Shoesmith, Peter

Peter Shoesmith was born in 1936 and raised in the south coast town of Bexhill-on-Sea.

His early training was at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1958.

Following two years of national service in the army, he returned to his hometown for his first professional engagement as an actor – the beginning of what would prove to be a richly varied career in performance and broadcasting.

The seven years that followed took him to theatres the length and breadth of Britain, alongside appearances in a number of radio and television plays.

By 1965, he had made his first moves into television presentation, fronting three schools’ series for commercial television and undertaking newsreading duties at TWW and Tyne Tees TV during the mid-1960s.

In 1969, Peter transitioned into announcing at BBC Television, subsequently extending that work to the World Service, where his role went beyond the newsreading brief to include a series of personal reflections: he contributed twenty talks to Letter from London.

His broadcasting footprint across the commercial sector was equally wide, with freelance announcing engagements at both Anglia TV and Southern TV adding further range to his CV.

On radio, Peter served as a BBC Radio 4, External Services and World Service announcer from 1970, with a period of dedicated Radio 4 work running from October 1972 to May 1973.

In his private life, Peter is based in Wimbledon, where his interests outside broadcasting have centred on driving, gardening and reading.

Correspondence

Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Peter in January 1987 about his career.

“I was an actor (1958 to 1966), having trained at RADA for two years.”

“Before 1969, I had worked at Rediffusion TV (presenter 3 series of schools’ programmes); Southern TV (freelance announcer); TWW Bristol (newsreader); Tyne Tees TV and Anglia TV (announcer).

“I also worked, as a reader on BBC Radio 4’s Listening Post and You and Yours.

“I can recall one announcer who was at the TV Centre in 1969 (and maybe before and after) – Guy Thomas.

“I first worked for World Service in 1970 and was a freelance from 1970 – 1974, when I joined the staff.

“Michael Birley is here at World Service as a freelance announcer and Hylda Bamber appears on Radio 4 in a programme called Enquire Within.”

Personal information

Clips of Peter on The TV Room

Peter 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