Ian was born in Manchester in 1949. He trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He was on an attachment to BBC Presentation as a continuity announcer for BBC One and BBC Two (1985 – 1987) and was senior presentation announcer, BBC Scotland (c. 1995). He made several appearances as a newsreader in Rab C. Nesbitt (BBC Two, 1994, 1996 and 1998). He also appeared on BBC Radio 4 narrating Seven Days in March (1979) and as a contributor to Naked Radio (1984) and Kailyard Blues (1998) – all produced by BBC Scotland.
…Maine, Michael
(Real name Michael Manning). One of Michael’s first broadcast roles was that of BBC Radio 4 announcer (1973 – 1974). He also worked as a newsreader/announcer at the BBC World Service (1975). He later moved to BBC Bristol as a radio/TV announcer followed by spells in London, Southampton, Manchester and Plymouth.
…Walsh, Kate
Kate is a native Lancastrian with a husky, lilting quality to her voice. She studied at the Central School of Speech and graduated from the University of Birmingham with a bachelor’s in psychology.
…Bower, Stephanie
Stephanie was born in Dundee and went to the University of Glasgow. She initially worked in TV magazines in Glasgow (1996 – 1997) before moving into broadcasting with Granada Sky Broadcasting (1997 – 1999) as an announcer. She moved to a similar role with BBC TV network in 1999. Her time at the BBC included an attachment to BBC London 94.9 (October 2001 – May 2002). She then remained on the BBC TV continuity team until 2006.
…Alagiah, George
George was born in Colombo, Ceylon. His parents moved to Ghana in West Africa in 1961. He read politics at Durham University and whilst there wrote for and became editor of the student newspaper Palatinate; he was also a sabbatical officer of Durham Students’ Union.
…Peters, Andi
Born in Chelsea to Vincentian parents, Andi initially presented CITV’s Free Time (16th September – 23rd December 1988) and briefly provided the continuity links on CITV in summer 1988.
…Ball, Johnny
Johnny made major contributions to children’s TV over 25 years including Play School (545 editions, 1967 – 1984, and occasional appearances until 1987) and Play Away (1972 to 1980), during which time he was the principle comedy writer for the show.
…Giles, Bill
Bill was born in Dittisham, near Dartmouth in Devon. He joined the Meteorological Office at Exeter in January 1957 on leaving the Bristol College of Science and Technology. Later that year, as an 18-year-old, he was sent to Christmas Island to observe the meteorological effects of the H bomb tests and later recalled seeing the “horrendous clouds”. Bill was based in Germany as an observer with the RAF (1961 – 1963) and worked as a lecturer at the Met Office’s training college (1968 – 1970).
…Kirkwood, Carol
Carol was born in Morar. After attending Napier University in Edinburgh, where she gained a BA in Commerce, she initially joined the BBC’s secretarial reserve in London, in 1984.
…Baker, Trevor
Trevor was always affectionately known as Trevor ‘The Weather’ Baker.
…Trace, Christopher
Chris – a former actor – was born in Hambledon, Surrey. After working as a farm labourer, he joined the British Army and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and in 1953 received a commission in the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 1955, but resigned his commission in September 1956. He had a relatively undistinguished acting career – his greatest screen role being Charlton Heston’s body double in Ben-Hur (1959). He later appeared as an interviewer in Ask Mr Pastry (1961) and as himself in Mr Pastry’s Pet Shop (1962).
…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.
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