Andrew Gardner (25 September 1932 – 2 April 1999)Veteran newsman Gardner dies
''BBC News'', 4 April 1999, Retrieved 12 November 2019 was a newsreader on

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, ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 1962 to 1977. He was also one of the original presenters of '' News at Ten'' when it began in 1967. He was born in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and educated at the independent

Dauntsey's School Dauntsey's School is a public school (independent boarding and day school) for pupils aged 11–18 in the village of West Lavington, Wiltshire, England. The school was founded in 1542, in accordance with the will of William Dauntesey, a maste ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. He was 6 ft 5 ins. His began his broadcasting career as a radio journalist in South Africa, and he was a reporter in Africa until his return to the UK in 1961. He was notable for presenting the first transatlantic programme using the

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

satellite and for commentating on state occasions such as royal weddings 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 ...

. After leaving ITN he became a regional news presenter on

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

, presenting Thames at 6 and later ''

Thames News ''Thames News'' was the flagship regional news programme of Thames Television, serving the Thames ITV region and broadcast on weekdays from 12 September 1977 to 31 December 1992. The news service was produced and broadcast from Thames TV's headq ...

''. He is also notable for being the newscaster whose report was interrupted on 26 November 1977 by a hoax broadcast generally known as the

Southern Television broadcast interruption The Southern Television broadcast interruption was a broadcast signal intrusion that occurred on 26 November 1977 in parts of southern England in the United Kingdom. The audio of a Southern Television broadcast was replaced by a voice claiming to ...

. The hoaxer has never been identified. At ten minutes past five, the TV picture wobbled slightly and the sound of Andrew Gardner's professional delivery was silenced, to be replaced by a distorted voice delivering a quite remarkable message for almost six minutes. It purported to be a communication from an individual identifying themselves as Vrillon, representing a body called the Ashtar Galactic Command. And the message was simple: we humans had to give up our warlike ways and embrace a more peaceful existence... before it was too late. He remained with Thames until it lost its franchise in 1992, when he subsequently took early retirement. While retired, he reported on such subjects as

beer tasting Beer tasting is a way to learn more about the history, ingredients and production of beer as well as different beer styles, hops, yeast and beer presentation. A common way is to analyse the appearance, smell and taste of the beer. Then a final judg ...

and the wine regions of southwest Germany for a magazine for blind people. He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 2 April 1999, aged 66, while on a flight to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. At the time of his death, he lived in

Benenden Benenden is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is located on the Weald, to the west of Tenterden. In addition to the main village, Iden Green, East End, Dingleden and Standen Street settle ...

, Kent.

References

1932 births 1999 deaths 20th-century British journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists People educated at Dauntsey's School People from Beaconsfield People from Benenden {{UK-tv-journalist-stub