Batey, Derek

Born in Brampton, Cumberland, Derek Batey won a scholarship and, aged 12, began appearing in clubs as a ventriloquist with a “cheeky boy” called Alfie.

Derek trained as an accountant in Carlisle whilst continuing to perform his ventriloquist act in local clubs during the evenings. The act continued during troop concerts when he undertook his National Service in the RAF from 1946 to 1948.

Whilst working again as an accountant, he was spotted by a BBC radio producer who brought his ventriloquism act into the series Cumberland Merry Meet (1957).

He became a host of radio variety shows and made his first television appearance in 1958 as an interviewer for the BBC.

Derek appeared as a radio news reporter, contributing to The Voice of Cumberland and Points North, a radio show from Manchester introduced by Brian Redhead.

In 1961, he was one of the regional compères on Come Dancing.

Later that year, he moved to the newly established Border Television, where he became known as “a classless hero who blazed a trail in popular television”.

Derek was initially an in-vision announcer and became a regional programme presenter for the station, including the news magazine programme Focus and Lookaround.

In 1966, he took on the role of production manager and was later appointed director of programmes at Border Television. In 1978, he joined the board of directors for the regional ITV company.

The tall, lean figure with bright white teeth, silver bouffant hair and luminous tan is best remembered for hosting the original 500-episode run of the game show Mr and Mrs.

It began regionally in 1967 and was for many years the only programme produced by Border Television that was networked nationally.

He also presented a stage version of Mr and Mrs 5,000 times. From 1975 to 1987, he presented a Sunday night version on Blackpool’s Central Pier.

Batey hosted the regional game show Try for Ten (1968 to 1969 and 1972 to 1984) and the talk show Look Whose Talking (1973 to 1985), which was shown on the ITV network.

In 1988, Derek retired from Border Television.

In retirement, he and his wife Edith divided their time between homes in Lytham St Annes, Gran Canaria and Florida.

In 2006, it was confirmed that Batey would be a consultant (including writing some of the questions) on the latest version of Mr and Mrs on ITV 1.

He died in a hospice in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, following a short illness, aged 84. Hundreds of people attended his funeral.

Personal information

Clips of Derek on The TV Room

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Online presence

Acknowledgements