John was born in 1928 (date unknown). He was one of ITV’s legendary, long-serving announcers.
…Bacon, John
Probably Anglia Television’s best-known newscaster, Bacon began his stint at the About Anglia newsdesk – and as a continuity announcer – in 1964. He stayed with the company until the mid to late-1980s. He often shared this duty with colleague Caroline Raison. After retiring, Bacon moved to sunnier climes – Greece.
Newman-Sanders, Sandy
Sandy was one of the first announcers/newsreader/presenters on Anglia, from 1959. His full name was Cecil Walter Newman-Sanders but he was known as “Sandy” at Anglia. He joined Anglia from the London Planetarium. His previous employment included teaching, fishing and work as a cartoonist! He was Anglia’s first newscaster.
Famous people he interviewed included King Hussein of Jordan, Alf Ramsey, and Morcambe and Wise. He left the newsroom at Anglia in 1965 to become their education officer, and retired c. 1983, aged 74. His hobbies included golf and amateur radio.
Sandy died in 1993, leaving three children, 10 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Gay, Jennifer
Jennifer is the daughter of Molly Gay (actress) and Hugo Rignold (composer).
…Ashley, Philip
Former Southern Television announcer.
Rosser, Matthew
Matthew was a BBC Wales TV continuity director/announcer (1990 – TBC). Previously, he was an ILR presenter with Gwent Broadcasting and Red Dragon Radio. He became a senior channel director but was still occasionally heard on air. He oversaw the design and installation of digital transmission equipment into BBC Wales and was responsible for its subsequent development. He was both the first and last voice (the latter in-vision) on BBC Choice Wales.
Gillies, James
In the 1970s, James trained at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. He taught speech and drama at Bankhead Academy (July 1978 – June 1980) and was head of speech and drama at Mintlaw Academy (July 1980 – May 1986).
In May 1986, James moved into freelance voiceover work, with clients including radio stations in Scotland and the north of England and video production companies. In August 1991, he moved to the BBC as a continuity announcer/director, working on BBC One Scotland, BBC Two Scotland and BBC Alba. He became a familiar voice on TV and radio, where he also narrated programmes, read the news and even got to read the shipping forecast.
He left the BBC in 2013 to focus on the performance side of voice work – in particular, storytelling. He has since recorded many audio books, for clients on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lines, Verity
Verity was a continuity announcer and newsreader with Anglia TV (1980s – early 1990s). She left to get married and is now known as Verity Spencer.
…Tucker, Tegwen
In October 2007, Tegwen took up a position as the sole announcer for BBC Four. She also works as an actress and voiceover artist, doing corporate voice work and providing voices for popular children’s TV show, Fireman Sam.
Bruce, Ken
Yes, the BBC Radio 2 favourite was once a BBC Scotland announcer. Ken started off doing the Scottish opt outs on BBC Radio 4 in the mid-1970s and later became a staff announcer. He mostly worked on radio, but his warm, rich, friendly voice was heard from time-to-time behind the BBC One Scotland globe.
Smith, Derek
Derek’s broadcasting career began in 1999 at The Travel Channel where he was a continuity announcer. He was a member of the original team of announcers (and ‘the Scottish voice’) at the Biography Channel when it launched in the UK in 2000. Also in 2000, Derek took on a newsreading role at Radio Forth in Edinburgh; he remained there until joining Living TV as a continuity announcer in 2003.
Derek headed back north and joined the SMG continuity team in 2005, providing announcements on Scottish and Grampian TV (later rebranded as STV). He performed the first live announcement from STV’s new studios at Pacific Quay on Saturday 22nd July 2006.
Derek still finds time to fit in his other gig – travelling the world as a BA cabin crew member – which he has been doing since 1985.
Curran, Helen
(Formerly Helen Leonard; married in July 2005). Helen has a BA in Irish and Information Technology from UCD. During her university studies she also worked behind-the-scenes on various RTÉ shows including Don’t Feed the Gondolas, The Den and Podge and Rodge.
In 1997, she moved into a continuity announcer role on RTÉ Network 2, presenting many of her links in-vision. Her continuity links are now largely confined to RTÉ One.
In June 2003, Helen joined the station’s team of weather presenters.