Mike Smith (television Presenter)
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Michael George Smith (23 April 1955 – 1 August 2014), also known by the on-air nickname of Smitty, was an English television and radio presenter, racing driver, pilot and businessman. He died on 1 August 2014 from complications of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
following major heart surgery. During the 1980s, he co-hosted BBC TV's '' Breakfast Time'' and was among rotating presenters of the music show ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
.


Radio career

Smith began his broadcasting career at Chelmsford Hospital Radio, before joining
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 1975 as a freelance producer and presenter. His work included promotions and production work for the ''Radio 1 Roadshow'', ''Quiz Kid'' and most daytime network shows. As a standby DJ, Smith occasionally broadcast when live outside broadcasts failed. He joined London's
Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...
in June 1978 and presented a variety of shows until July 1980, when he became the
breakfast show Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a lo ...
presenter. He moved back to BBC Radio 1 in 1982, presenting the weekday early show from 6 to 7 am and a Saturday-morning show. In 1983, Smith took over the weekday lunchtime show (11.30 am to 2 pm) until March 1984, when he briefly left to present '' BBC Breakfast Time''. He returned to Radio 1 in May 1986, taking over from
Mike Read Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter. Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for musi ...
on '' The Radio 1 Breakfast Show'' from 7.00 to 9.30 am, where he remained until almost exactly two years later when he left Radio 1 for good in 1988. Smith admitted to
Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to ...
in a BBC documentary aired in May 2010, ''When Moyles met The Radio 1 Breakfast DJs'', he really missed being on the radio, but not television.


Television career

Smith's career as a television presenter included
Thames TV Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
's '' CBTV'', BBC1 entertainment magazine and music chart shows ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' (1982-1988) ''Show Business'' (1983) and ''Friday's People'' (1985–87),
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 ...
' '' The Late, Late Breakfast Show'' (1984–86), ''
That's Showbusiness ''That's Showbusiness'' is a game show that aired on BBC1 from 20 May 1989 to 8 July 1996 and hosted by Mike Smith. Format In the first three series, the game was played with two teams of three with team captains Kenny Everett and Gloria Hunni ...
'' (1989–96), and
Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...
's ''Trick or Treat'' for ITV. Smith was one of BBC TV's presenters at
Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
in 1985. He helped found
Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
and presented several of the charity's TV shows. Smith presented BBC TV's ''Railwatch'', which was broadcast live for five days in February 1989. Other large outside broadcasts included ''Hospital Watch'', ''Airport Watch'' and the BBC coverage of the Royal Tournament. Smith decided not to sign the licence extension that would allow the BBC to repeat the ''Top of the Pops'' episodes that he presented, with the BBC continuing to respect his wishes following his death. As a result, episodes featuring Smith have been omitted from the repeat run on BBC Four.


Pilot

Smith was a qualified helicopter pilot. He and his partner (later his wife)
Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene (born 24 October 1957) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series '' Saturday Superstore'' and ''Going Live!''. E ...
were injured on 10 September 1988 when the
Robinson R22 The Robinson R22 is a two-seat, two-bladed, single-engine light utility helicopter manufactured by Robinson Helicopter Company. It was designed in 1973 by Frank D. Robinson, and has been in production since 1979. Development The majority of fl ...
Beta helicopter he was piloting (bearing the personal registration G-SMIF) crashed in
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...
. Smith reported apparent unrecoverable loss of engine power whilst circling to reconnoitre an unfamiliar landing site. Both passengers survived, although Greene broke both legs and an arm, and Smith suffered a broken back and ankle. The
Air Accidents Investigation Branch The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies. It is also the Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA ...
neither criticised nor exonerated Smith in relation to the crash (it being beyond its remit to do so), concluding simply that "examination of the helicopter ncluding flight control, fuel, engine control, dynamic systems and the engine itselfrevealed no failure or unserviceability that could have resulted in a loss of rotor speed."


Aerial filming company

In 2004 Smith founded Flying TV, a company providing aerial filming services to broadcasters. As well as being managing director, Smith often acted as an aerial cameraman.


Motor racing

Driving from the age of 8, Smith raced at the age of 14 in grasstrack events, building his own cars. In 1972, aged 17, he passed his test and took up motorsports in racing, rallying and rallycross. In 1976, he progressed to Formula Ford 2000 with the
Patrick Head Sir Patrick Michael Head (born 5 June 1946) is a British motorsport executive who is the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineer ...
-designed Sark. Smith was also a motorsport commentator, mainly at
Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...
where he also, age 21, ran the marketing operation. It was through that during this time he became interested in broadcasting. While still broadcasting Smith raced in several
British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed a ...
races, driving a newly
homologated Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...
Sierra Cosworth in 1987, and then alongside
Frank Sytner Frank Sytner (born 29 June 1944 in Liverpool) is a British racing driver, a Life Member of the BRDC, and was the 1988 British Touring Car Champion, driving a BMW M3. He also won his class in 1990. Racing career He started racing in the ear ...
in 1988 with whom he often clashed in a
BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mode ...
. He also won the Willhire 24 Hour at
Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 201 people living in 74 h ...
in 1986, driving a
Ford Escort RS Turbo The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms beginning with the original rear-wheel drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980) ...
. Veteran commentator
Murray Walker Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 20 ...
remarked that Smith "guaranteed action by the bucket-load". In 1989, Smith established a
BTCC The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...
team known as Trakstar with
Robb Gravett Robb Gravett (born 10 May 1956 (sometimes noted as 2 May 1956) is a British retired racing driver and team owner from London. He started his motorsport career on two wheels, racing Moto Cross at the age of 12. By 15, he was already British cham ...
and Malcolm Swetnam. They ran two Sierra Cosworths, which had been imported from the Australian Touring Car stable of Dick Johnson. Gravett went on to become runner up in Group A, but Smith struggled with his recovery from the helicopter crash. However, loss of a major sponsor in 1990 meant that only one car could be run, which was raced by Robb Gravett who became champion. Smith never raced competitively again.


Racing record


Complete European Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Not eligible for points.


Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
) Races in bold indicate pole position. Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 1987–1989 in class) † Endurance driver (Ineligible for points)


Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Not eligible for points.


Personal life

Smith attended Ballyholme Primary School in Bangor, Northern Ireland during the early 1960s due to his father being relocated to Belfast by his employer, the Ford Motor Company. Having spent a short period at
Bangor Grammar School (Maintain justice) , established = 1856 , type = Voluntary grammar school , religious_affiliation = Interdenominational , head_label = Principal , head = E P Huddleson , r_head_label = Chaplains , r_head = Nig ...
, Smith attended King Edward VI Grammar School,
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...
, where he was the resident DJ at the school Friday night sixth form disco. He married Sarah Greene in 1989, soon after their 1988 helicopter crash. Smith died on 1 August 2014 from complications following major heart surgery. His wife of 25 years, TV presenter
Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene (born 24 October 1957) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series '' Saturday Superstore'' and ''Going Live!''. E ...
, survives him.


References


External links


Mike Smith obituary
by Gary Watkins on autosport.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mike 1955 births 2014 deaths BBC Radio 1 presenters British Touring Car Championship drivers English racing drivers English radio DJs English radio presenters English television presenters People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford People educated at Bangor Grammar School Top of the Pops presenters BMW M drivers