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.
…Baker, Peter
During the 1980s, Peter worked at BBC West in Bristol, presenting news bulletins and filling in as co-host on the main Points West programme alongside Viv Creegor and Graham Purches.
In 1988 he moved to Granada TV In Manchester where he hosted the nightly Granada Action social information programme. He also presented the breakfast show on Key 103 radio.
…Wheal, David
David was born in December 1955. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
…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.
…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).
…Burn, Christine
Christine was born in Birmingham. She attended the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama (1961 – 1963) and the Lucie Clayton Modelling School (spring 1964).
…Armstrong, Fiona
Fiona began her career as a reporter/presenter for Border Television in the early 1980s before becoming one of ITN’s main newscasters (March 1987 – 1992). She was the first co-anchor on GMTV in 1993, and later returned to Border TV as one of the anchors of the relaunched Lookaround news programme.
She also fronted a cookery series called Easy as Pie for Carlton Food Network where she demonstrated her skills in the kitchen. Fiona has also featured in a series of programmes for Granada TV on Health and Slimming. She also regularly chairs major conferences and award ceremonies.
Ballantine, Pamela
Pamela’s broadcasting career started off in radio: she read the news on Downtown Radio in the early 1980s. She also presented on BBC Radio Ulster. Pamela’s first appearance on Ulster Television – as a continuity announcer – was in 1984. As part of the announcer’s role, she also read the news.
She left the announcing team around the start of the new franchise period in 1993 and went on to co-anchor the station’s main news programme. She presented the lifestyle and leisure programme UTV Life (1999 – 2009). In May 2009, Pamela returned to UTV’s continuity department, after seventeen years. As well as the announcing role, she was also a relief weather presenter. A year later, her staff contract with the station was not renewed. Press reports claimed UTV had told Ballantine that her role was no longer available and had offered her freelance work which she later accepted.
Pamela continues to freelance at the station and act in an ambassador role. Since 2016, she has presented the new incarnation of UTV Life.
Thomas, Linda
Olumide was born in London. Her name derives from the Yoruba tribe in West Africa and roughly translates as ‘child of God’.
…Royle, Pam
Pam’s broadcasting career began with Tyne Tees Television in 1983, as a weather presenter. She went on to work for Central TV, TV-am, ITN and LWT.
…Moore, Ray
Ray was born in Liverpool. On leaving school his first job was at Liverpool docks.
…Farnham, Jane
Jane started out as ‘Pippa Horn’, the travel and breakfast co-presenter at Red Dragon FM in Cardiff. Whilst working on the breakfast show she was approached by HTV Wales to present Time Out, a holiday programme based in Wales. She then went on to present her own drivetime show at Medway FM in Kent, which also involved producing features and organising competitions and roadshows.
In 1998, Jane started work at Metro Networks presenting travel reports for the Chris Evans breakfast show on Virgin FM and she also landed a job on the continuity sofa at ITV 2.
In May 2000, she started working for Earth and Space at NOW – a pioneering convergence channel broadcasting to Asia and worldwide on the web. The work involved anchoring live science programmes, interviewing guest scientists, writing web pages and occasionally working on location for special reports.
During 2001, Jane worked in Holland and Athens for five weeks at a time directing and presenting travel programmes for a new broadband/linear channel called Viewing 4 Leisure.
In 2002, she worked with Ant and Dec on ITV 1 as a regional presenter on Record of the Year.
In 2004, Jane filmed kids show X-perimental for BBC One. Working as the science reporter, it was Jane’s responsibility to get the science across in an unpatronising, no-nonsense, yet easily understood manner.
Also in 2004, Jane worked as a studio/location presenter for TV Travel Shop, which involved a shoot in America filming Go Florida.
Jane has also worked as a continuity announcer on Channel 5 and Challenge (dates TBC).
Jane is currently a freelance presenter.
She has also worked at Price Drop TV, where she had to talk and sell non-stop for three hours at a time. She has guest-presented on QVC. She is also a children’s presenter for British Forces TV.
Ní Ghallchóir, Bernadette
Bernadette was a presenter and continuity announcer on Irish television. She hosted the Irish language show Buntús Cainte in the 1960s. She is probably best remembered for hosting the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest from the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. Her involvement with Eurovision continued, when in 1973 she hosted National Song Contest.
Bernadette was one of a team of three continuity announcers at the launch of RTÉ 2 in 1978. Raymond Maxwell and Roisin Harkin accompanied Bernadette on opening night.
