Born in Mumbai, India, Shefali Oza arrived in broadcasting by an unconventional route.
…Stride, Virginia
Born Virginia Thomas in 1936 in Yokohama, Japan, Virginia trained at RADA, where she met her first husband, the actor John Stride; the couple married in 1958.
…Judd, Lesley
Born in London, Lesley Judd trained at the Arts Educational School of Ballet and Drama.
…Chataway, Christopher
Born in Chelsea, Christopher Chataway spent his childhood in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where his father served in the Sudan Political Service.
…Mills, Ivor
Ivor Mills received his education at Stranmillis College and Queen’s University, Belfast.
…Hall, Deborah
Deborah Hall launched her broadcasting career with the BBC in November 1985.
…Wellings, Bob
Bob Wellings was born in Jerusalem.
…Munroe, Carmen
Born Carmen Steele in Guyana, Carmen Munroe arrived in the United Kingdom during the early 1950s.
…Nelson, Wendy
Wendy Nelson was born in Birmingham and began her journalistic career in 1968 through the IPC training scheme in Devon.
…Briggs, Jon
Jon Briggs is a London-born broadcaster and voiceover artist whose career has spanned radio, television and digital media over four decades.
…Lawley, Sue
Sue was born in Dudley in the West Midlands. She graduated with a BA Hons in modern languages from the University of Bristol.
…Serle, Chris
Chris was born in Bristol. He was a former actor with the Bristol Old Vic (joining in 1966).
…James, Aline
Aline was born in Maryport, Cumberland. She attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
…Buchanan, Emily
Emily was born in London. She gained a diploma in radio journalism from City University in 1982.
…Langley, Bob
Bob was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. He worked in insurance and served in the RAF, before travelling around America, He later worked as a lumberjack in Canada.
…Pyrah, Gill
Gill was born in Yorkshire in 1951 (date unknown). She has a degree in psychology.
…Trueman, Brian
Brian was born in Manchester. In 1946, he made his acting debut in Plover Patrol for BBC Radio in Manchester.
…Jones, Gareth
Gareth was born in St Asaph, Wales and is a Welsh speaker. His nickname – ‘Gaz Top’ – was earned whilst working as a roadie for The Alarm (1979 – 1985).
…Craven, John
John was born in Leeds. He’s had a long career in journalism and TV presenting. He started in print journalism as a junior reporter at the Harrogate Advertiser.
…Stableford, Howard
Howard was born in Poynton, Cheshire and grew up in Preston. He graduated from Durham University in 1980 with a degree in geography.
…Harris, Fred
Fred is a former schoolteacher. He is an actor, who became a popular Play School presenter, making his debut on 16th July 1973 (earning £45 a programme). This began a 15-year association with the programme, which would see Fred appear in 382 editions.
…Parker, Bruce
Bruce was brought up in Guernsey. He was educated at Elizabeth College, followed by the University of Wales. He has a postgraduate degree from Reading University.
…Haycocks, Paddy
Paddy was born in Portsmouth. He worked at BFBS radio (British Forces Broadcasting Service) in Cyprus (1966 – 1968). He performed various roles including tape editing, reporting, presenting and studio management (1966 – 1968).
…Woodall, Corbet
Corbet was born in Hampshire. He was a scholar at Eton College.
…Clover, Crispin
Crispin began his broadcasting career as a sports reporter and presenter for BBC Radio Norfolk. He went on to become one of the few younger male announcers on BBC One: announcing everything from the news to Strictly Come Dancing (1998 – 2001). He moved to BBC Radio 1 as a producer, working on the following programmes: the Scott Mills early morning show; The Jamie Theakston Show (Saturday mornings); Dance Anthems with Dave Pearce (2001 – 2003).
…Arthur, Toni
Toni was born Antoinette Alice Priscilla, in Oxford. She won a music scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of nine and gave a concert at the Wigmore Hall in the same year. She trained as a nurse at University College Hospital. She was a folk music singer and was married to fellow musician Dave Arthur (1963 – 1977). They released several folk music albums (1964 – 1975).
