British and Irish TV talent
ITV 1 - Border Presenters
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Started her career as a reporter/presenter for Border Television in the early-1980s before becoming one of ITN's main newscasters (March 1987 until 1992). She was the first co-anchor on GMTV in 1993, and later returned to Border TV as one of the anchors of the relaunched 'Lookaround' news programme.
She also fronted a cookery series called 'Easy As Pie' for Carlton Food Network where she demonstrated her skills in the kitchen. Fiona has also featured in a series of programmes for Granada TV on 'Health And Slimming'. She also regularly chairs major conferences and award ceremonies.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Craig Austin combines roles as a broadcaster, writer and producer. He started his media career in radio and moved on to television, dipping his toes in ink along the way.
Craig is from Uddingston, on the outskirts of Glasgow, and is the youngest of four boys. He started a career in medical laboratory sciences but after three years he returned to student life to study media. He does miss the white coat though!
It was during his final year as a student that he got his first professional broadcasting gigs, writing and presenting travel and traffic reports on a number of Scotland's radio stations, as well as doing commercial voice-overs. A short spell hosting his own shows on Radio Tay in Dundee followed, before Craig found himself in Carlisle, working as an announcer, presenter and producer for Border Television.
Over the course of eight years as an announcer there, Craig presented in excess of 5,000 Border News bulletins, 1,000 'Border Birthdays' slots, and 20,000 in/out-of-vision continuity spots. He also got to host a range of children’s and entertainment specials, including the 'Hogmanay' shows and his own magazine series, 'CU4'. He was also co-responsible for the station’s on screen image.
Whilst there, he continued with a number of freelance presenting engagements including at Radio Clyde 1 in Glasgow and corporate video work for Norwich Union and Bank of Scotland; and he also syndicated a weekly youth entertainment and information column for youngsters, to nine newspaper titles in Scotland, the north of England and the Isle of Man.
Craig has even had a brief foray into the world of pop music working with BMG Records, Louis Walsh and Ronan Keating, as creative consultant to 'The Carter Twins' a young and talented Dublin pop act who were being groomed for Eurovision stardom. Or so they all hoped!
Craig has extensive behind-the-scenes experience as an on air producer and consultant and his skills have been utilised by broadcasters such as ITV, BBC, UKTV and RTÉ.
Since 2003, Craig has returned to performing, as a busy voice-over artist and out-of-vision announcer for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and the UKTV network and as a presenter of Film24 on Life24.
Craig has also been developing his skills as a screenwriter and has completed two feature film scripts.
Breakdown of Craig's career to date:
1987 - 1988: traffic and travel presenter for 'AA Roadwatch' and 'Flightwatch' on Radio Clyde, Radio Forth, Radio Tay, West Sound Radio, NorthSound Radio and BBC Radio Scotland.
1987 - 1997: freelance presenter and writer including: Radio Clyde 1 in Glasgow; Radio Tay in Dundee; Radio Borders in Galashiels; 'Pick Of The Week' for Yorkshire TV. Syndicated a weekly newspaper feature for young people, to nine titles in Scotland and the North of England. Also, corporate video presenting.
1988 - 1997: announcer/presenter/producer, Border TV. Craig presented in excess of 5,000 news bulletins, 1,000 children’s programmes, and 20,000 in/out-of-vision continuity spots.
1995 - 1997: editor, presentation and promotions, Border TV.
1997: head of presentation, UK Gold.
1998: producer/consultant, ITV 2. Set up the in-vision continuity for the channel launch.
1998 - 1999: producer/consultant, RTÉ, Dublin. Project manager for the on air rebranding and relaunch of RTÉ Network 2.
2000 - 2003: network presentation manager, ITV Network. Responsible to David Liddiment, director of channels, with the remit of refreshing ITV 1's junction and presentation management. Also involved in the implementation of the initial rebranding to ITV 1 and was responsible for creating the Network Continuity Unit which was to commission and schedule all on air presentation devices, as well as to supply announcers with detailed marketing and programme information.
At ITV, Craig also introduced the then radical presentation techniques of end credit promotions, standardised credits, ‘next’ captions. ‘next time’ and ‘previously’ teasers within programmes, ad break promotion opticals, and ‘countdown/after’ trailers, all of which are now standard practice on many UK television channels.
2003 - 2006: writer: creator of various TV and film drama projects, currently seeking development interest.
1995 - 2006: presenter for Halifax and Bank of Scotland corporate videos.
2003 - 2004: continuity announcer, Scottish TV and Grampian TV.
2004 - 2005: creative producer, BBC Broadcast. Contracted to set up a new 45 strong continuity department with writing hub for the UKTV network.