Bernadette retired from television in the 1980s.
Mayclem, Liam
Liam is a former continuity announcer and news reporter for Channel Television (1989 – 1994). He also reported for the religious news magazine programme Link-Up and produced the station’s Weekend Diary. He later became the channel’s youth features reporter and producer.
Liam moved to the US to host Tomorrow’s World America and a music show, Audiofile, both of which are broadcast across the States on techtv. He later became head of arts and entertainment for KRON TV – an independent television station in San Francisco.
…Taylor, Shaw
Born Eric Stanley in Hackney, London, Taylor was known professionally by his stage name Shaw throughout his career.
…Rippon, Angela
Angela was born in Plymouth. On leaving school at 17, she began her journalistic career in newspapers in Devon.
…Pope, Jim
Jim’s professional journey commenced in radio before transitioning to television during the 1960s, where he presented continuity links for HTV West.
…Kelly, Chris
Chris was an Anglia Television continuity announcer (1963) and programme presenter who went on to front popular children’s shows such as Clapperboard (ITV), holiday must-see show Wish You Were Here? (ITV, 1976 – 1987) and gastronaut’s bible, Food and Drink (BBC).
…Hockin, Bruce
Bruce Hockin retired from his job as HTV News anchorman in 1996, but still holds the record as ITV’s longest-serving newsreader, with more than thirty continuous years in the job.
He started his television career with HTV’s predecessor, TWW, and moved over to Harlech to front the west of England regional news magazine Report in 1968. HTV later changed the programme’s name to HTV News but Hockin remained in the main presenter’s chair, working with numerous co-presenters over the years, including Jan Leeming, Alison Holloway, Richard Wyatt, Sue King, and Patricia Yorston.
Hockin had a particular interest in crime busting, and for many years fronted the HTV West version of Police Five. After officially retiring from the company, he continued to write and present the weekly Crimestoppers slot. Although retired, Bruce is president of the Bristol Hospital Broadcasting Service. Bruce has been known to make occasional broadcasts on there himself! Bruce also serves as a director on Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Avon and Somerset Crimestoppers boards. He is also a patron of the Skin Cancer Research Fund.
Kennedy, Mary
Mary was born in 1956 in Clondalkin, Dublin. She was an announcer on RTÉ TV from 1978 until 1992, covering both channels. She moved to the news division, fronting news bulletins on TV and radio from 1992. In 1995 Mary presented the Eurovision Song Contest from Dublin. She went on to become involved in a number of TV productions, including her own Saturday night chat show, Kennedy in 1997. From the late-1990s until 2004, Mary co-hosted the daytime TV programme, Open House. She is now a presenter on the regional magazine programme, Nationwide.
Tracy, Sheila
Born as Sheila Lugg in Mullion, Cornwall. Sheila studied piano, violin and trombone at the Royal Academy of Music.
…Sherwin, Allan
Allan was a continuity announcer for Central. In 2008, he was the series producer on Through the Keyhole (BBC).
Miles, David
David was born in 1954. He joined the BBC in 1975, working initially as a studio manager in Bush House.
…Chapman, Lindsey
Lindsey graduated with a BA in drama and theatre arts from the University of Birmingham (2005) before completing a diploma from the Birmingham School of Acting (2007).
…Hobson, Derek
Derek was an ATV in-vision continuity announcer who hit the big time as the presenter of ATV’s successful New Faces talent contest (1973 – 1978). This was the role for which he is perhaps best known, but he also hosted several other ITV gameshows over the years, including That’s My Dog for TSW. Derek also presented ATV’s regional news programme, ATV Today.
Derek is also believed to have announced on LWT (TBC)
Thompsett, Glen
Glen was a TVS announcer who later joined LWT just as in-vision announcing was being phased out in the early 1980s. Glen remained with LWT until October 2002. From 2002 to 2004, he was a freelance announcer at ITV 1. He has also presented for Meridian News in the south east, Sky Television, and on several satellite travel and shopping channels.
Glen has worked at a number of radio stations: he was a member of the launch team at Severn Sound in Gloucester in 1980; GWR in Wiltshire; Mercia Sound in Coventry; host of the breakfast show on Kent’s Invicta FM during the late-1980s and early 1990s, gaining some of the highest audience figures in the station’s history.
Glen runs his own audio production studio in Kent and produces work for a variety of independent companies and corporate clients.
