Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a

news presenter A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

with ITN. McDonald was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1999 for his services to journalism.

Career

Early career

Trevor McDonald was born on 16 August 1939 in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, to Josephine and Lawson McDonald. McDonald is of

Dougla Dougla people (plural ''Douglas'') are Caribbean people who are of mixed African and Indian descent. The word ''Dougla'' (also Dugla or Dogla) is used throughout the Dutch and English-speaking Caribbean. Definition The word ''Dougla'' origin ...

heritage, his mother being of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

descent and his father being of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent. After working as a print and broadcast journalist in Trinidad during the 1960s, in 1969, McDonald was employed by

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

as a producer, based in London but still broadcasting to the Caribbean. In 1973, he began his long association with

Independent Television News Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, ...

as a general reporter and was also ITN's first black reporter. McDonald later became a sports correspondent, but he ultimately concentrated on international politics. In the 1980s, he spent some time with the ITN-produced ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'', but returned to ITV in 1989, presenting the early-evening news.

''News at Ten''

McDonald was promoted in 1992 as the sole presenter of '' News at Ten'' and became a well-known face on British television screens. McDonald stayed with ITN when ''News at Ten'' was axed in 1999, moving to present the new ''ITV Evening News''. ''News at Ten'' was briefly relaunched on 22 January 2001, to which McDonald returned as a presenter. He presented the '' ITV News at 10.30'' following ''News at Ten''s second axing.

''Tonight''

From 1999 to 2007, McDonald hosted

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 ...

's flagship current affairs programme ''

Tonight with Trevor McDonald ''Tonight'' (often referred to as ''The Tonight Programme'') is a British current affairs programme, produced by ITV Studios (formerly Granada Television) and ITN for the ITV network, replacing the long-running investigative series ''World ...

''. The show was revived in 2010 with presenter

Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...

First retirement

McDonald presented his last ''ITV News'' bulletin on 15 December 2005. He stepped down from his role as anchor after more than 30 years at ITN, but said he had no plans to retire completely from television. McDonald told his ITN colleagues that he wanted a low-key departure after having observed the departures of

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

and

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurr ...

in the United States. At the end of the final programme, he signed off with the words: Over the closing titles of the last bulletin that McDonald presented, the November 1992 to March 1999 '' News at Ten'' theme was played as a tribute to him.

Return to ''News at Ten''

On 31 October 2007, ITV announced that, early in 2008, McDonald would come out of retirement to present the relaunched ''News at Ten'' together with

Second retirement

It was announced on 30 October 2008 that McDonald would step down from ''News at Ten'' once the

2008 US presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

was over, to be replaced by Mark Austin. His last bulletin was on 20 November 2008. It was reported at the time that he would continue to present links for '' Tonight''.

Documentaries

* In 2009, McDonald travelled to the Caribbean and hosted the three-part series '' The Secret Caribbean with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In 2011, McDonald travelled around the Mediterranean and hosted the four-part series ''The Secret Mediterranean with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In 2012, McDonald travelled along the route of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and hosted the three-part series '' The Mighty Mississippi with Trevor McDonald''. * In 2013, McDonald visited death row inmates in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and hosted the two-part series '' Inside Death Row''. * In early 2015, McDonald travelled to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and hosted the two-part series '' The Mafia with Trevor McDonald''. * In late 2015, McDonald presented '' Las Vegas with Trevor McDonald'', a two-part series for ITV. * In September 2016, McDonald presented a two-part series called '' Inside Scotland Yard With Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In February 2017, McDonald presented two-part documentary '' Mafia Women with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In late 2017, McDonald presented a documentary called '' An Hour to Catch a Killer'' for ITV. * In February 2018, McDonald presented '' Death Row 2018 with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In February 2018, McDonald presented '' James Bulger: A Mother's Story with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In September 2018, McDonald presented '' To Catch a Serial Killer with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In February 2019, McDonald presented '' Fred & Rose West: The Real Story with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In January 2021, McDonald presented a two-part documentary called ''And Finally… with Trevor McDonald'' for ITV. * In May 2021, McDonald co-presented a documentary called ''Trevor McDonald & Charlene White: Has George Floyd Changed Britain?'' for ITV. * McDonald presented the ITV documentary ''The Killing of PC Harper: A Wife’s Story'' on the 17th of March 2022

Other work and media appearances

* In 1996, McDonald presented the "Hogmanay at the Palace" * McDonald presented the TV series ''

Undercover Customs ''Undercover Customs'' is a television series produced by Granada Television for ITV which consisted of dramatic reconstructions of some of the largest real-life smuggling incidents based on the official records of HM Customs and Excise in the U ...

