British and Irish TV talent
ITV 1 - Thames Presenters
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John's broadcasting career began at ILR station Radio Tees. He then joined BBC Newcastle before moving to London as a reporter/presenter on BBC Radio 1's 'Newsbeat' programme. He presented 'Thames News' with Andrew Gardener during the 1980s.
John is currently a correspondent/presenter for BBC Network News. He occasionally presents on the BBC News Channel. During his career at the BBC, he initially specialised in local government, covering the rise and fall of the poll tax and the Westminster gerrymandering scandal. He has since covered general news too, including the Harold Shipman murders and the war in Kosovo.
John was educated at Dialstone Boys School, Stockport, Stockport Boys Grammar School and the University of Leeds. He chairs conferences and seminars for a range of public, private and charity organisations. Among his hobbies he lists walking, music, island-hopping and helping his wife and daughters with horses and a pygmy goat.
Former Thames TV and BSB news presenter.
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.
Born in Dublin, Eamonn Andrews began sports commentating for Radio Éireann in 1939 and subsequently worked on various programmes for BBC Radio, including 'Sports Report' between 1950 and 1962.
On television he hosted the BBC's parlour game 'What's My Line?' (1951 - 1963), 'Crackerjack' (1955 - 1964), ABC Television's 'World Of Sport' (1965 - 1968) and 'This is Your Life' until his death in 1987.
He joined Thames Television from ABC in 1968 and was the first anchor of its nightly news magazine programme 'Today' until 1977. At the same time, he was active as a chat show host and children's programmes presenter, as well as being a keen businessman.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
(Formerly Gytha Hutton). Gytha started off as a trainee journalist on the Surrey Herald Newspaper in 1984. She freelanced for the Sunday Express and Sunday Mirror before joining the Evening Post at Reading. She was later headhunted for County Sound radio in Guildford.
In 1990, Gytha moved on to Thames TV in London where she co-anchored 'Thames News' with Andrew Gardner, covering many major events such as the Marchioness disaster and IRA bombings.
When Thames lost it's franchise, she moved to Meridian Television in Newbury where she did presenting and reporting. She left at the end of 2000 to live in Brisbane, Australia, where she still does radio reports for a New Zealand radio programme and runs a photography business, covering real estate, weddings, portraits and business.
Hobbies: gym, tennis, TV, news and reading.
Image courtesy of Andrews Photography.
Co-anchor of 'Thames At Six' and then 'Thames News' from 1978 until the early-1980s with Andrew Gardner. She also reported for Thames from 1983 until 1986 and also fronted news bulletins. Since leaving Thames, Rita has become a well known writer on the workings of the human brain, and has twice won the Medical Journalists' Association prize for contributions to medical journalism. She also co-wrote the book 'Mapping The Mind' with scientist Christopher Frith, and is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, and New Scientist.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Originally with Southern TV's regional news programme 'Day By Day' in 1981, Steve Clarke went on to become a reporter, news reader and presenter for the BBC's 'London Plus', 1986 - 1988. In 1988, he transferred to Thames originally co-presenting 'The City Programme' and later 'Thames News'.
Steve stayed with Thames until the end in December 1992. Steve is currently head of internal media at international news agency Reuters.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Served with the Royal Navy from 1979 until 1986. Started his TV career with Thames TV in 1988. In 1989 he transferred to the Met Office, where he remained until 2000. During his time with the Met Office, he presented national ITV weather forecasts from January 1992, staying for a year. Richard was the first national forecaster to move from ITV to the BBC. He joined the BBC Weather Centre in July 1993, where he remained until 2000.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Tim started off in the newspaper industry in 1967, working on the Bury Free Press in Suffolk. He later worked on Leicester Mercury and the Bermuda Sun. His early days in broadcasting were spent in local radio and on the BBC World Service. He then progressed to television, working on 'Look North' for BBC North from 1977. He joined Thames Television in 1980.