Macann, Peter
Peter was born in Tehran, Iran. His father, as a Colonel in the Indian Army, was Consul in Ahwaz at the time. Peter spent the first four years of his life in India, before arriving in the UK in 1948.
…Tibbetts, Pam
Formerly Pam Rennison. Pam was presentation editor for BBC Scotland, responsible for day-to-day presentation services on all of the BBC’s local radio and television services there.
…Rogers, Graham
Graham was a staff ITV network announcer (October 2002 – TBC). He is a former Radio 210 disc jockey who fronted TVS’ overnight service, Late Night Late. He joined Meridian from TVS to present the overnight service Nightime. He went on to become one of Meridian’s four duty announcers, also providing continuity for Anglia and HTV West. Graham has also announced for Channel 4.
Additionally, Graham continues to freelance as a presenter and voiceover on programmes for Sky, Channel 5 and ITV 2. He also produced and presented the Exercise Helping Hand documentaries in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Bell, Graham
Graham Bell was born in London. He was an actor who appeared in rep in Oxford, Old Vic, Newcastle and Stratford East.
…Lynch, Sinead
Sinead’s career in broadcasting began as a researcher on TV Three’s Ireland AM in 2003; she was also a reporter for the programme’s lifestyle segment.
In 2005, she took up a researcher position on The Brendan Courtney Show, also for TV Three. During 2006, Sinead performed a similar role on RTÉ 2’s popular Podge and Rodge Show. Production work included children’s shows with Adare Productions and the entertainment show The Panel, with Happy Endings Productions. She was also assistant producer on I Want a Garden – Vision Independent Productions for RTÉ ( January 2007 – June 2007).
In addition to her various other roles, Sinead has been working as a continuity announcer on RTÉ One and RTÉ 2 since summer 2005.
Coyne, Tom
Tom was born in South Shields. In his 20s, he was a presenter of BBC Radio’s Children’s Hour. He made his first TV appearance in 1958, interviewing a miner on Tyne Tees TV. He was a member of the original announcing team in 1959.
…Brown, Scott
Scott was a Grampian TV in-vision announcer (late-1980s – early 1990s). He also presented a Grampian-produced antiques show with Fiona Armstrong.
Holness, Bob
Bob was born in Vryheid, Natal in South Africa. The family moved to Kent when he was seven.
…Clayton, David
David was born in Marske, Yorkshire. He began his broadcasting career on hospital radio in Norwich, which he helped launch in November 1974.
…Bannerman, Graham
Graham has a wealth of live broadcast experience.
…Johnson, David
Northern Irish announcer, voiceover artist and presenter. David is currently an announcer on BBC One/Two. He has previously worked as an announcer on the main national ITV channel.
…Campbell, Sharon
Sharon was an In-vision continuity announcer for Channel Television. She went on to work in sales and marketing for the station’s sister company, Creative Channel, which produces corporate and commercial video.
…Johnstone, Iain
Iain is an author and television producer, and former presenter of the BBC TV’s film review series, during the Barry Norman era, when Barry worked on other projects.
…Hunniford, Gloria
TV/radio presenter.
…Keating, Caron
Former TV presenter.
…Greene, Sarah
Sarah was born in London. Her parents were DIY expert Harry Greene and actress Marjie Lawrence. Her younger sister is Laura, a former TV presenter.
…Fleming, Tom
Born in Edinburgh, Tom Fleming established himself as a distinguished character actor, making his theatrical debut alongside Edith Evans during a tour of India in 1945.
…Jago, Becky
Becky was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and graduated from the University of Bedfordshire with a BA in Media Performance in 1997.
…Rhodes, Gary
Former chef and TV presenter.
…Baker, Nick
TV presenter.
…Jones, Gethin
TV/radio presenter.
…Frost, David
TV presenter.
…Strachan, Michaela
TV presenter.
…Dando, Jill
Born in Weston-super-Mare, Jill Dando’s first job was as a trainee reporter for the local weekly newspaper, the Western Mercury, where her father and brother worked.
…Amroliwala, Matthew
Mehrwan F. Amroliwala was born in Leeds in 1962, the son of a Royal Air Force officer with roots in India as a Parsi Zoroastrian.
…Anthony, Patrick
Patrick was born in Dublin. With five years of theatre behind him, he began his broadcasting career at HTV Wales, as a newsreader and announcer, and became the first Irishman to read the Welsh news in English!
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