Hutton, Alasdair

Alasdair was born in London, during the bombing which destroyed his home. His mother gathered up what was left, including him, and returned to Scotland.

His family emigrated to Australia when he was 14. He got his first job as a trainee technician, aged 15, on the commercial radio station 4BH in Brisbane. He worked as a journalist at The Age newspaper in Melbourne, before he returned to Scotland in 1962. He became a reporter for The Aberdeen Press and Journal and Evening Express.

His broadcasting career began in 1964 when he joined BBC Scotland as a contract radio announcer. He moved to television continuity in Northern Ireland in 1965 and then back to BBC Scotland in 1968. He also trained as a film director and was a producer with BBC Radio Shetland.

In 1979, he left the BBC to become the Scottish Conservative Party member of the European Parliament for the South of Scotland. He served until 1989.

He was local councillor on Scottish Borders Council representing Kelso (2002 – 2012) and convener of Scotland Borders Council (2003 – 2012). He is a founder member of the Robert Burns World Federation Guild of Speakers.

In 1992, he became narrator of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which became Royal in 2010. He also narrates a wide variety of live shows and concerts around the world, as well as videos and audio presentations.

Correspondence

Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Alasdair in August 2019 about his career:

“This sounds like a fascinating project. So many of these folk will slip away unremembered unless someone, such as you, records their existence on the air.

“I was born during the blitz and the house was destroyed. I had been in a moses basket under the stairs and survived. My mother gathered up what was left and took a 16-hour journey in an unheated, unlit train back to Scotland. We eventually settled in Gatehouse of Fleet in Galloway where I started school before we moved to Dollar.”

When you joined BBC Scotland in 1964, did you do any TV or was it all radio and who were your colleagues in the TV announcing team in Belfast?

“All radio. The concept of single operator TV continuity was only being discussed then.

“In Belfast, the late Michael Baguley, Martin Everard, Michael Fieldhouse, David Gamble and Walter Love.”

When you returned to Scotland in 1968, was it to radio or television and who were your colleagues?

“TV continuity. Head of Presentation was the late Cecil Hawthorn. Announcers were Douglas Brock, Bob Christie, the late Harry Gray, Robert Logan, Alec Monteath and Iain Purdon.

“I hope I have not left anyone out. I am pretty sure that Alastair Mcintyre and Pam Paterson had retired by 1968.”

Do you have any anecdotes from your time at BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland Presentation?

“The first senior announcer I worked under in Scotland was the witty and urbane Alastair Macintyre, who brought style to the BBC, arriving for work in his Bentley.

“My worst moment was on a Sunday morning in 1968 in TV continuity in Glasgow when I introduced a Gaelic meditation on a Sunday morning. As I faded up the VT, the vision syncs unlocked and the picture began to float in the frame. It was an intermittent fault in the equipment which no-one had been able to trace up to then.

“As I looked at it in horror, I exclaimed ‘The mixer’s buggered again’ and noticed the mic was still open.

“Newspapers enjoyed reporting it with one headline reporting ‘The word and the words’ and the minister involved was gracious enough to be quoted as saying that the language was too technical for him.”

What other roles did you perform until you left for politics in 1979?

“Occasional television such as Songs of Praise. I did an attachment to the radio newsroom in Broadcasting House in London, which included announcing on all radio channels.

“I was holiday relief at BBC Radio Shetland (1977 -1978). I was a member of the 15 Scottish Battalion of the Parachute Regiment TA, which I did while I was an announcer. It was a happy balance to the life of the BBC.”

Is it true that when you left the European Parliament in 1989, you applied to be an announcer (was it radio or TV) and were not even interviewed?

“Perfectly true. I cannot recall if radio or TV was specified, but I reapplied to the BBC as an announcer, but was not considered good enough to even be interviewed!”

 

Personal information

Clips of Alasdair on The TV Room

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Acknowledgements