British and Irish TV talent
ITV 1 - Southern Presenters
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Trevor, who worked for the Met Office from 1941 until 1962, was a veteran forecaster appearing for 30 years, briefly on BBC TV before his long association with the ITV Southern TV contractors - Southern (joined in 1962) and TVS. He retired in the late-1980s, handing over his duties to Carl Tyler. In 1981, Trevor's local popularity was acknowledged when Southern Television granted Trevor his own Saturday night spectacular, 'Trevor Baker's All Weather Show'.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Tony was a presenter on Southern TV's 'Day By Day', 1961 - 1966 and BBC Two's 'Late Night Line-Up', 1967 - 1972. He also reviewed films for 'Pebble Mill At One' in the late-1970s.
Sports reporter with Southern Television (1974 - 1981) who moved over to TVS. He became the main sportscaster on the station when previous incumbent Fred Dineage was elevated to main anchor of the South edition of 'Coast To Coast' around 1984. David is now a presenter with Sky Sports, which he joined in 1993 after a spell as a freelance presenter for ITN, Channel 4 and Meridian Broadcasting.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Reporter, newscaster and presenter for Southern Television (1977 - 1981) and its successor, TVS.Peter Clark was a hard news reporter for both Southern Television and its successor, TVS. He was also a regular news reader and made several award winning documentaries for the stations. He was also the creator, compiler and presenter of 'Complaints Box', Britain's first television consumer programme.Presenter/reporter for Southern's news magazines 'Scene South East' and 'Scene Midweek' who moved to TVS as a general presenter and journalist. Her work for the company included the excellent series of 'Country Ways' documentaries, 'A Full Life' and 'Afternoon Club'. Jill went on to write and present 'Country Ways' for Meridian Broadcasting.
Veteran South of England broadcast legend with plenty of exposure to the national ITV network. Fred started out as a sports reporter and presenter on Southern, and filled the same role on TVS until he replaced Khalid Aziz as the main anchor on the South edition of 'Coast To Coast'. He was retained by Meridian, and still presents 'Meridian Tonight' to this day.
During his time with the three stations, Fred has presented several networked programmes, including wrestling for ITV Sport, 'Gambit' (Anglia), 'How' (Southern/TVS) and 'Vintage Quiz' (TVS). He also used to stand in for Dickie Davies on 'World Of Sport'.
Fred has also written a book about the Kray twins - they approached him to author it after watching him on the box and deciding that they liked the cut of his gib. Fred presented the final programme on TVS, 'Goodbye To All That' and has fronted several specials for successors, Meridian.
Donald worked as a reporter/presenter on Southern TV's 'Scene South East. Like Clive Gunnell on neighbouring Westward Television, Donald Dougal was best known for hiking around various beautyspots in the region.
Image courtesy of Nic Ayling.
Long time presenter of 'Scene South East', Southern's weekly news magazine for the South East part of its region, broadcast from the Dover studio. In 1977, the programme spawned a spin-off, 'Scene Midweek'.
Mike remained with TVS after the 1982 changeover, on the sports team, and with colleague Veronica Charlwood presented an equestrian series, 'Horses For Courses'. Currently, Mike is a freelance sports reporter for Meridian Broadcasting's South East region.
Image courtesy of Nic Ayling.
Southern and TVS reporter/presenter who left the company in the late-1980s to found Topical Television, which went on to produce 'TV Weekly' for TVS and has also produced programmes for successors Meridian Broadcasting.
Image courtesy of Nic Ayling.
Reporter and news reader for Southern Television in the 1970s and 1980s and for its successor, TVS.Ingrid Holford was a far cry from the traditional blonde and bubbly 'weather girl' but she certainly knew how to present a bulletin, and one almost felt that she might give out lines or a detention if you weren't paying attention. She fronted the weather for Southern from 1979 until 1981.
Born in India, Kenneth was educated at Felsted School and Oxford, where he gained a degree in modern languages. He was a BBC Radio Home Service announcer, 1948 - 1959 and a BBC TV news reader, July 1954 until March 1961 and again from July 1969 until 22 December 1981. He was also a BBC TV in-vision announcer, 1960 - 1961.
Kenneth freelanced from 1961 - 1969 as a presenter: BBC TV children's 'Pit Your Wits', 1961 - 1963, 'Fascinating Facts', 1963 - 1964 and BBC regional TV's 'Town And Around' in 1969. He also appeared in a 'Dr Who' story as a news reader in 1966, and in the mid-1960s anchored Southern Television's nightly magazine 'Day By Day'. In December 1957 he became the first BBC TV news reader to be named, when his name was superimposed on to the screen. He also famously lost a tooth whilst reading the BBC Two news in July 1979.
Later, he presented Channel 4's 'Treasure Hunt', from 1982, and then retired to live on the Isle of Wight where he opened an art gallery, specialising in the work of local painters. He devoted much of his time to his favourite charities, music and cooking, as well as racing and the theatre.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
LWT announcer in the 1970s who also worked as a reporter and news reader for Southern TV in the 1970s. Sarah went on to become one of the presenters of the BBC's 'Sixty Minutes' news magazine, and, famously, LWT's 'Game For A Laugh'. Since then she has presented many television and radio programmes and now hangs out at BBC Radio 2.