2005 - 2006: continuity announcer: UKTV Drama, UKTV History, UKTV Documentary, UKTV Style Gardens and UKTV Food.
2006: presenter for Film24, broadcasting daily on Life24. Shows include 'Film Xtra', 'Star Talk' and 'Scene:Out'.
2007: announcer/director at BBC Scotland for BBC One and BBC Two. A six month assignment as part of the migration project moving the headquarters in Queen Margaret Drive to a new site at Pacific Quay. This allowed existing staff to drop out of the rota to receive training on the new technology that will be used at Pacific Quay.
Presenter/producer/director with Film24, based at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Website
One of the main anchors of Border TV's 'Lookaround' news programme.Border TV news reader and presenter, and co-anchor of 'Lookaround' in the mid and late-1990s.Sally is a reporter/presenter on BBC 'East Midlands Today'. Previously, Sally worked as a presenter/reporter for 'Lookaround' (ITV Border) and 'Central News' (ITV Central).
We have no further information on this presenter at present. Presenters are encouraged to update their online profile by providing details via our Profile Submission mechanism.
Andrew was a continuity announcer and news reader with Border TV from 1989 to 1996. He was also responsible for Border's on-screen image and on air promotions. He moved very successfully into television management in 1996, and is currently one of the owners, and the chief operating officer of Film24, a channel all about film.Mainstay of Border TV's news team since the 1980s; occasional co-presenter of 'Lookaround', and also a Border weather presenter. Presenter on ITV Border's 'Lookaround' in the 1980s and 1990s.
Announcer at Granada's northern transmission centre, from May 2000 to 28 October 2002. She joined as a trainee announcer, after graduating in Film, Media and Communication from Sheffield Hallam University. She was a regular promotional voice for the Wellbeing Channel and was also heard occasionally on regional promotions made in Leeds. Kerrie moved from announcing to weather presenting after regional continuity ended on ITV 1.
Russell Hookey moved to Channel TV from the Chrysalis Group in London where he had been news reading on London radio stations Heart 106.2 and LBC 97.3 (often heard as a regular member of Sandi Toksvig's team) and also presenting on LBC News 1152. Prior to that he worked in commercial and BBC radio in the regions for more than twelve years as a news reader, producer and reporter and occasionally popped up covering stories for television with BBC 'South Today'.
At Channel TV, Russell was initially a stand-in presenter on 'Channel Report'; he later became one of the programme's regular presenters. He also provided continuity announcements at Channel TV.
Russell later moved to ITV Border, where he currently presents bulletins and fills in on the main 'Lookaround' programme.
Nina studied English language and linguistics at Durham University, before gaining a post-graduate diploma in broadcast journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
On graduating, Nina was selected for a traineeship at Border Television in Carlisle. Whilst there, she was a reporter, presenter and producer.
In 2000, Nina moved to London take up a presenting job with The Medical Channel. In 2001, she joined the BBC and became a regular presenter and reporter on 'BBC London News'.
In November 2004, Nina moved to ITN where she has presented on 'London Tonight'. Since early-2006 she has been the regular co-presenter of the 'ITV Evening News'.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Kim is a freelance TV presenter and reporter. She is also available for corporate filming and voice-over work. To date, credits include a variety of information voice-overs and health and safety videos.
Kim is an experienced public speaker and offers training to equip people with the skills necessary to help them look and speak better and feel more at ease addressing an audience. She also visits schools and colleges explaining the world of news, what makes a news story and how to tell it.
Other career details:
1995 - 2008: news, programme presenter and reporter for ITV Tyne Tees, including 'North East Tonight', 'Call Dr Jane', 'Property Matters' and 'Past Crimes'. Kim also presented 'This Morning' with Phillip Schofield.
1993 - 1995: presenter and reporter at Border TV, Carlisle.
Kim has a degree in French/Italian from the University of Manchester. She is also a fully-qualified journalist.
Website
Border Television news reporter and presenter in the 1980s, who went on to front nationally networked ITV programmes, including some time spent as a stand-in guest presenter on 'This Morning'.
Heather was an announcer with Border from 1994 until the end of regular regional continuity in October 2002; this included in-vision continuity links. She has also voiced many programmes for Border, including 'Border Stories', 'Bordering On 40' and 'The Way We Were'. Heather is also a regular news reader, presenter and producer at the station.Border TV presenter and then Tyne Tees TV news reporter and presenter, who now presents the BBC's 'Look North' from Newcastle.Courtnay is a presenter on Border TV's 'Lookaround'.Penny joined the industry in America in 1993, working in production at ABC and NECN in Boston, Massachusetts and at Fox in Oakland, California.
