Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's late night entertainment show ''
The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series of
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
moral issues talk show ''
It's My Life'' (2003–2008). He has also been a regular guest panelist on the topical
Channel 5 series ''
The Wright Stuff
''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...
'' and ''
Jeremy Vine
Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...
''.
Christian presented two series of ''Turn On Terry'' with regular guest
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4.
As a co-founder o ...
and numerous other programmes for ITV,
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
VH1, Channel 4 as well as a variety of different local and national radio programmes on stations including
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' ...
,
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
,
Talksport,
Century Radio
Century Radio, also known as ''Century 100'' and later ''Century FM'', was a short-lived national commercial radio station in the Republic of Ireland, broadcasting from 4 September 1989 to 19 November 1991.
History Launch
Launched at 8am on ...
,
Key 103
''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.''
Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Mancheste ...
,
Signal
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...
and
BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Derbyshire.
It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on St Helens Street in Derby.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
and
BBC Radio Manchester
BBC Radio Manchester is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester.
It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford ...
. While at Radio Derby he won two
Sony Awards
The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
.
Biography
Early life
Christian grew up in the Brooks Bar neighbourhood of
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
with five brothers and sisters and Irish parents from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
: Daniel Christian and Margaret Christian (née Cullen). One of his siblings died when Christian was aged two. The family was sufficiently impoverished that he qualified for free meals at school.
Christian was educated at
St Alphonsus' RC Primary School, Ayres Road, Old Trafford, and
St Bede's College, Manchester. His father operated a fork-lift truck at Esso in
Trafford Park
Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the l ...
and his mother was a seamstress. He attended
Thames Polytechnic (now the
University of Greenwich
, mottoeng = "To learn, to do, to achieve"
, former_name = Woolwich Polytechnic(1890–1970)Thames Polytechnic(1970–1992)
, established =
, type = Public university
, budget = £214.9 million (2020)
, administrative_staff =
, chancel ...
) in London but was removed from his biology course due to his poor attendance.
He first appeared on national TV in 1981 with other unemployed youngsters from inner-city areas of Manchester on ''Devil's Advocate'', a
Granada Television programme made for ITV by the ''
World In Action
''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' team, presented by former ''World in Action'' editor
Gus Macdonald
Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie).
It can also be used as the adaptation into English ...
and produced by Geoff Moore. The show was made in reaction to the
Scarman report
The Scarman report was commissioned by the UK Government following the 1981 Brixton riots. Lord Scarman was appointed by then Home Secretary William Whitelaw on 14 April 1981 (two days after the rioting ended) to hold the enquiry into the riots ...
which looked into the causes of that summer's riots in
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Rusholme and Fallowfield to the east, W ...
in Manchester,
Toxteth
Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside.
Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill.
The area ...
in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Brixton
Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...
in London,
Handsworth in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
St Pauls
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
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 ...
. Other contributing youngsters on ''Devil's Advocate'' included
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
of
the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...
. As a result of his appearances on the programme, Christian was offered his own radio show on
BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Derbyshire.
It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on St Helens Street in Derby.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
called ''Barbed Wireless''.
Radio
Christian presented ''Barbed Wireless'' between 1982 and 1988 at BBC Radio Derby. The show won
Sony Awards
The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
in the Best Specialist Music category in 1985 and again in 1986. He also contributed regularly to ''Saturday Live'' 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, ...
. From 1986 to 1988 he presented Radio 4's programme ''Wavelength'', which became ''Wavelength Plus'' or ''WPFM'', on which
Jo Whiley
Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...
was his researcher.
Christian managed a twelve-piece
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
band from the Derby/Nottingham area,
Junior C Reaction, who received airplay on
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
and
Janice Long
Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, ...
's shows 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, ...
for their first independent release on Centurion Records, a double A Side, "Cry Jahoviah", and "Love & Emotion". They were signed to Cooltempo, a
Chrysalis
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
subsidiary, and enjoyed a modicum of success with their first release, a version of the
Delroy Wilson classic "Better Must Come", which was C-listed on Radio 1 and
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. ...
at the time, as well as playing a live session on Radio One's ''Saturday Live''. Christian also promoted concerts around the Derby and Nottingham area, and regular house nights at Derby's Twentieth Century club, where the resident Saturday-night DJ was
Graeme Park
Graeme Park is an historic site and National Historic Landmark at 859 County Line Road in Horsham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and operated by the non-profit group, The Frien ...
.
In late 1988, Christian joined
Piccadilly Radio
Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West Eng ...
's
Key 103 FM, presenting weekday evenings and Sunday afternoon. Christian also wrote "The Word" page in the ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'' from September 1989, dedicated to the Manchester music scene.
