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).

In 1972, he obtained an honours degree in English and Drama at the University of Reading. He moved into teaching (1972 – 1980) and left when he finally got his break in television as a producer/director at LWT (1980 – 1989).

Programmes he worked on included:

• Whoops Apocalypse (1981);
• Weekend World (1981);
• 6 o’Clock Show (1982 – 1984);
• South of Watford (1985 – 1986);
• Good Life Guide (1986);
• Concrete and Clay (1987);
• Danny Baker On… (1987);
• Friday Live (1988);
• Weekend Live (1988);
• The South Bank Show (1988);
• ITV Telethon (1989).

His first brush with fame came when he appeared on Streetwise (1989 – 1990) – part of the ill-fated Channel Four Daily. He regularly interviewed a lawyer, who represented Ronnie Kray. The sartorially traditional Kray disapproved of Haycock’s open-necked presenting style and sent him a beautiful silk tie, which Paddy naturally wore at the first opportunity.

Paddy is perhaps best remembered for a low-budget daytime show called As It Happens (1990) where he was beamed live from a famous place waiting for something to unfold, a style many critics feel has been adopted by modern news channels.

He was a pioneering presenter of Channel One News, London’s first digital news channel (1993 – 1995).

Other TV presenter/reporter roles included:

• You Can Do It (Sky TV, 1990);
• This Way Out (TVS, 1990);
• Fortune Hunters (Yorkshire TV, 1990);
• Them and Us (BBC One, 1991);
• Consumer Teabreak (Lifestyle Channel 1990 – 1992);
• Southern Eye (BBC Two, 1992);
• The Travel Channel (Sky, 1995 – 1997),
• Travel Destinations (Sky, 1995 – 1997);
• Pressing Matters (Channel One, 1995 – 1997),
• The Learning Zone (BBC Two, 1995 – 1999);
• On the Hoof (Channel One);
• The River (1997);
• Sunday Best (GMTV, 1997);
• It’ll Be Alright on the Night (1997);
• It Shouldn’t Happen to a Travel Reporter (Granada TV, 2001);
• It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (Granada TV, 2002);
• It Shouldn’t Happen to a TV Presenter (Granada TV, 2002).

He is a regular voiceover artist and has narrated a number of TV documentaries and a BBC radio series of Thomas Hardy short stories called Wessex Tales (1991).

From the late-1990s, he worked increasingly on the other side of the camera. He joined Talkback Thames in 1998 and was senior executive, factual programming from late-2002 until his resignation in February 2006.

His production credits include:

• Give a Pet a Home (ITV, 1998),
• Open House with Gloria Hunniford (1998 – 2002);
• Design Wars Daily (ITV, 2002);
• Lifer Living with Murder (Channel 4, 2004);
• Kids Behind Bars (Channel 4, 2005);
• The Stirling Prize (Channel 4, 2005 – 2010);
• The Bionic Vet (BBC One, 2010);
• Wildlife SOS (Discovery, 2011 – 2012).

He left to pursue consultancy and freelance opportunities, including Faith on the Frontline (MOD, 2013) and The Danger Age (YouTube, 2014).

Correspondence

Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Paddy in October 2018 about his career:

“My entry into telly took a long eight-year slog. I was a teacher of English and drama throughout that period and applied for every job imaginable in TV. I had so many interviews at the BBC that I became known by the commissionaires on the gates at Television Centre.

“They would regularly greet me with “Hello Paddy. What you in for today?” Frankly it was the unionisation of many roles in those days that worked against me. As an outsider, breaking in without a union ticket was virtually impossible. Eventually, it was a lovely drama producer who wrote to five key people in the industry on my behalf.

“She said, ‘You fail to interview this man at your peril’. They all interviewed me and three offered me jobs. I took the one that I thought might lead me on to producing and directing. That was as a scriptwriter for London Weekend Television. In 1980, aged 30, I finally entered the hallowed precincts of telly.

“I quickly moved on to become a researcher on The Six o’Clock Show – the editor was Greg Dyke, later to become director-general at the BBC. Greg wanted me to go with him when he took the lead role at TV-am. Someone in LWT heard about his attempted poaching and instantly offered me a job as a producer on The Six o’Clock Show. So I really made up for lost time.

“Within a couple of years of joining the company, I was at the helm of one of the most popular and well thought of shows on the screen. Regular presenters were Michael Aspel, Danny Baker and Janet Street-Porter.

“After that, I went on to produce and direct a whole clutch of shows at LWT. In 1989, I was lured the other side of camera to present Streetwise with former Miss Great Britain, Debbie Greenwood. The show was a consumer segment in the new Channel 4 breakfast show, The Channel Four Daily – a couple of years before they launched The Big Breakfast.

“I remained in front of camera for a further six years. Three series on BBC Two’s The Travel Show saw me reporting from around 30 countries (1992 – 1994). I also enjoyed a stint as a main news anchor live five nights a week on BBC TV’s from Southampton (1991 – 1992).

“My favourite show as a presenter was Channel 4’s As It Happens. Warts and all, television with no editing and no post-production. It was a great show for a presenter because you were literally producing it as you went along, on the hoof.

“Channel One news was a cable-based rolling news service launched in 1995 by Associated Newspapers. I was the main news anchor, handling live and ‘as live’ five-hour new shifts on screen. It was way ahead of its time.

“The cable agreements stifled its success. Had it been a little later and bought a slot on satellite with an EPG presence, it would be a different story. I went mainly because I was impressed by its top man, former ITV executive, Nick Pollard. Nick left after about 18 months to head off to Sky News which he transformed.

“Latterly, at TalkbackThames, I looked after over 900 live daily shows with Gloria Hunniford. It was Channel 5’s most successful programme after CSI. It had a great following and was pulling in nearly a million viewers in its last series.

“Given that This Morning was getting about a million-and-a-half viewers on a well-placed and established ITV, I reckon we were doing brilliantly. Gloria, of course, is the ultimate professional and one of the industry’s top broadcasters. I still consider her to be a good friend.

“The production team was one of the finest in the industry, many of whom have gone on to great things across all channels. Having worked on so many live features, news and magazine shows, there are few people I haven’t worked with in that 1980s – 2005 era.

“You name them and I have probably interviewed, produced or booked them as a guest. It’s stories about some of the all-time greats, that really chimes with me. I could regale you with anecdotes about Tommy Cooper, Ken Dodd, Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howard, Julie Andrews….the list is endless. Not to mention a legion of politicians and key political figures.”

 

Personal information

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Acknowledgements