'', which created reconstructions of major

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

investigations in the UK. * On 21 April 2006, McDonald presented an episode of '' Have I Got News for You''; he delivered a number of autocue jokes, some of which were extremely risqué, in his usual somber newscaster manner, the juxtaposition of which prompted team captain

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and someti ...

, who usually maintains a straight face on the show, to laugh heartily in disbelief on numerous occasions. It was McDonald's first appearance in any capacity on the show since 1992. * McDonald was formerly

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

London South Bank University London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...

. He also has intimate ties with

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, a London day school, where he is now a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. * McDonald is the author of biographies of the cricketers

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

and

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese-British former cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in Georgetown. At the age of 14 he was captain of his school cricket team ...

. * McDonald has worked as an editor of poetry anthologies, and his autobiography ''Fortunate Circumstances'' was published in 1993. *

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer. Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ''The Lenn ...

's comic character Trevor McDoughnut is a parody of McDonald. McDonald once surprised Henry during a performance of "McDoughnut" on ''

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 c ...

'' by walking into the studio to sit with Henry. McDonald returned to ''Tiswas'' on two further occasions. First, a number of weeks after his original surprise appearance, he cropped up during a spoof edition of '' This Is Your Life'' to "reminisce" with Lenny Henry about the earlier event. The other appearance occurred during the ''Tiswas Reunited'' show (a reunion programme broadcast in June 2007) where McDonald joined Lenny on the sofa once again to look back at the old clips and comment on Henry's impersonation. * McDonald performed live in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

in summer 1996 with

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, as the newsreader in the group's staging of their ''

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song " A Quick One, While ...

''. * In June 2007, McDonald hosted the new ITV version of '' This Is Your Life'',

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

being the programme's "victim". * From June to August 2007, McDonald presented the satirical panel show ''

News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald ''News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald'', more commonly referred to as simply ''News Knight'' is a British television panel show shown on ITV, at 22:00 on Sunday nights. Fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald and in a similar style to the BBC One progr ...

'' on ITV1. *In August 2010, McDonald conducted a live on-stage interview with

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and Christian theology, theologian, known for his work as an Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Anglican ...

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. Fa ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

at an event entitled ''An Audience with Desmond Tutu''. * In 2014, McDonald presented a media training course entitled "Deal with the Media with Sir Trevor McDonald". * McDonald presented a special edition of ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' in September 2021 as part of Channel 4's ''Black To Front Day''. * In 2021, McDonald appeared as the titular character in E4's revival of '' GamesMaster'' * In November 2022, McDonald was a guest presenter on ''

''; part of

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

's 40th anniversary.

Awards

McDonald holds honorary degrees from the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

and Liverpool John Moores University. He was appointed

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the Queen's 1999 Birthday Honours for his services to broadcasting and journalism. He was awarded with "Special Recognition" at the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and with a BAFTA fellowship at the 2011

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

References

External links

Vision Aid Overseas
* * *
Sir Trevor reads final bulletin
BBC News, 15 December 2005
Newsworthy career of Sir Trevor
BBC News, 15 December 2005
"Sir Trevor McDonald Reveals The Stand Out Moment in His Career , This Morning"
YouTube, 23 October 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Trevor 1939 births Knights Bachelor BAFTA fellows ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV people Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People associated with London South Bank University British reporters and correspondents Trinidad and Tobago television personalities Trinidad and Tobago journalists Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago knights Black British television personalities Trinidad and Tobago people of Grenadian descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Dougla descent Presidents of Surrey County Cricket Club Black British journalists Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London