British and Irish TV talent
BBC North Presenters
If you're not included on these pages and feel that you should be, or if you'd like to make an amendment to an existing profile, click here to update us. Many presenters contact us every month, updating us on their career to date. Profile updates appear on the site within hours. Please do keep the information coming and help us maintain the most comprehensive reference of its kind.
Bradford born Christa Ackroyd, one of the main presenters of 'Calendar' for more than 10 years recently left the station in 2001 to anchor the rival BBC 'Look North' from Leeds from Autumn that year.
She started her career in journalism with the Halifax Courier and then moved into radio, first with Pennine Radio, and then with Radio Aire, where she became the UK's first female radio news editor. While there she covered the Yorkshire Ripper case, and supplied reports to national network radio.
Christa joined Yorkshire Television in 1989.
TSW's long serving weatherman, replaced by TV-am's Trish Williamson, and then Andy Yeatman from the local Met Office. After leaving TSW, Trevor continued to forecast for the BBC's 'Look North', and now combines this with a full-time job as a Rights Of Way Officer in Yorkshire.
Khalid's broadcasting career began at the BBC; he was a producer at BBC Radio Leicester. He soon moved into TV and became the youngest presenter of the BBC's 'Look North' in Leeds, at the age of 24. Whilst at the BBC, he worked on various national current affairs programmes, such as 'Panorama'.
After twelve years with the BBC, he cross to TVS in 1982 to anchor TVS' 'Coast To Coast' from Southampton. He left the programme to produce documentaries in the mid-1980s, but still presented for TVS, fronting the business programme, 'Enterprise South'.
In the early days of TVS, 'Coast To Coast' viewers were treated to regular updates on this rather adorable puppy, named Coaster by viewers. He was Khalid's pet, and a regular guest in the studio, though his screen appearances ended when management decided that this sort of Blue Peter-esque escapade wasn't fitting for such a serious regional news programme.
He is currently Professor of business communications at Southampton University and also runs his own public affairs/media consultancy - The Aziz Corporation.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Brian Baines was a regular presenter of 'Look North' bulletins from Leeds during the late-1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In fact, Brian was the first voice to be heard on 'Look North'. He was also one of the main continuity announcers for BBC North TV during the 1970s and early-1980s when BBC English regions had their own continuity. He still provided continuity into local programming on BBC North until the late-1980s.
He retired from BBC Leeds on April 25 1988. Sadly, Brian passed away on 30 June 2006, aged 75.
Anna has a degree in geography from Oxford University. Following her graduation, she opted for a career in journalism and spent a year with Granada Television as a researcher. She then took a post-graduate course in journalism in Cardiff.
In 1991, she joined BBC North as a radio and TV reporter; later, she presented on 'Look North'. In 1995, Anna moved to Sky as a reporter. She later turned to presenting and has fronted all of Sky's major news programmes at some point. During her time with Sky she has covered many major events such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Kosovo conflict and the death of Princess Diana.
Anna is still one of Sky's main news presenters.
Penny started her journalistic career with the Western Mail in Cardiff before her long association with the BBC, starting as a reporter at Radio Brighton in 1979.
She was asked to join the team starting up the new station in Lincolnshire in 1980 as a producer, and read the station's first ever bulletin. In 1983, she landed a four month attachment with the new BBC 'Breakfast Time' as an assistant producer - but got that cliched 'lucky break' six weeks later - and became a reporter for five years. She also presented the local news bulletins (South East regional opt-out) and ocasionally, 'London Plus'.
In 1987, she joined Yorkshire TV's 'Calendar' as a reporter and also occasionally presented alongside the legendary Richard Whiteley. In 1988, she returned to London and combined presenting 'Newsroom South East' with the regional documentary series 'Friday Reports' and an events/entertainment programme 'Weekend'.
In 1989, she began a long stint as a presenter/reporter on 'Look East' in Norwich where she also reported/presented on regional documentaries and an environment series.
For two years from 1997, she headed the fundraising and PR team at a children's hospice in Cambridge. In 1999, she moved to Yorkshire and freelanced as a reporter/presenter for Tyne Tees, Yorkshire TV and BBC Look North. In 2002, after graduating with a first class honours degreee from York University, she worked as head of communications for an NHS Primary Care Trust.
She returned to BBC Look North in 2004, where she is currently health correspondent.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Barry was a presenter on BBC 'Look North' from 1963 until 1973.Caroline has been a presenter with BBC Radio Cleveland since 2001. She is also a reporter and presenter on BBC North's 'Look North'.
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.
Steve was born in Larne, Northern Ireland. His broadcasting career began with BBC Northern Ireland in the early-1980s: he started off as a TV continuity announcer and also read the news on TV and on BBC Radio Ulster. He later fronted many sports programmes for BBC Northern Ireland, such as 'Grandstand' and 'Sportsnight'. He also produced and presented for BBC Radio Ulster.
