John Churchill Dunn (4 March 1934 – 27 November 2004) was a British

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

known for hosting the weekday drivetime show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

between 1976 and 1998.

Early life

Dunn was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland.

Career

Dunn's career spanned more than 30 years and he was named Radio Personality of the Year three times. Dunn began his

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

career in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, before he joined the BBC External Service in 1956 as a studio manager. He then became an announcer for domestic BBC Radio in the 1960s, stating "Here is the news – in English" after

Emperor Rosko Michael Joseph Pasternak (born 26 December 1942), known by his stage name Emperor Rosko, is an American presenter of rock music programmes, most widely known for his shows on Radio Caroline and BBC Radio 1 in the UK in the 1960s and early 1970s. ...

's first show on the first day of

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, ...

in 1967. Dunn became one of the presenters of Radio 2's '' Breakfast Special'' with the start of the new networks, and the regular presenter from January 1970, but in 1972 he effectively swapped places with

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

when the latter took over the breakfast show, whilst Dunn moved to the 3 pm to 5 pm slot ''The Dunn Thing''. This did not last too long, and in 1974 Dunn spent a year presenting ''Late Night Extra''. In the mid-1970s, Dunn briefly returned to his previous role as an announcer and newsreader, but he moved to his long running

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

Radio 2 programme in 1976. After guesting on his drivetime show, writer/broadcaster Terence Pettigrew reversed their roles by inviting Dunn onto his

programme ''Caught in the Draft'', a documentary about compulsory

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, which had originated 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 opposin ...

and ended at the beginning of the 1960s. Like Pettigrew, Dunn had been conscripted, and begun his broadcasting career while in the forces. From 1972 to 1975, Dunn also presented the Radio 4 children's programme ''Fourth Dimension''. This was a magazine programme comprising a mixture of documentary features, drama series and stories. In 1979, Dunn provided the BBC TV commentary at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, held that year in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and was the commentator for 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 ...

. In 1996, he presented his show live from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. He remained in the early evenings until his last show on 2 October 1998, when he announced that he was retiring and that

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...

was to be taking over the show. From then on, he continued to present documentaries for the network, as well as editions of ''Friday Night is Music Night''.

Awards and honours

In 1998, John Dunn was awarded a Gold

Sony Radio Award 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 ...

for the best drivetime music programme.

Personal life

He was married with two daughters, and lived in Croydon, Surrey, where he died on 27 November 2004, aged 70, after a long battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

.Obituary: "John Dunn, Affable voice of BBC Radio 2"
''The Independent'', 30 November 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, John Churchill 1934 births 2004 deaths BBC Radio 2 presenters British radio DJs British radio personalities Deaths from cancer in England Mass media people from Glasgow