Image courtesy of Nic Ayling.
Presenter and reporter on Southern Television's 'Day By Day' (1980 - 1981) and later a reporter for TVS.
A former naval man, Ron fronted the weather for Southern (1980 - 1981) and went on to become one of the most popular presenters on TVS in the South East. A placid, yet charismatic TV natural, Ron would often mention in forecasts his daytime visits to schools across Kent, East Sussex and Essex where he would talk to the young ones about, well what else, the weather.
According to the TVS book 'Coast To Coast', Ron was the first television weatherman in the UK to use the term 'celsius'. It was also Ron who coined the phrase 'chill factor' apparently.
During the summer he would often present forecasts well away from the studios, either at the beach or famous landmarks like Leeds Castle. During the early years of TVS he would present forecasts from his trusty 'toblerone' - a triangular shaped revolving board. In 1987 Ron was given the chromakey, high-tech treatment.
On 'Meridian Tonight' he would often present forecasts from the comfy seated area used more often for interviews. Like Brucie or Barrymore he had his own set phrases - 'bronzy, bronzy' for the summer months, while in the depths of winter viewers would be warned to 'throw another blanket on the bed'. For the summer equinox he would melancholically comment 'downhill all the way to Christmas'. Ron is now retired from TV.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Cliff Michelmore became a household name as the main presenter of BBC Television's ground breaking 'Tonight' programme (1957 - 1965) and had around him such luminaries as Geoffrey Johnson-Smith (later to become a Conservative MP), Derek Hart, Kenneth Allsop, Fyfe Robertson and Alan Whicker.
In 1965 Cliff went on - with many of the same colleagues (and others) - to be one of the main presenters of the late night '24 Hours' news and current affairs programme on BBC One until 1968 (the programme continued every weeknight until 1972).
Cliff continued in his freelance role as a BBC presenter of various programmes, including the 'Holiday' programme, from 1969 until 1986. He returned to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary in 1994, with the then presenter Jill Dando, and visited the resort featured in the first programme. In February 1980, he replaced Barry Westwood as the chief presenter of Southern Television's 'Day By Day' programme, working Monday to Thursday each week. There was an irony here because 'Day By Day' - like many other regional early evening magazine programmes - was launched because of the huge success of the old BBC 'Tonight' programme. Tonight was a pioneering programme that set the tone for a generation of imitators.
Cliff's 22 month stint with Southern Television ended on December 31 1981 - the day Southern's franchise expired. His spell with Southern Television merited one line in his autobiography.
His wife was 'forces favourite' broadcaster Jean Metcalf, who also was a well known broadcaster on BBC radio, who died in February 2000.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Sports presenter and reporter on 'Scene South East', who combined his television work with his full time job as a sports editor on the local Kentish newspaper. Malcolm presented the first and the last edition of the programme from Southern's Dover building.
Image courtesy of Nic Ayling.
Reporter/presenter for Southern Television (1970 - 1981) and then TVS. Often co-anchored 'Coast To Coast' and presented lunchtime and late regional news bulletins. For Southern, James introduced 'Happy News' to nightly news magazine 'Day By Day' in the 1970s. Later, he presented arts/entertainment strands for TVS, notably 'Music In Camera'.Presenter of Southern TV's 'Day By Day', in the late-1960s.
Martin was a holiday relief announcer, BBC General Overseas Service, in 1956. He joined the BBC TV in-vision announcing team in 1957, finally leaving in 1964. He was a Southern TV announcer, news reader and reporter from 1958 to 1960 and was also a presenter on BBC 'South Today' from 1961 to 1964.
He was a presenter of BBC TV's 'Come Dancing' (1961 to 1973) and a BBC Radio announcer and news reader for the Home Service and Radio 4 (1964 to 1973). He was a presenter on the BBC Light Programme in 1965 and a presenter on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' in the mid-1960s. He also voiced BBC TV trailers in 1976.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Southern Television weather presenter from 1963 until 1981.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Chris reported for 'About Anglia', 1968 - 1970, and then reported and presented for Southern Television's 'Day By Day' evening news magazine from 1970, and moved over to TVS in 1982, where he regularly co-hosted 'Coast To Coast' with a selection of presenters, including Khalid Aziz and Chrissie Pollard.
When TVS lost its franchise, Chris decided to move to London News Network from 1993, where he was a senior news reporter.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
In 1960, Simon attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and began his acting career in one of Britain's first television soap operas, 'Home Tonight' with David Hemmings. For the next eleven years he worked extensively on radio and television and in provincial repertory theatre, including a year with Ian McKellen's 'Hamlet'.
After working as a continuity announcer and news reader at Southern TV, in 1970, Prebble joined the newsroom at Capital Radio, the second commercial radio station in Britain, where he hosted 'London's Day'. He then embarked on a career as a presenter and voice-over announcer, including thirteen years as the promo voice of Thames Television, as well as regular promo work for HTV and Anglia TV. From 1984 he was the announcer for the British version of the phenomenally successful game show 'The Price Is Right' with Leslie Crowther.