In the late-1980s, Steve moved to Yorkshire to present a radio talk show on BBC Radio Leeds (for which he won a Sony Gold) Over the years, Steve has presented on various radio stations, including: BBC Radio Newcastle; BBC Radio Three Counties; BBC Radio WM. He also worked at BBC Radio 5 Live, where he wrote and hosted 'The Media Show' and presented on 'Late Night Live', and 'Breakfast'.
In the early-1990s, Steve started work with Yorkshire TV as a reporter and presenter. Among the programmes he presented: 'Calendar', 'Scoreline', 'Tonight' and 'Live Lunch'.
He also presented for BBC TV in the Midlands: 'The Midlands At Westminster' and read the news on 'Look North'
In 2001, he fronted the national ITV 1 quiz, 'The Biggest Game In Town', presenting ninety-six live editions of the show. He also presented the current affairs programme 'A Bitter Pill' on BBC One Network.
Steve is still based in Leeds, where he runs a media company alongside his broadcasting commitments.
Image courtesy of Mark Swinford Photography/Steve Le Fevre.
Website
(Formerly Helen Morton). Helen's broadcasting career began with a national news agency at the age of 18. She went on to become an editor, reporter and presenter with Sky News.
In 1997 she joined GMTV where she was showbusiness correspondent and later US correspondent. In 2002 she moved back to the UK to present the BBC regional news programme in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, 'Look North'.
Two-and-half years later, Helen returned to Sky. Helen is currently a relief presenter for Sky News and 'Five News'.
Clare read politics at Hull University. She joined the BBC as a news trainee and spent four years with BBC Radio York as a reporter. She then moved to 'Look North' in Leeds as a presenter and won the BT News Broadcaster Of The Year award for the North East and Yorkshire region, in 1998.
In the early-2000s, she spent a period in York presenting the newly launched 'Look North' for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
She returned to the Leeds edition in 2002, fronting breakfast and lunchtime bulletins mainly.
Harry started doing match reports for BBC Radio Leeds in 1971. At the time, he was a history teacher. He joined the radio station full time in 1978; he became sports editor on 1980.
C. 1983, Harry became a regular face on BBC North's regional news programme, 'Look North'.
He also worked on the 'Today' programme for BBC Radio 4, presented 'Grandstand' a few times and was a regular on BBC Network sports programmes for 25 years.
In 1994, he became Public Affairs Executive for the Rugby League. A year later, he returned to broadcasting and presented the BBC's 'South Today'.
In 1999, Harry returned to 'Look North' after a five year break.
Original member of BBC Leeds' Look North team who then moved to London as a BBC TV News home reporter, 1974 - 1980 and 1983 - 1986. He was South Africa correspondent, 1980 - 1983.
Philip was a BBC TV relief news reader in April 1984, and between May 1985 and July 1985. He joined permanently in July 1986, remaining until January 1994. Relief presenter, 'Breakfast News', 1992 - 1994. Presenter on BBC Manchester's 'North West Tonight' in 1994, and news reader on BBC World in 1995.
More recently, he has presented on BBC News 24 and appeared again on BBC One reading the weekend news in August 2001.
In September 2005, Philip left the BBC because of a personality clash with a presenting colleague.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
James was a presenter on BBC 'Look North' from 1966 until 1970. He then moved to national TV, where he worked as a reporter on various BBC programmes: '24 Hours' (1970 - 1971), 'Nationwide' (1972 - 1982) and 'Newsnight' (1982 - 1988).Blair's career as a broadcast journalist began on the news desk at BBC Solent in Southampton. He later moved to BBC Radio Humberside where he presented the tea-time programme initially. He now presents a daily phone-in programme at the station - 'Soapbox'.
Blair also presents television news bulletins for 'Look North'.
Charlotte reports and presents for BBC North's 'Look North'.Keith was a presenter on the pre-runner to 'Look North' from 1960 until 1965.Stephen was a presenter on BBC 'Look North' from 1973 until 1976.
Sophie's career at the BBC began in 1992 when she joined the regional trainee scheme and went on to become a reporter at Greater Manchester Radio. In 1994 she moved to Brussels to become a Europe correspondent for the BBC regions.
BBC Leeds beckoned in 1995 and Sophie became a reporter and presenter for 'Look North', where she remained until 1997, when she moved to London to anchor BBC TV's 'Breakfast News', 1997 - 2000, and 'Breakfast' from October 2000, alongside Jeremy Bowen. Relief BBC TV news reader in April 2002.
In January 2003, Sophie became one of the main co-anchors on the 'Six O'Clock News'. From May 2006, having just returned from maternity leave, she took up the role of anchor of the 'One O'Clock News'.
