision mixing. From a technical perspective, fading up/down the microphone in the announcing booth or cueing breakdown music was about as complex as it got.
David was also a presenter on Noticeboard (1986 – 1987). Later, he was a presentation director/assistant editor and relief in-vision newsreader on BBC South. He also voiced BBC TV presentation trails (1990).
David left Channel 4 to return to BBC Radio 4 as an announcer (1996 – present). He has also announced on BBC Radio 5. In addition to his radio announcing, David has announced on the UK versions of the History Channel and Military History (dates TBC) and has also narrated documentaries for the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic and Biography.
Cooper, Mike
Mike spent the first four years of his career at BBC Radios WM and Shropshire. He was also a freelance continuity announcer for Central (1993 – 1996). In January 1994, he moved south to work for SSVC (now BFBS) as a self-op announcer and transmission controller.
Mike says: “Having moved south I contacted Carlton and freelanced as an announcer for them from March 1994 until March 1997, then jumped across to the other side of the glass to become a transmission controller for ITV 1 working for LNN. I’d actually started as a transmission controller on a freelance basis in December 1996, then became a staff member in May 1997. To round things up, I stayed with LNN until October 2002. In that time I tried unsuccessfully to move into the newsroom as a director, and my frustration eventually led to finding an opening as a freelance director at ITN alongside my full-time job! I eventually left LNN a week before the rebrand to ITV 1 took place and Carlton/LWT disappeared forever.”
Later, Mike worked at the BBC as a news director. He then went on to spend almost three years doing the same at Sky News. In 2008, he moved back behind the microphone to work full-time as a voiceover artist. In addition to voicing TV programmes, he has returned to continuity: for a time at Film24, and on an ongoing basis for History.