James was a graduate of Manchester and Aberdeen universities. He joined BBC Scotland as a radio/TV announcer in 1977, having spent a number of years at Grampian TV as a presenter/announcer.
…Blight, Vicki
Vicki was a continuity announcer with Channel 5 (dates TBC). She had previously provided continuity links for Living, Living 2 and Sky 1.
Gosney, Kerrie
Kerrie grew up in the Peak District. She graduated in cultural studies, media, film and communication from Sheffield Hallam University in 1998.
…Cunningham, Linda
Linda was a Central TV continuity announcer, often seen presenting Central Morning Supplement along with announcer colleagues Helen Lloyd, Simon Willis and Gary Terzza.
Harvey, David
David’s broadcasting career began in radio: he was a producer and presenter with Irish stations Radio Nova and Century Radio. Around the mid-1980s, David was a continuity announcer on RTÉ One. He went on to become the presenter of RTÉ One’s Crimeline.
He was CEO of the Irish-based City Channel and was a founder of Star Broadcasting, the company that owns Sunshine 106.8.
Gamble, David
David was a BBC Northern Ireland TV continuity announcer in the 1970s and 1980s. Easily one of the standout voices in local broadcasting during that time.
…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).
Bolt, Carol
Carol was a long-serving Channel 4 announcer (dates TBC).
Bennett, Dave
David was a continuity announcer with Grampian Television. He stayed in Aberdeen after retiring from the company and he was a frequent correspondent to local newspaper letters pages. David also announced on other ITV stations, including Anglia, HTV and ATV (Midlands).
Kelley, Jon
Jon was one of the 1960s in-vision announcing team at Tyne Tees Television. He also presented TTTV’s globe-trotting travel programme Faraway Places and, closer to home, Your Heritage.
…Batey, Derek
Born in Brampton, Cumberland, Derek Batey won a scholarship and, aged 12, began appearing in clubs as a ventriloquist with a “cheeky boy” called Alfie.
…Chapman, Mark
Mark was born in Rochdale and grew up in Altrincham.
…Phillips, Ian
Ian served an attachment as a BBC TV network announcer (1987). He returned to BBC Radio Devon as a general producer.
Wheal, David
David was born in December 1955. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
…Brand, John
John was a BBC TV network announcer in the early 1970s.
Escolme, John
John obtained a BA (Hons) in communication, cultural studies and public media from the University of Leeds.
…Jamieson, Paul
Paul worked as a continuity announcer/director for BBC Scotland (2000 – December 2002) before moving to London to become a member of the ITV 1 network announcing team. His voice was also heard occasionally on ITV 2. Paul has also worked for several radio stations, including The Eagle, Star and BBC Radio Scotland.
Maclean, Carole
Carole was a Border TV announcer and newsreader (mid-1990s). She then moved to BBC Scotland TV, taking on a continuity director/announcer role there. She also lectures in media at Ayr.
Roddick, Gordon
Gordon was an announcer on Scottish Television (1961 – 1973). He then became a transmission controller. He left STV in 1992 to join BBC Scotland, where he was a radio announcer and newsreader. Gordon also sat in the television announcer’s chair at BBC Scotland on a few occasions. He left BBC Scotland in 2000.
Christopher, Alan
Alan is a former BBC Wales TV continuity director/announcer. He is now retired.
Oyston, Owen
Owen is a former ABC TV announcer.
Marshall, Peter
Peter was a continuity announcer in various ITV regions: Ulster TV (1967 – 1969); Anglia TV (1970 – 1973); Southern (dates TBC); Thames Television (dates TBC); ATV (Midlands) (dates TBC); HTV West (dates TBC). He was also the national host of the TV Times Awards and Miss United Kingdom on the ITV network (1970s and 1980s). He also presented the BBC’s Come Dancing (1980 – 1983), and regularly reported for ITV’s Wish You Were Here? Marshall originally trained as a teacher, and then an actor with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before joining a Bournemouth rep company.
Shoesmith, Peter
Peter Shoesmith was born in 1936 and raised in the south coast town of Bexhill-on-Sea.
…James, Mark
Mark joined BBC Wales TV Presentation from Swansea Sound radio (1989). He left the continuity director/announcer role in the mid-1990s to direct news, and would later concentrate on motorsports and front world rallying programmes for BBC network.
Lincoln, Frank
Frank was a BBC Wales TV continuity director/announcer (1970s – 1990s). He then switched to freelance voiceover work, for TV documentaries and educational programmes.
Oldrey, Caroline
Caroline was briefly a TSW announcer before moving to Anglia as an announcer. She progressed to front the main evening Anglia News in the west of the region.
Other TV credits: About Anglia (ITV Anglia); Take It On (ITV Anglia).
Manners, Lesley
Previously known as Lesley Cairney, Lesley was an in-vision continuity announcer and newsreader at Border Television (1980s) and also at Tyne Tees Television.
…De Barra, Máire
A familiar face on RTÉ TV, Máire was a continuity announcer and children’s presenter in the 1970s and 1980s. She left the station in 1990.
Presenting roles included Dilín Ó Deamhas, a 10-minute all-Irish weekly programme aimed at pre-schoolers, which ran from 1983 until 1988.
Máire trained as an actress in the Abbey School of Acting, before joining RTÉ Radio in 1972.
Nichols, Tim
Tim was a BBC TV network announcer for 24 years (1965 – 1970 and 1972 – 1990). He was a relief newsreader on News Review for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Weekend News (April 1971 – October 1971).
…Farrell, Marian
Marian started her broadcasting career at the age of 22, on a pirate radio station in Galway. She later joined RTÉ Radio 2 when it launched in 1979. Marian moved to Toronto, Canada in 1980 where she worked for the Ontario Lung Association.
