Mike began his career as a newspaper journalist. He would later move into acting before joining Tyne Tees TV first as an announcer then as a reporter (1962 – 1964). He then switched to the ‘other side’ to present the BBC TV’s Look North programme from Newcastle for a staggering 32 years. He also became quite well-known nationally for his regular appearances on BBC TV’s Nationwide in the 1970s. In 1989, Neville was caught by TV prankster Noel Edmonds with a ‘Gotcha’ on his BBC One programme Noel’s Saturday Roadshow. He was tricked into thinking he was filling seven minutes of airtime because there was a technical fault.
…Raworth, Sophie
Born in Surrey and after completing a degree in French and German at the University of Manchester, Sophie spent a year teaching English to teenagers in Toulouse before studying for a postgraduate course in broadcasting and journalism at City University, London.
…Edwards, Huw
Huw was born in Bridgend, Glamorgan and graduated from University College, Cardiff with a first-class degree in French. He joined the BBC as a news trainee in 1984 and originally worked for BBC Wales and S4C, but then moved to become a reporter for BBC TV’s Panorama (1993). Some of Huw’s later roles: parliamentary correspondent, BBC Wales (1986 – 1988); political correspondent, BBC TV News (1988 – 1997); chief political correspondent, BBC News 24 (1997 – 1999).
…Scott, Jack
Jack was a popular BBC TV forecaster (17th May 1969 – 4th May 1983) and for many years was the senior forecaster. He also presented forecasts on BBC Radio. He was a Met Office employee (1941 – 1983), working on RAF stations (1941 – 1968).
…Winton, Nan
Born Nancy Wigginton, Nan was co-presenter on BBC TV’s Information Desk (1955 – 1956) and Mainly for Women (1957).
…Colvile, Charles
Charles was born into a naval family, in Rochester, Kent. He was educated at Westminster School and joined the BBC as a finance clerk in January 1975. The following year came his ‘lucky break’ when he applied for a job as clerk to Radio 4’s The World at One and PM programmes and ended up presenting a sports round-up on the Saturday edition of PM. His first broadcast was 24th April 24 1976 and he was, in his own words “appalling”!
…Edwards, Barbara
Barbara was born in 1939. She joined the Met Office in 1957 and until 1962 worked in the library and editing department at Harrow, sub-editing and proofreading meteorological publications; in 1962, she moved to Bracknell HQ to undertake similar work. From 1963 until 1970, she worked as a forecaster at Gatwick and Heathrow Airport. Barbara was based at the London Weather Centre forecasting for commerce and industry (1970 – 1979) and has the distinction of being the first female national BBC TV forecaster, appearing from January 1974 until June 1978; she was also heard on BBC Radio during the same period. She was the BBC One Christmas Day weather presenter once, in 1975.
…Pitts, Valerie
Valerie was an actress. She was RADA-trained (1955 – 1957) and worked in the theatre initially.
…Brook, Peter
Peter had a very distinctive, deep, rich voice. He was an announcer at Southern TV (1969 – 1971) and a newsreader for BBC Norwich’s Look East.
…Hayes, Geoffrey
Geoffrey was born in Stockport and attended drama school in Manchester. For generations of pre-school viewers, he was the popular presenter known to viewers as ‘Geoffrey’. He appeared in over 1,000 editions of Thames TV’s long-running children’s series Rainbow (1973 – 1991). He joined after the original presenter, actor/writer David Cook, decided to leave to concentrate on other work. He tipped off Hayes, having performed alongside him in repertory theatre. Geoffrey would remain with the show for the next two decades. He also wrote for the programme and appeared on The Sooty Show (ITV, 1977) and Altogether (ITV, 1981).
…Mitchell, Leslie
Leslie was a BBC radio announcer (1934 – 1936) and was the first BBC TV in-vision announcer, based at Alexandra Palace (1936 – 1938). During the war, he was a regular narrator for the British Movietone News newsreel, shown in cinemas across the UK. When BBC Television opened up again after World War II, he was preoccupied with prospects in the film business. He became an interviewer on BBC TV’s Picture Parade (1946 and 1948 – 1951) and also presented Come Dancing (1950).
…Finighan, Adrian
Adrian is a Welsh journalist. He joined the BBC in 1988, working in local radio as a reporter and producer.
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