Rory David Morrison (5 August 1964 – 11 June 2013) was a newsreader and continuity announcer for

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' ...

Early life and education

Morrison was born in London in 1964, the eldest of Anne and Bob Morrison's three children. He was brought up in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dr ...

, and was educated at

The Chase School The Chase School is a secondary school (ages 11–18) in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The school opened as a Secondary Modern in 1953 under headteacher Mr Garth. It was officially opened by Lord Cobham on 26 March 1955. The Chase became a ...

and Malvern College. At College, he performed well in drama and art, and as a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

was appointed as Head of House. The English-Speaking Union awarded him a scholarship to Australia. He graduated from Durham University in 1986 with a degree in English Language and Literature.

Broadcasting career

Morrison began his radio broadcasting career as a travel reporter and presenter for

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 ...

, an

independent local radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...

station covering Shropshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. He first joined the BBC in 1990, as the presenter of an afternoon programme on BBC Radio Leeds. He later worked for two other local stations,

BBC Radio York BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...

and

BBC Radio Cleveland BBC Radio Tees is the BBC's local radio station serving the former county of Cleveland which comprises the unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and ...

. He then moved to the British Forces Broadcasting Service before returning to the BBC as a continuity announcer on Radio 4 in April 1994. He later joined the newsreading team, and regularly 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 ...

'', as a reader for amusing newspaper cuttings during the programme.

Personal life

Morrison married BBC journalist Nikki Jenkins in 1994; the couple met while working for BBC Radio Leeds, and had two children together. Morrison was diagnosed with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, a rare type of

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...

, in 2004. After his diagnosis, he became involved in raising money for the Lymphoma Association. In 2008, he took part in a fundraising walk with other radio newsreaders to

Herstmonceux Castle Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built castle, dating from the 15th century, near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England. It is one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England. The castle was renowned for being one of the fir ...

in East Sussex, which formerly housed the machine used to generate the

Greenwich Time Signal The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones (or "pips") broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The pips were introduced in 1924 and have been generated by the BBC since 199 ...

, or "pips". This event was organised for a special edition of the radio programme '' Ramblings'', broadcast in April as "A Pilgrimage to the Pips". Morrison provided a live outdoor continuity announcement at the end of the programme. Morrison died from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

in the University College London Hospital (UCLH), June 2013.

Filmography

* '' Page Eight'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Rory 1964 births 2013 deaths Alumni of University College, Durham BBC newsreaders and journalists British radio presenters Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma People educated at Malvern College