Christian has presented on every radio station in the Manchester area and several across the North West, including Century Radio, where he presented a syndicated evening show across the network. He also presented the breakfast and drivetime show on BBC Radio Manchester, and the same station's ''Manchester Music Show'' in 2002, featuring old and new bands from the Manchester area. He then went on to host the breakfast show on BBC Radio Manchester in April 2006. He was also the presenter of ''The Final Whistle'' on
talkSPORT on Saturday evenings from 2006 until 2008, alongside ex-footballer
Micky Quinn
Michael Quinn (born 2 May 1962) is an English former professional footballer and sports radio presenter for TalkSPORT.
As a player he was a centre forward from 1979 until 1996. He most notably played in the Premier League for Coventry City, a ...
.
Christian joined
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
-based radio station Imagine FM (104.9 FM) in March 2011.
Christian has presented ''
Pick of the Week'' on BBC Radio 4 as well as ''
With Great Pleasure'' and ''
A Good Read'' and appeared on ''
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 f ...
'' and ''
Chain Reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
Chain reactions are one way that sys ...
'', with his KFM colleague
Caroline Aherne
Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...
.
Television
In 1990, with the explosion of the
Madchester
Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music ...
scene, Christian was recruited to host the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
youth entertainment show ''
The Word'', based on the format of his music magazine radio shows. The show was a mixture of pop music and teen attitude. ''The Word'' hosted many groups playing live for the first time on British TV. Christian remained its only continuous presenter until it finished its run in 1995.
He went on to present
Carlton Television's ''The Big City'',
Sky 1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
's pop music show ''The Hitmix'', and ''The Football Show'' for
Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converte ...
. He presented ''Turn on Terry'' for
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
with regular guest
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4.
As a co-founder o ...
and six series of Moore Television's ''
It's My Life'' (2003–2009). "It's My Life" was nominated for two St Martin's Trust Awards.
Christian appeared as himself in
the Cribs
The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guit ...
' video for the stand-alone single "You're Gonna Lose Us", which was made to look like an episode of ''The Word''; and also played the part of Ross Peagrum, despotic TV presenter, in series 2 and 4 of the BBC TV drama series ''
Cutting It
''Cutting It'' is a BBC television drama series set in Manchester, England, focusing on the lives and loves of the team running a hairdressing salon. It ran for four series between 2002 and 2005. The show featured a number of actors who have sin ...
''. He appeared as a guest on other TV shows in the UK and Ireland. During the '90s, Terry was also regularly seen as a presenter on
MTV Europe
MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network.
Initially, MTV serve ...
.
In January 2009 he entered as a contestant on the
sixth series of ''
Celebrity Big Brother
''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'' alongside
Verne Troyer
Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, YouTuber, and stunt performer. He was best known for his role of Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was ...
,
La Toya Jackson
La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons'', ...
,
Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show ''Gladiators'', and as a team captain of the BBC Two show '' Shooting ...
,
Coolio and
Mutya Buena
Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-p ...
, finishing in second place. Christian has ITV's youth discussion show ''It's My Life'', made by Manchester-based independent Moore Television. The programme is filmed at
Granada Television in Manchester.
Christian turned to stand-up comedy with his one-man show ''Naked Confessions of a Recovering Catholic'', which was well received.
Since 2009 he has been a regular panellist on ''
The Wright Stuff
''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...
'' on
Channel 5 and its replacement ''
Jeremy Vine
Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...
''.
Writing
Christian has been writing articles and columns for newspapers since 1983 and is a regular columnist in the ''
Sunday People'' and has contributed to other British newspapers. He has also had regular columns in the ''
Daily Sport
The ''Daily Sport'' was a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom by Daily Sport Ltd., which specialised in celebrity news and softcore pornographic stories and images. The daily paper was launched in 1991 by David Sullivan, followin ...
'', ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'' and the ''
Derby Evening Telegraph
The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the Derby Telegraph team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand.
Histor ...
'' and written articles for magazines like ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' and ''
New York Rocker
''New York Rocker'' was a punk rock new wave magazine founded by Alan Betrock in 1976. In 1979, it had a circulation of 20,000. Betrock left the magazine in 1978, and Andy Schwartz took over as editor until 1982. The same year the magazine was cl ...
''.
He has also written three books: ''Brothers – from Childhood to Oasis''; ''Reds in the Hood'' (1999), about his early life growing up in Old Trafford; and ''My Word'', a look at the world of television in the 1990s, published in June 2007.
Personal life
Christian considers himself to be ethnically Irish, although of British nationality.
Politics
Christian publicly opposed
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
, saying on television that the campaign was "based on lies", arguing that a "no-deal Brexit" was "undeliverable" and trusting
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
was like trusting "the captain of the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' to crash into the iceberg".
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Terry
Living people
British people of Irish descent
British radio DJs
British television presenters
People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester
People from Old Trafford
1960 births