…Scott-Joynt, Hannah
Hannah’s love of radio began in her teenage years. She gained a degree in radio, film and TV at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her first broadcasting job was with BBC Radio in Herts, Beds and Bucks. She moved into television as a network announcer on BBC One and BBC Two (1997 – 2000). She was the launch announcer on BBC Choice. In 2000, she appeared on BBC One’s daytime show Talking TV and showed presenter Vanessa Feltz behind-the-scenes of network control – and Vanessa even did two short daytime BBC One links.
…Waddington, Mark
Mark was born in Bradford. He began broadcasting, aged 17, at BBC Radio Leeds, where he presented a series of features about community life called Down Your Street, mentored by producer Peter Byrne.
…Buchan, Josephine
Josephine was born in London in 1955. She presented various programmes for the BBC, including: Take Two (BBC One, 1984 – 1985); Pebble Mill at One (BBC One, 1984 – 1986); Rock Around the Clock (BBC Two, 25th August 1984); A Song for Christmas (BBC One, 1985). She was a reporter for Did You See…? (BBC Two, 1985) and Off the Record (BBC Two, 1985), and guest-supported on Best of Brass (BBC Two, 1986). She also appeared on Canned Carrot (BBC One, 1990).
…Hulland, Louise
Louise was born in Burnley and graduated from Durham University. She is a Sony Award-winning presenter, journalist and documentary maker specialising in presenting programmes on crime and social issues. Since 2014, Louise has travelled round the country presenting for various BBC local radio stations (from Lancashire to London, Devon to Berkshire). She’s also been a news presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music, a reporter for Newsbeat (BBC Radio 1) and The Arts Show (BBC Radio 2), and has spent years behind-the-scenes at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, including working with Sir Terry Wogan, Steve Wright, Chris Moyles, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox and The Sunday Surgery.
…Chalmers, Judith
Judith was born in Stockport, Cheshire. She began broadcasting for the BBC when she was only 13, after being selected for BBC Northern Children’s Hour by producer Trevor Hill.
…Malhi, Manju
Manju was raised in north west London, surrounded by Indian cultures, traditions and lifestyles. She was a BBC TV network announcer (mainly BBC Two, 1990 – 1999 and 2001 – 2006 (freelance)) and a BBC World Service TV announcer (1992). She provided voiceovers for trails featured on BBC News 24 and she was also an announcer on UKTV’s Good Food channel. She presented the early (4am – 6am) weekend show on BBC Radio 2 (January/February 1997).
…Constantinis, Jayne
Jayne was born in Yorkshire. She has an acting diploma from the Royal Academy of Music and a modern languages degree from Cambridge. She studied journalism at the LCP and has written for publications including Condé Nast Traveller and Good Housekeeping.
…Hailes, Anne
Anne has been working in the media all her working life. She began her broadcasting career with BBC Northern Ireland in the 1980s, contributing to radio programmes, before establishing her own sixty-minute weekly magazine, At Home with Anne Hailes. She was also involved in programmes for the BBC World Service.
…Ball, Johnny
Johnny made major contributions to children’s TV over 25 years including Play School (545 editions, 1967 – 1984, and occasional appearances until 1987) and Play Away (1972 to 1980), during which time he was the principle comedy writer for the show.
…Winton, Nan
Born Nancy Wigginton, Nan was co-presenter on BBC TV’s Information Desk (1955 – 1956) and Mainly for Women (1957).
…Young, Muriel
Muriel was born in Bishop Middleham, near Sedgefield, Co Durham. On leaving school, she worked briefly as a librarian. She attended art college, before deciding to embark on a career as an actress. She joined a repertory theatre in Henley-on-Thames, where her uncle was directing. She subsequently performed at the Gateway Theatre, London and the Theatre Royal in Chatham. Trying to get into the film industry, she did modelling for advertising agencies, including promoting products such as toothpaste. She also studied to be a dental nurse and used her artistic talents to paint glassware. Starting out as an actress, she starred with Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall in The Constant Husband (1955) and also featured in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) in a segment featuring The Mikado.