On her return to the UK, she joined Border TV, where she reported, presented and produced on the 'Lookaround' programme.
In 1998, she joined BBC Scotland, where she has become a regular face as a presenter on 'Reporting Scotland'. During her time at BBC Scotland, she also presented the late night 'Newsline' programme on BBC Choice Scotland.
Penny has also worked as a producer and reporter for BBC News 24.
Now the undisputed Emperor of Daytime Television (although he left 'This Morning' (ITV) to front an evening programme for Channel 4), Richard Madeley cut his television teeth at Border TV and then Yorkshire Television as a reporter and presenter for 'Calendar'. He left YTV to join Granada Television's local news programme, 'Granada Reports', as a news reader and reporter, where he met fellow reporter/presenter and his future wife, Judy Finnigan. The couple were soon catapaulted to national fame when Granada picked them to front its new morning magazine show, 'This Morning' in 1988, originally broadcast from Liverpool's Albert Dock, but from 1996, from London.
Granada TV's chief sportscaster on 'Granada Reports' and also presenter of 'Soccer Sunday' on Granada and neighbouring Border Television. Alistair also presented one season of HTV Wales' Sunday soccer programme in the mid-1990s.
Alistair is believed to have left Granada in 2006.
Border TV reporter, news reader and co-presenter of the main evening news magazine 'Lookaround'.
Adam is a presenter on ITV Border's 'Lookaround'.Chris reported and presented for Border Television from 1979 until 1982 before moving to TSW in Plymouth where he became the main anchorman when 'Today South West' was relaunched as 'Today' in 1986.
A heavyweight reporter with a penchant for political stories, Chris co-hosted the revamped programme with Sue King, recently headhunted from the BBC in Plymouth, for several months, but then left to host the rival BBC 'Spotlight'. Chris fronted the BBC show for a couple of years in the early-1990s, but was replaced by Russell Labey.
Chris remained with BBC South West as political editor, hosting the regular Sunday lunchtime local political programme, and reporting politics for 'Spotlight'.
Chris' last appearance on TSW was as a guest on the final edition of 'TSW Today'.
Penny started her journalistic career as a reporter and features writer for the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. Four years later she left to report and present for Radio Television Hong Kong.
Back to the UK by 1984 to a reporter/presenter role at Radio Trent. That was followed by a job as press officer at Central TV.
Her next career move took her to Border Television where she became co-presenter of 'Lookaround'. After a year she moved to Thames Television to co-present 'Thames News' with Andrew Gardner. She later joined Sky News as one of the most high profile faces in the channel's launch. For four years, Penny was the main anchor on Sky News 'Sunrise' and latterly, a presenter and producer of her own series of 'Action Adventure' news specials for Sky News.
In April 1993 she took up a presenting position with GMTV; she still works with the company today.
However, since 1994 she has also fronted LWT's 'Most Wanted' and has presented their hugely successful 'Crime File', 'Crime Net', 'Crime Weekly' and 'Crime Monthly' series. She also hosted Carlton Food Network's 'Superchefs' programmes, where Britain's top chefs competed before a live audience.
Kenny joined ITV Tyne Tees in 2002 after spending almost five years as a reporter/presenter with ITV Border. Originally from Annan, in south west Scotland, he graduated from Edinburgh University and then soon after began his career in journalism with Dumfriesshire Newspaper Group before making the switch to television.
Over the years he has been involved in a number of projects ranging from Scottish parliament correspondent to sports presenter. He is currently a reporter and presenter with ITV Tyne Tees covering both the north and south flagship programmes. He has also worked on a number of documentaries.
He is an RTS award winner, having won the 'Journalist Of The Year' in 2006 and has also been awarded silver in the ING News group awards in both 2005 and 2006. Kenny has a number of interests ranging from amateur dramatics to any kind of sports, indeed he has a rather unhealthy obsession with Carlisle United, having been a season ticket holder there for more years than he cares to remember. At the moment though, all his spare time is taken up looking after his young son, Mackenzie Jake, who was born on Christmas Day 2006.
Main anchor of Border's 'Lookaround' regional news magazine for more than two decades up until 1998 when he retired. He still appeared on the programme after this date as a guest presenter. Sadly, Eric Wallace died on 28 April 2004 after a long battle against cancer.
Kate is a presenter on ITV Border's 'Lookaround'.
Jonathan's first reporting job was at the Northants Post in Northampton. From there, he moved to the Carlisle News Agency, and then to the Evening News and Star. He then joined CFM Radio in Carlisle, where he presented a late-night Friday phone-in and Saturday sports show.
Since 1999, he has been a reporter/presenter on ITV Border's 'Lookaround' programme.
