Downie was a BBC TV national weather forecaster (1956 – 1958). He died in 1979.
Austin, Wendy
Wendy joined BBC Northern Ireland in November 1976, fresh from her presenting duties on Downtown Radio. She joined the commercial radio station earlier in 1976, following four years as a newspaper journalist: initially with the East Antrim Times (1972 – 1974) and then the Belfast Telegraph (1974 – 1976). Wendy’s BBC career began as a TV reporter but by the 1980s, she was also presenting on Scene Around Six and later, Inside Ulster. She co-presented the BBC NI opt-outs during Children in Need and was also the face of a local supermarket chain’s advertising campaign in the 1980s.
As well as appearing on screen, Wendy was also involved with BBC Radio Ulster’s breakfast programme Good Morning Ulster, from the early 1980s. Since the late-1980s, Wendy has mostly stayed with radio. She has been one of the main presenters on BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster and between 1988 and 1998, she presented nationally on BBC Radio 4, on programmes such as PM, Pick of the Week and Woman’s Hour. However, she did pop up on TV screens occasionally – she took over from former colleague Sean Rafferty as presenter of The DIY Show.
…Ford, Anna
Anna joined Granada TV in 1974 for a job on the company’s news desk. She was a presenter on BBC TV’s Man Alive and Tomorrow’s World (1977). She was a newscaster with ITN (March 1978 – March 1981), and also their medical correspondent in 1980. She left ITN to help set up TV-am, as one of the original ‘Famous Five’, but left in April 1983 after a bitter boardroom battle shortly after the company’s on-air debut.
She was a BBC TV newsreader from February 1989, working mainly on the Six o’Clock News, with occasional appearances on the One o’Clock News. She was a regular presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Today (1993 – 1998). She became the main anchor of the relaunched BBC TV One o’Clock News programme, from May 1999.
Anna retired from news presenting in April 2006.
Sharpe, Brian
Brian was a BBC TV in-vision network announcer (1956) and BBC Midlands announcer (late-1950s).
Robertson, Morag
Formerly Morag Irvine. Morag currently works as a continuity announcer/director on BBC One Scotland. The role previously also covered BBC Two Scotland but that channel was replaced by the network version of BBC Two, just prior to the launch of the BBC Scotland channel. Although the dedicated Scottish content channel has its own team of announcers, some BBC One Scotland voices can also be heard on the BBC Scotland channel.
Ayre, Elaine
Elaine’s broadcasting career began with BBC Northern Ireland in the early 1990s, as a continuity announcer on BBC Radio Ulster. In 1994, she moved to television, as a continuity announcer/director. She moved to BBC Radio Ulster briefly c. 1996 before returning to her television continuity role.
Montgomery, Stephen
Stephen began his announcing career in the 1970s. He became the senior BBC Northern Ireland announcer in the late-1980s and was heard less and less during peak time, having moved to cover early morning and lunchtime regional news opts, which weren’t part of the rota for his staff until the late-1990s.
…Robinson, Liz
Liz was a network BBC announcer (late-1990s – c. 2000).
Buckley, Lola
One of the pre-recorded voices of BBC Three from its launch in 2003 until its disappearance from linear television in February 2016. Lola was also a regular voice on BBC Choice continuity from early 2000.
Gray, Harry
Harry was a BBC Radio Scotland announcer who did an occasional stint as a TV announcer in the 1970s.
He has since passed away (date unknown).
Canham, David
David was a continuity director/announcer with BBC Wales TV (summer 2000 – autumn 2002). He performed the final link with the BBC One balloon symbol in March 2002, before the channel was rebranded; during the junction, he also treated viewers to a final glimpse of the balloon-themed channel clock.
He later moved to London to take up a continuity announcer/transmission controller role with BFBS Television, where he remained for three years. He has extensive experience in transmission control, having worked at BSkyB, Molinare and Viasat. During his time at Viasat, he played a role in introducing a tapeless server-based playout infrastructure.
David also provided voiceovers for Teachers TV.
Jones, Robin
Robin’s broadcasting career began as an announcer with Teledu Cymru/WWN (1962). He then moved to BBC Wales as a radio and television announcer (1964 – 1982). When S4C began, Robin was appointed chief announcer (1982 – TBC). Post-retirement, he still occasionally freelanced as an S4C announcer.