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).
He began his presenting career at Music Box (1985 – 1986) and appeared on the Children’s Channel (1990 – 1993).
However, he is best known as a presenter of children’s television and science programmes:
- Get Fresh! (1986 – 1988);
- Get Fresh on Sunday (1988);
- How 2 (1990 – 2006);
- The Big Bang (1996 – 2001).
He appeared as a CITV presenter – as ‘Gaz Top’ – providing the continuity links between programmes, from January 1987 – 24th April 1987.
Other TV credits as a series presenter/host include:
- BMX Beat (1986 – 1987);
- Your Number’s Up (1987);
- Kellyvision (1988);
- APB (Channel 4/Border TV, 1987 – 1988);
- Video Jukebox (1988);
- Pick of the Week (1988 – 1989);
- MTV Europe (1988 – 1989);
- Pssst! The Really Useful Guide to Alcohol (BBC One, 1989);
- Ar y Stryd (1991);
- Sixth Sense (1993);
- The Video Show (1993);
- An Afternoon on the Moon – celebrating the 25th anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon (BBC One, 20th July 1994);
- Over the Moon (1994);
- Maths Sphere Special (1994);
- Gaz Top Non-Stop (1994);
- Cyber Wales (1995);
- Digital World (1995);
- It’s Not Just Saturday (1996);
- Megamaths (1997 – 1998);
- Action Forces (1997);
- Across the Universe (1998);
- Who’s in Control? (2000);
- Sci-Busters (2000);
- The Kit (2000);
- Tech (2000);
- What’s So Good About Roald Dahl? (2001);
- Speed Sunday (2004);
- Tomorrow’s World Roadshows (2003);
- A1 Grand Prix (2005 – 2006).
He was a guest, semi-regular or made one-off appearances on the following:
- The Cutting Edge MTV USA (1986);
- The Tube (1986);
- No 73 and 7T3 (1986 – 1988);
- Wacaday (1987);
- Wow! (1987);
- The Krankies Show (1987);
- The Zig and Zag Show (1987);
- Motormouth (1988);
- ITV Telethon (1988);
- What’s Up Doc? (1989 – 1991);
- You Bet! (1991);
- Surprise, Surprise (1990);
- Win, Loose or Draw (1992 – 1993);
- Fully Booked (1996);
- Telegantic MegaVision (1996);
- Shooting Stars (1996);
- Scratchy and Co (1997);
- GMTV (1999 – 2000);
- Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2004);
- Dick and Dom in da Bungalow (2005);
- Ministry of Mayhem – ITV 50 Special (2005)
- Holly and Stephen’s Saturday Showdown (2005 – 2006)
- 30 Years of CITV (2012);
- Wales in the 70s (2014);
- 50 Greatest Kids TV Shows (2014);
- Pointless Celebrities (2015);
- When Kids TV Goes Horribly Wrong (2017).
TV acting credits:
- Mwy Na Phapur Newydd (1990);
- Clwb Clebran (1990);
- Caryl (2014);
- Caryl A’r Lleill (2015).
Radio series/programmes include:
- TX1 (1988);
- Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4, 1995);
- Weekenders (1998 – 1999);
- Roadies (2017);
- The Jones Brothers (2017).
Since August 2005, he has presented motorsport podcast, Gareth Jones on Speed – the most popular British automotive audio podcast in the UK iTunes Store.
Written and performed by Jones and made by TV and podcasting production company WhizzBang, the show has an irreverent style and features a regular cast of Zog (AKA musician and journalist Paul Ireson) Richard Porter (creator of cult website Sniff Petrol and previously script editor of BBC TV’s Top Gear and later of Amazon’s The Grand Tour) and TV presenter and writer Violet Berlin.
The show began after a visit to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Whilst chiefly an audio podcast, there are occasional video episodes such as The London Grand Prix and Don’t Call Me Carface.
Many major British and international motorsport stars have appeared on the show, such as Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.
His long-time partner is fellow TV presenter Violet Berlin and they have two children.
Correspondence
Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Gareth in May 2017:
“I’m looking forward to The TV Room reboot and always glad to help. I really believe that you lot have created a valuable resource there, and I knew the old site well.”
What shows did you present at Children’s Channel?
“The shows I presented (and I produced) at the Children’s Channel were The TCC Club (The Children’s Channel Club), TTC Club on the Road and TVFM which was for the Children’s Channel’s teen slot around 5pm.
Did you know former Play School presenter Carol Chell?
“I knew Carol Chell, we often crossed paths in the studio – but I never worked with her, as she presented programmes for children of a pre-school age, and my audience was a lot older.”
How did you get the Get Fresh and How 2 jobs?
“I got Get Fresh when Janet Street-Porter spotted me on Music Box in early 1986, interviewing her boyfriend Tony James of Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
“Janet had been asked to produce a new innovative Saturday morning TV show for ITV and asked me to audition.
“The other producer on the 1st series of Get Fresh was Tim Edmunds. We got on very well during the series and Tim got to know about my background in science, engineering and technology, and when he was tasked with casting the presenters for How 2, he thought I might be a good fit.”
Did you watch the original How series?
“Absolutely, I loved it and was a regular viewer throughout my childhood.
“Fred Dinenage was one of my TV heroes when I was a boy, and I am privileged to be able say that I worked with him for 16 years on How 2.
“He is one of my closest friends even now. He’s is an extraordinarily good bloke and in my opinion the reason How 2 was such a success.”
How did you end up doing CITV continuity links and where were they based?
“If memory serves, I was offered the gig towards the end of the first series of Get Fresh, which would have been September 1986.
“Get Fresh had made quite an impact and ITV were keen to promote their own products and so having me take over from Matthew Kelly was an obvious decision for them.
“The links were recorded at Carlton Studios in St John’s Wood.
“It was a punishing schedule (there wasn’t much money in kids’ TV) so I think we recorded a months’ worth of links in just 2 days in order to make the amount of material that was required given the limited budget.”
Personal information
Clips of Gareth on The TV Room
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Online presence
Acknowledgements
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