John was born in Prestwick. After a BBC course in broadcasting, his first TV appearance was as a continuity announcer on ABC Television (early 1960s), the weekend contractor for the north of England and the Midlands.
He worked alongside David Hamilton and John Benson in Manchester. He also regularly announced on Border Television (1970s).
From December 1974, he presented BBC Scotland’s Reporting Scotland from its Aberdeen studios. He moved to the programme’s Edinburgh base in 1975.
By 1980, he had joined Grampian TV as the main anchor of North Tonight, the local evening topicality show through the 1980s and 1990s. Selina Scott was his first co-host.
He remained in this role for 18 years. At the end of each programme, John would say “oidhche mhath” (Scots Gaelic for “goodnight”) to acknowledge the Gaelic viewers, who did not have their own news programme.
Also during that time, he worked on a number of non-news regional programmes and contributed to Grampian’s local and networked coverage of the ITV Telethons.
He left in 1998, but returned in 2001 to co-present a special programme to commemorate the 21st anniversary of North Tonight, alongside Kirstin Gove.
In 2011, he returned again to report on the station’s 50th anniversary.
Personal information
Clips of John on The TV Room
John 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):
Online presence
Acknowledgements
PICTURED: John Duncanson (Who's Who on Television, 1982). SUPPLIED BY: Paul R. Jackson. COPYRIGHT: Unknown.
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