Dennys Jack Valentine McDonald-Hobley (9 June 1917,

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

– 30 July 1987) was one of the earliest BBC Television continuity announcers, appearing on screen from 1946 to 1956.

Childhood and early career

Hobley (pronounced to rhyme with 'nobly') was the son of Charles McDonald Hobley, the naval chaplain at the cathedral in

Stanley, Falkland Islands Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a populat ...

, and his wife Gladys, née Blanchard. He was christened Dennys Jack Valentine McDonald-Hobley and attended

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, England, a public school, from 1931–1936. He began his acting career in repertory theatre, under the stage names Val Blanchard and Robert Blanchard, using his mother's maiden name, and toured before the Second World War in

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

's ''

Time and the Conways ''Time and the Conways'' is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. Wide ...

''.

War service

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Hobley served with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He was involved in an ultimately abandoned plot to abduct

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and bring him to Britain. He also served in Ceylon with the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

Post-war

After being

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

, Hobley was selected as an announcer for the post-war revival of BBC Television. He was also one of the comperes on the BBC's ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

'' programme and appeared on various other shows as himself. He headed the team of BBC TV's early continuity announcers, which included

Peter Haigh Peter Varley Haigh (28 July 1925 – 18 January 2001) was an English in-vision announcer for BBC Television in the years after the Second World War. Born in North London, the son of an engineer, he was educated at Aldenham School, Aldenham, ...

Mary Malcolm Helen Mary Malcolm
Retrieved 2012-11-08 (15 March 191813 October 2010) was one of the first two regular female announcers on

and Sylvia Peters. He once introduced the politician

Sir Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, he first entered Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful of La ...

as 'Sir

Stifford Stifford is an area and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock, Essex, England. The traditional parish of Stifford is divided by the A13 trunk road into two communities known respectively as North and South Stifford. In 1931 t ...

''Crapps'''. Hobley was also a presenter of BBC TV's ''For Deaf Children'' from 1953 to 1955. He left the BBC in 1956 to join Granada Television for its opening. He returned to present ''

It's a Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show '' Intervilles'', and was part of the international '' Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 ...

'' in 1966. During that year, he also returned to radio, fronting the ''Coffee Break Show'' on the pirate station

Wonderful Radio London Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 (in London's case, the " Fab 40") offshore commercial station that operated from 23 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, off Frinto ...

. On BBC radio, he was chairman of '' Does The Team Think?''. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of BBC Television, he re-appeared in November 1986, as an in-vision announcer on BBC 2. He played himself as a beauty pageant judge in the 1960 film '' The Entertainer'' based on the play by John Osborne starring Laurence Olivier. Hobley appeared in London's West End in the farce ''

No Sex Please, We're British ''No Sex Please, We're British'' is a British farce written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, which premiered in London's West End on 3 June 1971 at the Strand Theatre. It was panned by critics, but ran until 5 September 1987, transferri ...

'' and appeared in ''

It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimm ...

'' and ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television com ...

'', among other programmes. Just before his death, he returned to the

for a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

broadcast about the then British South Atlantic Dependencies. In July 1987, he was rehearsing the world premiere of Anthony Marriott and Bob Grant's play ''"Home is Where Your Clothes Are"'' produced by David Tudor. He had extreme difficulty learning his lines, which was unusual, and David Tudor had to release him from his contract. He died during recovery from an operation to remove a cancerous tumour in his head, when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobley, Macdonald 1917 births 1987 deaths BBC people British Army personnel of World War II Falkland Islands soldiers Falkland Islands television people People from Stanley, Falkland Islands Radio and television announcers Royal Artillery officers People educated at Brighton College