The Continuity Booth
BBC Scotland
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Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland. Formerly with Radio Tay.
Anna-Maria Ashe was a continuity announcer at BBC Scotland, TVS and Grampian Television in the mid-1980s. She also presented lunchtime news bulletins in-vision during her time with BBC Scotland (1986). She later moved to the TVS nightly news magazine 'Coast To Coast' where she did a stint at presenting/news reading for the Southampton edition, before moving to the Maidstone programme.
Anna-Maria was replaced at Maidstone by Liz Wickham when she moved to LWT as the main anchor of 'LWT News' and 'LWT News Weekend'. She was one of the main presenters on the 'London Tonight' programme on ITV 1 until February 2004.
Craig Austin combines roles as a broadcaster, writer and producer. He started his media career in radio and moved on to television, dipping his toes in ink along the way.
Craig is from Uddingston, on the outskirts of Glasgow, and is the youngest of four boys. He started a career in medical laboratory sciences but after three years he returned to student life to study media. He does miss the white coat though!
It was during his final year as a student that he got his first professional broadcasting gigs, writing and presenting travel and traffic reports on a number of Scotland's radio stations, as well as doing commercial voice-overs. A short spell hosting his own shows on Radio Tay in Dundee followed, before Craig found himself in Carlisle, working as an announcer, presenter and producer for Border Television.
Over the course of eight years as an announcer there, Craig presented in excess of 5,000 Border News bulletins, 1,000 'Border Birthdays' slots, and 20,000 in/out-of-vision continuity spots. He also got to host a range of children’s and entertainment specials, including the 'Hogmanay' shows and his own magazine series, 'CU4'. He was also co-responsible for the station’s on screen image.
Whilst there, he continued with a number of freelance presenting engagements including at Radio Clyde 1 in Glasgow and corporate video work for Norwich Union and Bank of Scotland; and he also syndicated a weekly youth entertainment and information column for youngsters, to nine newspaper titles in Scotland, the north of England and the Isle of Man.
Craig has even had a brief foray into the world of pop music working with BMG Records, Louis Walsh and Ronan Keating, as creative consultant to 'The Carter Twins' a young and talented Dublin pop act who were being groomed for Eurovision stardom. Or so they all hoped!
Craig has extensive behind-the-scenes experience as an on air producer and consultant and his skills have been utilised by broadcasters such as ITV, BBC, UKTV and RTÉ.
Since 2003, Craig has returned to performing, as a busy voice-over artist and out-of-vision announcer for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and the UKTV network and as a presenter of Film24 on Life24.
Craig has also been developing his skills as a screenwriter and has completed two feature film scripts.
Breakdown of Craig's career to date:
1987 - 1988: traffic and travel presenter for 'AA Roadwatch' and 'Flightwatch' on Radio Clyde, Radio Forth, Radio Tay, West Sound Radio, NorthSound Radio and BBC Radio Scotland.
1987 - 1997: freelance presenter and writer including: Radio Clyde 1 in Glasgow; Radio Tay in Dundee; Radio Borders in Galashiels; 'Pick Of The Week' for Yorkshire TV. Syndicated a weekly newspaper feature for young people, to nine titles in Scotland and the North of England. Also, corporate video presenting.
1988 - 1997: announcer/presenter/producer, Border TV. Craig presented in excess of 5,000 news bulletins, 1,000 children’s programmes, and 20,000 in/out-of-vision continuity spots.
1995 - 1997: editor, presentation and promotions, Border TV.
1997: head of presentation, UK Gold.
1998: producer/consultant, ITV 2. Set up the in-vision continuity for the channel launch.
1998 - 1999: producer/consultant, RTÉ, Dublin. Project manager for the on air rebranding and relaunch of RTÉ Network 2.