In 1990, Prebble moved to New York where he continued doing voice-over work. As well as recording numerous radio and television commercials, he also character-voiced cartoon series, such as 'Courage The Cowardly Dog', hosted and presented several television documentary series, notably 'Target Mafia', and narrated the IMAX film 'Endurance' about the Shackleton expedition. In 1996, he was a lead actor for a year (as villain Martin Chedwyn) on the American daily soap opera 'As The World Turns'.
In the US, he also began narrating audio books, and to date has recorded over 300 titles. An audiofile 'Golden Voice', his work has gained him more than eighteen 'Earphone' awards, nine nominations for the 'Audies' (the audiobook Oscars), and in 2005, he was named Narrator of the Year by Publishers Weekly.
Apart from his acting career, in 1967 Prebble designed and produced the 'executive toy' called Newton's Cradle.
In 2003, at Chiswick House London, he married Swedish graphic artist, Marie-Janine Hellstrom. In 2007, along with his wife, he became a US citizen.
Southern Television (1976 - 1981) and TVS political reporter/editor, who went on to present the TVS weekly politics programme, 'Agenda'. After TVS lost its contract, Brian remained in the press gallery of the House of Commons, where he is still based today, covering politics. He now reports for the Capital Radio Network, covering radio stations mainly in the South and South East of England. They include Invicta Radio, Southern FM, and Ocean FM, among others.
Before joining Southern, Brian worked for Tyne Tees TV, where he first presented a weekly studio discussion called 'Youth Puts The Question'. He then moved on to front a half hour weekly children's programme, 'Three Rivers Club', with Australian presenter Don Spencer, who wrote and recorded the opening title music for the popular Fireball XL5 children's programme.
During the late-1960s, Brian covered politics for, and often presented, the nightly news magazine programme 'North East Roundabout' with co-hosts Roddy Griffiths and Charlotte Allan. He also chaired the weekly political programme, 'Front Page Debate' for TTTV.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Alastair's TV career began in 1976 with Southern Television, where he was a presenter and reporter.
He joined ITN in 1980 as industrial correspondent and moved into newscasting in 1981. He has presented virtually every ITV news programme at some point during his career.
Alastair was a presenter and reporter with 'Channel 4 News' in its early days. From 1983 he became involved in ITN's annual budget coverage programme for ITV; he was anchoring the programme from 1988. He co-anchored ITN's 1987, 1992 and 1997 General Election programmes. In 1986 he presented the 'ITN News At 5.40' on ITV. He had progressed to 'News At Ten' by 1989.
In 1993 Alastair became a regular presenter on 'London Tonight'; he is still with the programme at present.
In 1995 he presented 'Alastair Stewart's Sunday' on BBC Radio 5 Live. He later moved to GMTV where he hosted 'Alastair Stewart's Sunday Programme'; that programme continued until July 2001.
Alastair moved back to ITV News in 2003 to present coverage of the Iraq War on the ITV News Channel. He remained a regular face on the ITV News Channel until its closure in December 2005.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Sports presenter for Southern TV's 'Day By Day' from 1974.
Southern Television meteorologist, 1963 - 1981, and then TVS weatherman in the 1980s, who often stood in for Trevor Baker or, later Carl Tyler.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Former presenter of both 'Westward Diary' - in its very early days (he presented for one week in every three alternating with Ken MacLeod and Reginald Bosanquet) - and Southern's 'Day By Day' where he presented from 1968 until 1980. Barry now runs a broadcast training consultancy, preparing PR men and company executives for television and radio interviews.Christopher was a reporter and presenter for 'Day By Day', from 1971 to 1976, specialising in environment and local government - the first-ever dedicated environment reporter on ITV.
He joined from Fleet Street where he had worked on the Daily Mail and Sunday Telegraph, and returned there to write the Daily Express's celebrated William Hickey column. He subsequently wrote named columns for The Times, Daily Telegraph and Today. He is now a well-known biographer, specialising in royalty, with regular appearances on TV and radio.
In 1975, he married fellow 'Day By Day' reporter Carolyne Cullum.
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Preston Witts began working as a reporter for Southern Television - having been a political correspondent in Parliament for various newspapers - at the end of November 1976. His work involved studio interviews - live and recorded - making films for the magazine programme 'Day By Day', co-presenting a local politics programme called 'People Rule' with - among others - Veronica Charlwood and Alastair Stewart, and reporting on documentaries for the 'Southern Report' series of regional half hour films.
When Southern lost the franchise and TVS began broadcasting on January 1 1982, he (with most of the other Southern people) joined the new TV station. He continued working as a reporter and interviewer for the new daily magazine programme, 'Coast To Coast', until July 1984, when he became part of TVS's new weekly political programme, 'Agenda'. The lead presenter was Llew Gardner, with Preston Witts and Brian Shallcross doing studio reports and films.
Preston Witts stayed with TVS until returning to London as a freelance from the beginning of 1990. He is now the press and public relations manager of the Institute Of Management in London.
