Arthur Gordon Clough (26 August 1934, Salford, Lancashire – 6 April 1996, London), was an English radio presenter and journalist, primarily known for his work on BBC Radio 4.

Education

He was educated at Bolton School and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, where he read

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and Russian.

National service

He spent his national service monitoring Soviet radio traffic in the Baltic Sea, and joined the

BBC Russian Service BBC News Russian (russian: BBC News Ру́сская слу́жба) – formerly BBC Russian Service (russian: Ру́сская слу́жба Би-би-си́) – is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of nearly 4 ...

. He was banned from entering the Soviet Union as an alleged former spy.

Career

In 1968 he entered domestic journalism and then studio presentation, working on ''

The World This Weekend ''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...

'', '' PM'' and '' The World at One''. Aided by his fluency in Russian, he moved back to front-line journalism at the time of

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

's reforms, making a series of award-winning documentary programmes. Clough also covered South Africa months after the release of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, and for a season he presented ''EuroFile'', a magazine programme on BBC Radio 4 concerning European affairs. He was a question setter for, and the presenter of, '' Round Britain Quiz''.

Personal life

Clough was married to Carolyn Stafford. They divorced in 1991 but later remarried.

Sources

Obituary in the Independent 9 April 1996 - accessed 2 January 2012

External links

BBC Radio 4 programme entitled ''Tribute to Gordon Clough'' - Imperial War Museum: Clough's report from Leningrad on food queues and shortages in 1991 and the parallels with the siege of Leningrad, 1941-1942
1934 births 1996 deaths People educated at Bolton School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World Service British radio personalities {{UK-radio-bio-stub