Thomas, Guy

Guy was born in May 1931. He was invited to join Television Wales and West (TWW) in 1959 as the first newsreader/interviewer at their newly opened Bristol studio before becoming anchorman of the nightly news magazine TWW Reports, covering Wales and the West Country.

Guy also filled in the odd gap in the continuity announcing rota at TWW when they were short staffed.

He later pioneered the introduction of audio books for education and presented motor sports films for American television. He also fronted the first of the popular music compilation TV programmes with a profile of Vivian Ellis.

Guy appeared on ITV West at 50 in 2005.

Correspondence

Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Guy in March 2018 – after being put in touch by Sally Alford and Keith Martin:

“Prior to my work at TWW, I had joined the Forces Broadcasting Service in 1950 for over five years, first during army training in Trieste, Italy and later as a War Dept. civilian.

“It was like a repertory theatre – you had a real chance to try everything and my advice to anyone embarking on a career in broadcasting is to look for the same experience. I had also been a RADA student.

“I started my television career as a newsreader and interviewer when TWW opened its ITV service in Bristol in 1959. During the first months I would read the news from a converted garage while the main studio complex was gradually completed.

“An early memory was of actress Dame Anna Neagle, then appearing at a Bristol Theatre, being carried by myself and a cameraman over the muddy building site for a live interview in the garage studio. She wrote to me later saying she had never enjoyed an interview so much!

“By the end of the first year I was fronting the late-night In the News programme – at that time a new concept, covering national issues from a regional perspective.

“I continued newsreading and providing roving reports for the local news magazine Here Today until 1964 when I was asked to front the nightly successor TWW Reports.

“It was a roller coaster time, interviewing politicians one night and Hollywood A-listers like Marlene Dietrich the next. And unpredictable as well.

“My colleague Maureen Staffer interviewing the zoologist Brian Vesey Fitzgerald about the value of snakes suddenly found he had hung a lively cobra around her neck. Imagine that.

“In 1965, I was presented with the Ambrose Fleming award for my contribution to ITV and became associated with feature programmes reflecting diverse interests and people in the West of England – among them Lord Bath and his Longleat stately home, the theatre composer Vivian Ellis and the Butlin Holiday camps.

“Looking back, I think of this time as a landmark and where I particularly enjoyed what grew to be like a family business. Bruce Lewis, Maureen Staffer, Sally Alford, Bruce Hockin and the personality host Alan Taylor were among the people I had the privilege of working with.

“After TWW unhappily lost its license to operate within the ITV service in 1968, I continued a television career making freelance guest appearances anchoring BBC Radio’s Good Morning Wales and Westward Television’s nightly magazine Westward Diary.

“BBC Two had not long started as a new television channel and recruited experienced announcers and presenters like myself for the growing operation in 1969.

“However, in 1971 the BBC opened the new Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham to support its claim to be Britain’s second city. David Stevens, a long-time favourite Midlands broadcaster was to be supported by a team to further establish the identity of the region.

“I was among those to be asked and was delighted to find my one-time TWW colleague Maureen Staffer to be there as well.

“We were joined later by Kay Alexander and Alastair Yates, and it started a 10-year association with Midlands Today, the nightly news magazine introduced by the popular Tom Coyne.

“During this period, I had also teamed with an independent group to make educational programmes encouraging young people to read more and also voiced many commercials for television and radio.

“Now retired, I write occasional articles for magazines and newspapers.”

Personal information

Clips of Guy on The TV Room

Guy may be featured in video/audio clips on our other websites. Click the links below to display a listing (a 404 error will appear if no clips are found):

Rewind | Clean Feed

Online presence

Acknowledgements