She came back to Ireland in 1988 and in autumn 1991 returned to RTÉ as a continuity announcer on RTÉ One, with the occasional stint on RTÉ Network 2. She remained with the station until autumn 1999.
…Allen, Paul
Paul Allen runs a successful Dublin-based PR and public affairs business – Paul Allen & Associates. He began his broadcasting career working for a number of pirate radio stations during the 1980s, including ARD, Big D, Radio Dublin, Capital and the “super pirates” such as Sunshine Radio.
He joined RTÉ in the late-1980s as a continuity announcer, working initially on RTÉ Network 2, and then RTÉ One. He later moved to the RTÉ newsroom, working in the foreign news division.
Paul attended Rosmini College and the College of Commerce in Rathmines, where he studied marketing and journalism.
…Mezetti, Angie
Angie was an announcer on RTÉ Network 2 from the early 1990s until c. mid-1997. She then moved to the newsroom and became a news presenter, fronting programmes on RTÉ One. Angie now runs Ocarina – a digital media company specialising in the production of high quality DVD, CD and print media content.
Blackmore, Guy
Australian-born former pirate radio disc jockey (known as Jim Gordon, or Jumbo Jimmy Gordon during his time on Radio Caroline North), who went on to become an in-vision continuity announcer for Thames Television, a relief announcer at Southern TV and also a voice-only announcer on the BBC.
Sadly, Guy died of lung cancer in 2000.
Gregg, Anne
Anne was born in Belfast. In October 1959, aged 19, she joined Ulster TV at its launch, as an announcer. She later presented the local news magazine programme Roundabout.
…Currie, Tony
Mr STV for a generation of ‘pres’ enthusiasts. His distinctive, well modulated voice now graces BBC Scotland, on television and radio. Tony was one of STV’s in-vision announcers (April 1976 – 1987). He left shortly before the company dropped regular in-vision continuity. He started with BBC Scotland in 1997.
…Colvin, Jim
Jim was a continuity announcer on Channel 5 (dates TBC). He is also a radio presenter – having previously worked for Smooth FM and BBC Radio Devon.
Carter, Alan
Alan is a former ABC TV announcer.
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.
Jensen, Rebecca
Rebecca is a former BBC America announcer. She has also voiced trails for BBC One, BBC Radio and ITV 2.
Leeson, John
He was born John Ducker in Leicester. He is an actor who is best known as the much-loved voice of computer dog K9, trusty sidekick to Doctor Who (1977 – 1981, 1983, 2006 and 2008).
…Nichols, Trevor
Trevor started out as an actor. He was a long-serving Channel 4 announce (dates TBC). He departed the station to pursue freelance voiceover work.
Fisher, Evadne
Evadne is a former Central TV continuity announcer. From Central, she moved on to host the late-night Thames Television strand (mid-1980s – 1991), along with colleagues Patricia Yorston and Victoria Crawford.
After leaving Thames in 1991, Evadne worked as a freelance corporate presenter and voiceover artist. She later turned to teaching – firstly at The Avon Academy, where she subsequently became director of drama. She was also head LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) teacher at Trent College in Long Eaton.
Evadne was a teacher and examiner for LAMDA.
Labey, Russell
Russell was a Channel Television continuity announcer (1980s). He moved to Plymouth to front BBC South West’s Spotlight. After a long career as a presenter, Russell returned to the theatre and worked as a director and writer. He worked as resident director on the 2001/2002 UK Tour of Sunset Boulevard and he directed Hardcore at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A production of Russell’s play, New Boy, opened in Broadway in October 2002. Russell was also commissioned to write a new play by the Theatre Royal, Plymouth.
Potter-Cogan, Lucy
Lucy was a familiar face/voice on RTÉ One during the 1990s, where she worked as a continuity announcer. Her voice was also heard occasionally on RTÉ Network 2.
Lynn, Heather
Heather was a freelance BBC TV network announcer (1983 – 1989). She was also a TVS announcer (late-1980s) and a BBC World Service TV announcer (1992).
Stubbing, Juliet
Juliet served an attachment as a BBC TV network announcer (1989).
Buchanan, Martin
Martin was an occasional Channel 4 announcer in the 1990s (dates TBC).
Nunan, Michael
Michael was a BBC Northern Ireland TV continuity announcer in the 1970s and 1980s. He also announced and read the news on BBC Radio 4 Northern Ireland and BBC Radio Ulster. He retired from broadcasting c. 1988.
McLean, Kerry
Formerly Kerry Turner. Kerry joined the BBC in 1993, and during her first six years there, she worked on some of the corporation’s flagship news and current affairs radio programmes: Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster; Good Morning Scotland on BBC Radio Scotland; and the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. That was followed by stints in various sections of the BBC World Service, before returning home to Northern Ireland and to BBC Radio Ulster, where she worked on the John Bennett programme.
She had a brief foray into television – six months as a BBC Northern Ireland TV continuity announcer/director, starting in late-September 2003. Beyond that, she occasionally provided voiceovers for local programme trails. Back on BBC Radio Ulster, she presented Weekend Extra. In 2014, she was given her own afternoon slot (Monday to Thursday), 3pm – 5pm.
Kerry is married to BBC Northern Ireland presenter Ralph McLean. They have three children.
Birley, Michael
BBC TV continuity announcer (1968 – 1969).
Elwes, Polly
Born Mary Freya Elwes and known as Polly. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, now part of the University of London.
…Whitting, Robin
After starting at the BBC in the Gramophone Library in 1966, Robin trained as a BBC studio manager working in network radio, local radio and the World Service.
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