Born in Mumbai, India, Shefali Oza arrived in broadcasting by an unconventional route.
…Nelson, Wendy
Wendy Nelson was born in Birmingham and began her journalistic career in 1968 through the IPC training scheme in Devon.
…Owen, Nick
Nick Owen was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
…Pyrah, Gill
Gill was born in Yorkshire in 1951 (date unknown). She has a degree in psychology.
…Kettley, John
John was born in Halifax. He was employed by the Met Office from 1970 until 2000. He had a spell working at the Nottingham Weather Centre (1980 – 1985), where he made appearances on BBC Birmingham’s Midlands Today (1980 – 1983) and on Central TV (1984 – 1985).
…Coverdale, Frances
Frances was born in London. She is a former newspaper journalist.
…Stevens, David
David was born in Worcester in 1929. He was a long-serving newsreader/presenter with BBC Midlands (1961 – 1987).
…Lankester, Barry
Barry was a pioneer of regional broadcasting in the West Midlands.
…Thomas, Guy
Guy was born in May 1931. He was invited to join Television Wales and West (TWW) in 1959 as the first newsreader/interviewer at their newly opened Bristol studio before becoming anchorman of the nightly news magazine TWW Reports, covering Wales and the West Country.
…Hammond, John
John was born in Bosham, West Sussex, the son of a farmer. After taking an interest in the weather from the age of four, he studied geography at the University of Salford, followed by meteorology at the University of Birmingham.
…Finighan, Adrian
Adrian is a Welsh journalist. He joined the BBC in 1988, working in local radio as a reporter and producer.
…Lloyd, Jim
Jim is a former actor. He joined Tyne Tees Television as an announcer (1959) and later took up the same role at ATV (Midlands) (1961). He left to join BBC Birmingham’s Midlands Today as a presenter. In 1964, a meeting with the Spinners gave him his long-term interest in folk music which led him to join BBC Radio 2 in 1969 as a presenter.
LeFevre, Steve
Steve was born in Larne, Northern Ireland. His broadcasting career began with BBC Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. He started off as a TV continuity announcer and also read the news on TV and on BBC Radio Ulster. He later fronted many sports programmes for BBC Northern Ireland, such as Grandstand and Sportsnight. He also produced and presented for BBC Radio Ulster.
In the late-1980s, Steve moved to Yorkshire to present a radio talk show on BBC Radio Leeds (for which he won a Sony Gold). Over the years, he has presented on various radio stations, including: BBC Radio Newcastle; BBC Radio Three Counties; BBC Radio WM. He also worked at BBC Radio 5 Live, where he wrote and hosted The Media Show and presented on Late Night Live, and Breakfast.
In the early 1990s, Steve started work with Yorkshire TV as a reporter and presenter. Among the programmes he presented: Calendar, Scoreline, Tonight and Live Lunch.
…Ashby, Marie
Marie was born in Edinburgh and raised in Carlisle.
Having obtained a degree in French, she then went on to study a one-year post-graduate course in radio journalism. Her career began in radio, where she worked as a district reporter for BBC Radio Cumbria in Barrow, Furness, covering the South Lakes.
Six months later, she moved to BBC Radio Nottingham, taking up a reporting job. Then, in 1989, while on placement to Midlands Today, Marie moved to Central TV, where she spent sixteen years, as a reporter and presenter; she would soon became one of the main anchors on the main evening regional news programme there. During her time with ITV, Marie presented many programmes, covering political and social issues.
…Coyne, Tom
Tom was born in South Shields. In his 20s, he was a presenter of BBC Radio’s Children’s Hour. He made his first TV appearance in 1958, interviewing a miner on Tyne Tees TV. He was a member of the original announcing team in 1959.
…Bailey, Roger
Roger attended Cardiff High School for Boys and Harrow County Grammar School. He studied Welsh for seven years.
…Towers, Alan
Alan was born in Liverpool in 1934. His early broadcasting career included stints as a news presenter with Granada Television (1965) and ITN (1966). He was also a reporter on Westward Diary (c. 1966).
…Alexander, Kay
Kay is a presenter on BBC Midlands Today and has been with the programme since 1974. She was one of the main presenters on the programme until the late-1990s. Kay now covers breakfast and lunchtime shifts mostly.
As a freelance, she also works on corporate videos and provides voiceovers.