Philip was born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire.
…Hart, Tony
Tony was born Norman Antony in Maidstone, Kent. He was interested in drawing from an early age.
…Oxley, Mel
Mel was born in South Africa. He was a former DJ with Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s. He later moved into TV and worked as an ITV announcer for Southern TV (1959 – 1961), ATV, ABC Television and Associated Rediffusion. He moved to BBC Television as a network out-of-vision announcer, who also appeared in-vision conducting interviews on BBC Two (1965 – 1972). He presented BBC Two’s Line-Up (1969) and narrated The Curious Character of Britain (1970) and Sights and Sounds of Britain (1971) for BBC One.
…McGavin, John
Also known as John McGavin Gordon. John was an ABC and ATV London announcer in the 1950s, but had an ambition to become an actor and went to drama school.
…Stevens, Julie
Julie is an actress and former ABC contract artist. She was a great children’s favourite on both Play School (1964 – 1978) and Play Away (1971 – 1979) and is remembered for her zany appearances.
…Kennedy, Sheila
Born in 1936, Sheila Kennedy began her career as a theatre actress and dancer, appearing for eighteen months in the Drury Lane production of The King and I.
…Bower, Colin
Colin Bower was born in Cheltenham Spa, and took his first steps in broadcasting as a disc jockey with radio stations in Africa before embarking on a television career that would span decades.
…Steel, Bill
Bill Steel is mainly remembered as Tyne Tees Television’s chief announcer and one of the main presenters of the evening news magazine programme, Northern Life, when it started in 1976.
…Braban, John
John was an announcer with ABC Television and ATV London. He also worked as a network announcer with BBC TV (1969 – 1974) and voiced BBC TV presentation trails (1972 – 1990).
Oyston, Owen
Owen is a former ABC TV announcer.
Carter, Alan
Alan is a former ABC TV announcer.
Duncanson, John
John was born in Prestwick. After a BBC course in broadcasting, his first TV appearance was as a continuity announcer on ABC Television (early 1960s), the weekend contractor for the north of England and the Midlands.
…Edmunds, John
John was born in Aberystwyth. He attended the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in the late-1940s and early 1950s, studying English and French.
…Hamilton, David
David started his television career as a continuity scriptwriter for ATV, but soon moved to the glamorous side of the camera as an announcer and programme presenter.
…Swindells, Clifford
Clifford is a former ABC TV and Southern TV announcer.
Beechley, Jill
Jill is a former ABC TV and LWT announcer.
Benson, John
John was born in 1928 (date unknown). He was one of ITV’s legendary, long-serving announcers.
…Bond, Sidonie
Sidonie is a former ABC Television and Southern Television announcer.
Andrews, Eamonn
Born in Dublin, Eamonn Andrews began sports commentating for Radio Éireann in 1939 and subsequently worked on various programmes for BBC Radio, including Sports Report (1950 – 1962).
On television he hosted the BBC’s parlour game What’s My Line? (1951 – 1963), Crackerjack (1955 – 1964), ABC Television’s World of Sport (1965 – 1968) and This is Your Life until his death in 1987.
He joined Thames Television from ABC in 1968 and was the first anchor of its nightly news magazine programme Today until 1977. At the same time, he was active as a chat show host and children’s programmes presenter, as well as being a keen businessman.