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Brian Perkins (born 11 September 1943
in
Wanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
, New Zealand) is a former senior newsreader on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
.
Career
He first started working in 1962 in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Åtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
on radio stations of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS), and its successor, the
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC). He worked on
3YA,
3YC and sometimes on
3ZB
3ZB was a radio station based in Christchurch, New Zealand. This station was run by Radio New Zealand (formally the NZBS/NZBC/BCNZ) and eventually spawned a second FM station called B98FM. Today 3ZB and B98FM are part of a nationwide networks Ne ...
, and in those days all the work was continuity functions. When he came to
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
at the end of 1962 he started reading the news both on television and on radio. The NZBC introduced him to many forms of radio including compiling programmes, commentary and other functions.
In 1965 he moved to London, and obtained a role announcing and newsreading for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
A keen musician, he began by learning the cello and changed to a double bass. While in London he attended the
Guildhall School of Music
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
. In 1969 he went back to New Zealand to play the double bass with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Nine years later he returned to Britain to work exclusively for BBC Radio 4, although he also appeared on
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
's Sunday morning show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
in the early 1980s, and again in a one-off revival of that show in 1992. He retired from the BBC in 2003 on reaching the age of 60.
He specialised in presenting the news in a clear and concise way. In 2006, he was voted the third most popular voice on British radio.
Post-retirement
After his retirement, he continued to work as a newsreader on Radio 4, but in a freelance capacity, and also provided formal readings for the comedy programme ''
The News Quiz
''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
History
''The News Quiz'' was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently, it was chaired by Barry Took from 1979 to 1981, Simon Hoggart from ...
''. Since 1 July 2015, he has been a contributor to the online radio station www.positivelyroyal.com, founded by
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
as part of the "Positively" family of online radio stations.
"The Godfather of Radio 4"
Since 2000, radio and television comedy impressions show ''
Dead Ringers'' has had a running joke depicting Brian Perkins as the "Godfather of Radio 4", played on the show by impressionist
Jon Culshaw
Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy '' Dead Ringers'' since 2000.
Culshaw has voiced a number of characters for ITV shows including ''2DT ...
. His imitation often refers to himself as "Big Daddy Perkins" and frequently badmouths BBC colleagues, hinting that he's given out various punishment beatings to those who had earned his ire. In one sketch, the ''Dead Ringers'' Brian telephoned the real Brian, accusing him of not being hard enough. The real Brian riposted with a claim that he'd put
Peter Donaldson
Peter Ian Donaldson (23 August 1945 – 2 November 2015) was an English newsreader on BBC Radio 4.
Early life
Donaldson was born in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to Cyprus in 1952 at the time of the overthrow of King Farouk. He was a frequen ...
's feet in concrete and thrown him into a canal. In the 2007 ''Ten Years of Blair'' special of Dead Ringers, Perkins was portrayed as the Godfather of not only the BBC but the entire nation, acting as the British head of state. Brian and Jon later appeared together on the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
panel game
A panel show or panel game is a radio broadcasting, radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity conte ...
''
Wireless Wise''. Taking it one step further,
humourist Danny Wallace refers to Perkins as a
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
in his 2006
travelogue
Travelogue may refer to:
Genres
* Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling
* Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...
''
Yes Man''.
References
External links
*
Dead Ringers sketch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Brian
1943 births
Living people
British radio personalities
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 4
Radio and television announcers
New Zealand broadcasters
People from Whanganui