By passing the 11-Plus, Greg gained entry to his local grammar school in north London, but education seemed to gain little purchase on his mind, which was focussed on tuning around the short wave, discovering the existence of offshore radio and determination to escape as soon as possible.
…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.
…Kyle, Redvers
Redvers is regarded as one of ITV’s announcing greats. He was born in Germiston, South Africa and named after General Sir Redvers Buller, British military commander in the Anglo-Boer War. He began his broadcasting career as a student at Johannesburg University, where he presented for SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation).
…Lucas, Trevor
Trevor was ATV London’s man in the continuity hot seat in the 1960s. A bit of a smoothy, he received lots of fan mail, and also had the honour of making the last announcement on the station before it was replaced by London Weekend Television in 1968. Trevor moved to ATV in the Midlands from 1968 when the station won its seven-day franchise there.
Gray, Donald
Donald was an accomplished actor. He was a relief BBC TV in-vision network announcer (1952 – 1953, 1955). He later announced at ATV in London at the weekends. Gray also provided the voice of Colonel White in the cult 1960s children’s television classic, Captain Scarlet.
…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).
Tozer, Norman
Norman started in television in 1954 as a BBC OB stage manager. He joined ATV for the opening of commercial TV in 1955. In 1961, he moved from a senior floor manager position at ATV to being one of the station’s London on-screen announcers. The other announcers were Shaw Taylor and Arthur Adair. Norman replaced Peter Cockburn.
He continued announcing and presenting programmes for ATV London until April 1965. He then went on to become a radio and TV presenter/reporter, and advisor on consumer affairs. In the early 1980s, he moved into video directing.
In 2001, Norman became the director of William Poel Events for the Society for Theatre Research.
Taylor, Shaw
Shaw was one of the first continuity announcers on ATV (London). He went on to present his regional crime-busting Police Five slot on London Weekend Television and ATV for 25 years, and, at other times, on several other ITV regional stations. As a result he, and his sign-off catchphrase “keep ’em peeled”, became well-known nationally.
Cockburn, Peter
Peter was an ATV (London) in-vision continuity announcer (1955 – 1959).
Trevarthen, Noel
Noel is a former ATV (London) announcer.
Kanarek, Maurice
Maurice is a former ATV (London) announcer.