Peter Tomlinson (born 4 April 1943, in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) is a broadcaster and continuity announcer. He created the British children's television series ''

Tiswas ''Tiswas'' (; an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. It was ...

'' and was the programme's co-presenter in its early years. He was also one of the earliest presenters on

Harlech Television ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV (TV network), ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, ...

. In 2007 he became the High Sheriff of the West Midlands.

Early broadcasting

Born in 1943 in

, he was one of the first announcers on ''

'' (later ''HTV''). In the early 1970s, he moved to ATV. Fellow broadcaster Alex Trelinski recalled "he brought some great laughs into his continuity slots. The highlight of the week was on a Friday night when ATV would screen a horror film after News at Ten under the umbrella title of "Appointment with Fear". Everybody would have fun, with often the continuity suite lights being darkened, and Peter Tomlinson would appear clutching a

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

Tiswas

In 1973, Tomlinson was given the task of linking a number of children shows on ''ATV'' on a Saturday morning. To liven things up, in between cartoons, he ad-libbed a competition, offering viewers the chance to win a T-shirt. The response to the competition was enormous and quite unprecedented for the station. This gave Tomlinson the confidence to approach the ATV's management and show them there was an untapped audience out there. The management agreed and Tiswas was born. Known as the "plummy-voiced" member of the team, he was a regular presenter on the show from 1974 to 1977, when it was still only shown in the Midlands region. He did though make sporadic appearances after that up until 1980, when the show was at the peak of its (almost) national popularity.

Later broadcasting

After leaving ATV in 1979 he joined ''

Beacon Radio Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. As of Sep ...

'' in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

and the Black Country. He later became managing director and a presenter of

Saga Radio {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Saga Radio Group was a British radio network owned and operated by Saga Group, Saga Services Ltd, and aimed at an audience aged 50 and over. The first Saga station was launched in the West M ...

's West Midlands station. During the 1980s he was heard providing the voice-over on

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

's popular quiz show '' Blockbusters''. In 2022, Peter joined the presentation team at the online easy listening radio station Serenade Radio (www.serenade-radio.com) hosting a show every Sunday afternoon.

High Sheriff of the West Midlands

At a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in April 2007, Tomlinson was named the new High Sheriff of the West Midlands. He said "I feel very honoured to be asked to become the High Sheriff of one of the busiest shrievalties in the country. I am looking forward to serving my country and making a difference where I can."

Worcestershire County Council

Peter Tomlinson was elected as a councillor on 16 August 2016 on Worcestershire County Council after a by-election following the death of the incumbent Maurice Broomfield. He represents the Ombersley Division of the county. At the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 16 May 2019 he was elected Chairman of the county (equivalent to Mayor) and became its first citizen for the year following.

References

External links

*
Peter Tomlinson at Tiswas OnlineEvening Mail Tiswas Special from March 1975
* ttp://www.petertomlinsonspeaks.co.uk Peter Tomlinson's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Peter 1943 births Living people English television presenters Radio and television announcers English radio DJs High Sheriffs of the West Midlands