Colin was born in London. He left school and joined the press and PR department of ABC Studios in Teddington and stayed for four years. After they lost their ITV franchise, he applied for various announcer jobs across the ITV network.
He saw an advert in The Stage for an out-of-vision trainee announcer at Granada TV. He went to Manchester for the audition with a reel-to-reel tape and got the job in July 1968.
He became one of the most familiar faces on Granada TV and was trained by then chief announcer Don Murray Henderson.
On his first announcing shift, Colin earned the nickname ‘Fluff’ after forgetting the name of the Winter Hill transmitter during the opening authority announcement, despite it being taped to his desk.
After 18 months, his contract was not renewed. He moved to Anglia TV in Norwich in 1973. He spent four years there and appeared for the first time in-vision. He then freelanced for BBC TV, LWT, HTV, Westward TV, Border TV, Southern TV, Yorkshire TV and TVS.
He also worked at Tyne Tees TV and joined them permanently in 1979 (remaining until 1983) – popping up so regularly that he even had his own Tyne Tees publicity photographs!
He continued to freelance after returning to Granada TV in the early 1980s, where in-vision continuity had been introduced. His duties extended when he became chief announcer, leading a team of contemporaries including Andrew Brittain, John MacKenzie, Beverley Ashworth, Pamela Dodd and Roger Tilling.
Alongside all other Granada announcers, until 1992, he also read regional news bulletins throughout the day. He also voiced Granada-produced networked trails and promos for the ITV network and made a cameo appearance during the first series of the long-running Granada sitcom Watching in 1987.
Colin was the duty announcer on Friday 12th February 1988, the evening of the last closedown from Granada before the start of 24-hour transmissions. For seven years, he provided continuity for the part-networked Night Time service, broadcast in the Border, Grampian, Granada, TSW, Tyne Tees and Ulster regions.
In 1998, Granada’s presentation operation moved to the studios of Yorkshire Television in Leeds. Not wanting to make a move to Yorkshire, and having been made redundant, Colin left Granada in 1998 after an announcing career spanning 30 years.
He was a relief announcer at Carlton TV in July and October 1999.
In addition to his television career, Colin also worked for Piccadilly Radio in Manchester and Radio City in Liverpool. He now works as a film extra and voiceover artist for videos and commercials.
In 2010 he was back in the Granada region, but on the radio on North Manchester 106.6 FM. He currently presents a show on Salford City Radio 94.4 FM.
Correspondence
Paul R. Jackson contacted Colin via Facebook in October 2017:
“I can’t remember, exactly, when I was announcing at BBC TV Centre – late 70s I think. I didn’t particularly enjoy it as they had self-op studios unlike at Granada. I appeared in-vision for the first time at Anglia which was nerve-wracking at the time. Granada was still voice only.”
Personal information
Clips of Colin on The TV Room
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Online presence
Acknowledgements
PICTURED: Colin Weston. SUPPLIED BY: Paul R. Jackson. COPYRIGHT: Colin Weston.
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