In 1981, he got a job at ITN. He left ITN for a time in 1993 to take up a presenting job with the BBC on 'Newsroom South East'. He returned to ITN in September 1996. During his time with ITN has run four foreign bureaux - Warsaw, Washington, Moscow and Johannesburg - and was sports editor for just over two years (September 2003 - January 2006). He is now a news correspondent for ITV News.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
A former ITN newscaster (he joined ITN in 1961), who co-hosted 'News At Ten' with Reginald Bosanquet and Alastair Burnet, Gardner moved to Thames Television in 1977 to front the newly relaunched local news magazine programme 'Thames News' which replaced 'Today' and 'Thames At Six'.
He stayed in this role until shortly before Thames went off the air at the end of 1992, and it was Gardner who announced to London viewers that Thames had lost the franchise in 1991.
Andrew Gardner died on April 2 1999, but is still remembered with great affection by television viewers in London and the South East.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Reporter/news reader and relief presenter for 'Thames News' from the mid-1980s. Paul joined LNN (news provider to Carlton London and LWT) at its launch in 1993 as its main news reader on local news bulletins. Paul is still with the ITV London news programme.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Main host of Thames' local news magazine programme 'Today' (1970 - 1977). He is best remembered for his infamous interview with the Sex Pistols on that programme in 1976, which has been repeated ad infinitum on scores of nostalgic television documentaries and theme nights. The incident caused something of an uproar at the time, but, looking back at it from today's perspective, the episode seems pretty inoffensive. Grundy and 'Today' made way for a new, 'newsier' programme, 'Thames At Six' a year later.
Thames Television presenter, 1972 - 1977 and reporter, 1968 - 1974. He also presented 'Thames Report' in the early-1980s.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Granada Television continuity announcer from 1961 until 1964 and also a regional presenter for Thames TV in London in 1968. He later built up somewhat of a cult following amongst students as the long serving host of Central TV's 'Blockbusters' on ITV in the 1980s and early-1990s.
Well known Thames Television announcer and news reader (from the late-1970s to 1992) and LWT continuity announcer. Robin was also a familiar voice to viewers across the ITV network, for his voice-overs at award ceremonies and the Royal Variety Show. Robin has also been heard as the voice of the questions on Channel 5's '100%'; he also presented the channel's 'One To Win' gameshow.
Co-anchor of 'Thames News' with Andrew Gardner throughout most of the 1980s; this pair were probably the programme's most famous double act.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Tina was a presenter with BBC 'Points West' in 1982. In 1983, she joined Thames TV as news reader, becoming one of the main anchors there in 1985. She left Thames in 1985.
She later moved to Sky News to present the Wild West End strand within 'Live at Five'.
Thames journalist who fronted 'Thames News' in 1989. Before moving to London, Liz was briefly co-host of 'Central News' from Birmingham. Liz can now be seen regularly as a presenter on BBC News 24, and before that presented on BBC World.
Image courtesy of Graeme Maver.
Presenter of 'Thames News' daytime bulletins (1986 - 1988) and then a reporter on 'Reporting London' 1988 - 1989 and 'Thames Reports' from 1989. He joined London News Network, providing news to Carlton and LWT, from 1993.
Jack was born in 1923 and worked for the Met Office from 1941 until 1983. Former mainstay of the BBC TV national weather team from 1969 until 1983. Jack Scott later moved to Thames Television from 1983 until 1988 where he took over from Francis Wilson, who had left Thames for the BBC's 'Breakfast Time'. After retiring from Thames, Jack co-presented 'Years Ahead' on Channel 4 from 1988 until 1989.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
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.
Joined TSW as co-host of 'Today South West', presenting the very first programme with veteran anchorman Ken MacLeod. Kerry soon left the job, and her seat was filled by Merryn Longfoot. Kerry went on to newsread for TVS in Maidstone and Thames Television in London (1988/1989), and now presents for Meridian Broadcasting.
Francis worked as a Met Office forecaster from 1972 until 1978 when he became a forecaster at Thames TV. In 1983 he moved to the BBC to become the main weather presenter on 'Breakfast Time', where computer graphics were used for the first time in weather forecasts on the BBC.
Francis remained with the BBC for ten years. He then switched to Sky, where he has been presenting weather bulletins ever since. Francis has won the title of Best Television Weather Presenter - Worldwide at the International Television Weather Forecasters Festival in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