Sophie has also reported on 'Tomorrow's World' in the past.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Barrie was an announcer and news reader for BBC TV Leeds in 1979. In 1980, he moved to Grampian TV in Aberdeen; he had much the same role there, being one of the line-up of staff announcers, who also read the news.
He left Grampian for a career in production and cut his teeth as a rookie TV director at Ulster Television at the height of 'The Troubles'. When his agent got him the job he was asked if he wanted the good news or the bad news first. As a director, he worked for various ITV companies on networked promotions, religion, childrens' programming and news.
Barrie later moved into management, setting up and running departments for a variety of new stations across Europe. He still dabbles in presenting and does voice-overs. Once while working as a news director at Central television he stood in for a news reader. The director on duty said he was impressed and suggested he had a go at it for a living! The same thing happened while on a course at the National Film and TV School. But, Barrie tells us, a return to the screen is not on the cards.
Barrie last updated us in July 2008, at which point he was director of operations for a national TV channel in Asia. And yes, he will be casting a critical eye over the presentation!
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Website
David was a BBC 'Look North' presenter from 1968 until 1973. He moved to join the presentation team for the lunchtime show 'Pebble Mill At One' until 1978.
David was also a presenter on the BBC North East regional news programme at one point (dates TBC).
Mike was a presenter and reporter for BBC 'Look North' during the 1970s and early-1980s. He then moved to the national BBC newsroom, where he was a reporter and presenter. In 1997, he founded BBC News Online, the BBC's internet news service. Until 2004 he held the post of editor-in-chief of BBC News Interactive.
At the 2003 European Online Journalism Awards, he received an award for outstanding contribution to online journalism in Europe, and in 2004 he was made an OBE for services to broadcasting.
Mike left the BBC in 2004. He now consults, lectures and writes about journalism and interactive news and is also editor-in-chief of World Press Photo's Online magazine Enter.
Judith presented on BBC 'Look North' from 1980. She was a relief news reader on 'News After Noon' in April 1983.
Judith now works at the University of Leeds within the Institute of Communication Studies where she is the section head of broadcast journalism.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Jeremy was a BBC 'Look North' presenter from 1974 until 77. He joined BBC TV News as North of England correspondent until 1982. He was a relief BBC TV news reader on 'News After Noon' from December 1981 unril January 1982.
Jeremy joined ITN as sports correspondent and was later Far East correspondent. He is currently one of the main presenters on Sky News.
In February 2006, Jeremy won the Royal Television Society's award for Presenter Of The Year.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Mark was a BBC TV announcer from 1983 to 1986 (first voice heard over the new BBC One COW globe in 1985), moving from BBC TV Newcastle where he fronted bulletins for 'Look North' and BBC Radio 4 in the north. Before that, he presented on BBC local radio in Leeds and Cleveland.
In 1986, he became an assistant producer for BBC network religious programmes, and in 1988 he moved to BBC TV in Leeds as a director and presenter, directing documentaries and features for both regional and network output. Programmes included 'North Of Westminster', 'Settle', 'Carlisle Railway', and 'The Restoration Of York Minster'. He was also a relief presenter of TV news bulletins.
In 1990, Mark moved back to BBC TV in London returning to the announcing team until c. 1992. Later he was transmission director for BBC One and BBC Two and involved with the launch of the satellite services BBC World and BBC Prime. Recently, he has worked as a creative producer for BBC Broadcast, leading a team of promo directors producing radio and television spots for the English regions.
Colin had a brief spell as a presenter in 1962 on the pre-runner to BBC 'Look North'. He is an accomplised actor/writer, best known as PC David Graham in 'Z Cars', 1962 - 1965 and for winning an Oscar in 1982 for the screenplay of Chariots of Fire.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Ian was educated at Ponteland County High School in Northumberland.
His first venture into broadcasting was with hospital radio station Radio Tyneside in Newcastle in 1988.
In 1990, he was a TV researcher at York Films of England. He moved to IMS Ltd (subtitling and facilities) in 1993. Later in 1993, Ian was a researcher on BBC TV East's 'Look East'.
In 1995 he took up a position involving presenting, reporting and producing at BBC Radio Norfolk. Later in 1995, he became a broadcast journalist at BBC TV East's 'Look East'.
In 1996, he was news reading, producing and presenting at BBC Radio Leeds. 1998 saw Ian move to BBC TV North, where he became a presenter on the 'Look North' daytime bulletins. In 1999 he became a regular face on the 9.28pm weekday edition of the programme. The following year, he was presenting and producing BBC TV Yorkshire's 10.25pm weekday news programme.
From 2002, in addition to his responsibilities on the late weekday programme, he also began presenting on an occasional basis on the main evening weekday news programme for BBC TV Yorkshire.
Ian is the owner of the TV-am name, brand, logo, trademarks and intellectual property rights. He runs the official TV-am website (link below).
Website