…McCaskill, Ian
Ian was born John Robertson McCaskill in Glasgow. His national service took him into the RAF and in 1959, he joined the Meteorological Corps. He left in 1961 to join the Met Office and later postings included Prestwick Airport, Malta and the Manchester Weather Centre.
…King, Susan
Susan presented various BBC TV children’s series during the 1970s: Country Search (BBC One, 1975 – 1977); Play It Again… (BBC One, 1975); BBC Manchester’s The Sunday Gang (BBC One, 1976); Horses Galore (BBC One, 1977 – 1979); BBC Manchester’s sports series Stopwatch (BBC One, 1978 – 1980). She was also a guest on All-Star Record Breakers (BBC One, 1975 – 1980), a panellist on Star Turn (BBC One, 1976, 1977 and 1979), and a reporter on We’re Going Places (BBC One, 1979).
…Foulkes, Jerry
Jerry was a Children’s ITV presenter who provided the continuity links, alongside Scally the puppet dog, from 28th March until 22nd December 1989. On the first day that Jeanne Downs took over from him (on 2nd January 1990), they had a mop and a bucket in the studio, and a name tag with “Foulkes” on it. During the links both she and Scally made some amusing comments about it.
…Stuart, Moira
Moira was born in London to Dominican-Barbadian African-Caribbean parents. She began working for the BBC in 1973 as a production assistant in the Radio Talks and Documentaries department.
…Aspel, Michael
Michael was born in London. He was evacuated during World War II, for four-and-a-half years, to Chard in Somerset. He worked as a tea boy at William Collins publishers and completed his National Service in the ranks of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (1951 – 1953).
…Guru-Murthy, Krishnan
Liverpool-born and educated at Oxford University, Krishnan’s broadcasting career began in 1988, when he presented discussion programme Open to Question (BBC Two, 1988 – 1989); he was also a reporter on youth current affairs programme Reportage (BBC Two, 1988 – 1989).
…Brinton, Tim
Tim was educated at Summer Fields, Eton and went to the University of Geneva. After National Service, he trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama and in the early 1950s he joined the BBC as a radio announcer.
…Finucane, Marian
Marian was an RTÉ continuity announcer in the mid-1970s before moving on to present many radio and TV programmes at the station.
Cassin, Anne
Anne’s broadcasting career began in 1982 as a researcher and reporter, and later news presenter, on pirate station Radio Nova. She joined RTÉ as a continuity announcer in 1987 and became a newsreader and reporter in 1990. She was the presenter of Capital D, an RTÉ magazine series for Dublin residents. She also presented the monthly Crimecall programme. Currently, she co-presents the thrice-weekly Nationwide programme, alongside Mary Kennedy.
Fogarty, Noel
Noel was an announcer on RTÉ One and RTÉ Network 2 from 1988 until the mid-1990s. He also worked as a newsreader on RTÉ 2FM during 1992.
C. 1994, Noel spent a year fronting the in-vision junctions on RTÉ One’s daytime service; these segments included interviews with studio guests on a wide range of topics. He also worked on the RTÉ daytime magazine programme Live at 3, filling in for Derek Davis once a week for one year.
In 1997, Noel moved to the Irish News Network (INN), presenting radio news bulletins. In January 2005, he was appointed evening editor at INN.
Flood, Pamela
Pamela is a former Miss Ireland and was an in-vision announcer on RTÉ Network 2 from the late-1990s. She went on to present a late-night programme strand on RTÉ One in early 2000, appearing in-vision.
Pamela left RTÉ in early 2001 but returned c. 2003 to co-present RTÉ One’s fashion show, Off the Rails.
Harrison, Keith
Keith worked at BBC Radio Cleveland in the late-1970s, including presenting the early morning show On the Move (1978).
…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.
Mansfield, Thelma
Thelma was one of the early RTÉ TV announcers. She was a TV announcer from 1964 until September 1986 when she moved into daytime television presenting, with the popular afternoon show, Live at 3, which ran until May 1997. Thelma subsequently returned to TV presentation, voicing RTÉ One programme promotions until c. 2003.
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.