2000 - 2003: network presentation manager, ITV Network. Responsible to David Liddiment, director of channels, with the remit of refreshing ITV 1's junction and presentation management. Also involved in the implementation of the initial rebranding to ITV 1 and was responsible for creating the Network Continuity Unit which was to commission and schedule all on air presentation devices, as well as to supply announcers with detailed marketing and programme information.
At ITV, Craig also introduced the then radical presentation techniques of end credit promotions, standardised credits, ‘next’ captions. ‘next time’ and ‘previously’ teasers within programmes, ad break promotion opticals, and ‘countdown/after’ trailers, all of which are now standard practice on many UK television channels.
2003 - 2006: writer: creator of various TV and film drama projects, currently seeking development interest.
1995 - 2006: presenter for Halifax and Bank of Scotland corporate videos.
2003 - 2004: continuity announcer, Scottish TV and Grampian TV.
2004 - 2005: creative producer, BBC Broadcast. Contracted to set up a new 45 strong continuity department with writing hub for the UKTV network.
2005 - 2006: continuity announcer: UKTV Drama, UKTV History, UKTV Documentary, UKTV Style Gardens and UKTV Food.
2006: presenter for Film24, broadcasting daily on Life24. Shows include 'Film Xtra', 'Star Talk' and 'Scene:Out'.
2007: announcer/director at BBC Scotland for BBC One and BBC Two. A six month assignment as part of the migration project moving the headquarters in Queen Margaret Drive to a new site at Pacific Quay. This allowed existing staff to drop out of the rota to receive training on the new technology that will be used at Pacific Quay.
Presenter/producer/director with Film24, based at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Website
Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.Former BBC Scotland announcer.Yes, the Radio 2 favourite was once a BBC Scotland announcer. Ken started off doing the Scottish opt outs on Radio 4 in the mid-1970s and later became a staff announcer. He mostly worked on radio, but his warm, rich, friendly voice was heard from time-to-time behind the BBC One Scotland globe.
Alma's broadcasting career began at BBC Radio 3 in the 1970s, where, she tells us, "her Scots accent provoked protests from the more reactionary listeners". She then moved to television as a Network BBC announcer - one of the first to sport a Scottish accent. Later, she switched back to radio - BBC Radios 1 and 2 - before moving to BBC Scotland in the early-1980s.
As BBC Scotland announcers were also news readers, Alma gained some exposure and was a favourite with viewers for her warm, friendly manner. She was on duty on the last night of the COW globe in 1991 and is well-remembered by 'pres' enthusiasts for saying "goodbye cruel world" at closedown before treating viewers to one last "extra long look" at it! Alma left the BBC in the mid-1990s.
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Currently working as an announcer with BBC Scotland. Alison was also a Network BBC announcer in 1989.Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland. Formerly with Q96.Bob started off as an announcer with Scottish TV. He later joined the BBC Scotland announcing team in the mid-1970s and clocked up more than 25 years' service before he retired in 2000. Like most of the other announcers of his generation, he regularly read the Scottish News summaries in-vision until 1988. In his last few years with the BBC, Bob tended to work on radio rather than TV.Jane was a continuity announcer with BBC Scotland TV in 1986 and was also regularly seen reading the news in-vision at lunchtime. She then moved to Channel 4, where she worked on the continuity announcing rota in the late-1980s and during the 1990s. In more recent times, as well as being the voice of Orange, Jane also provides continuity announcements for UKTV History.
Mr STV for a generation of 'pres' enthusiasts, his distinctive, well modulated voice now graces BBC Scotland, on television and radio. Tony was one of STV's in-vision announcers from the mid-1970s onwards and left shortly before the company dropped regular in-vision continuity, moving to BBC Scotland.Formerly Maura McManus. Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.BBC Radio Scotland announcer who did an occasional stint as a TV announcer in the 1970s.
David has sadly passed away.
Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.
Mike started his broadcasting career as a radio presenter on Radio Forth in 1974. In 1979, he joined BBC Scotland as a continuity announcer. The following year, he moved over to STV where he was a continuity announcer, news reader and sub-editor, until 1990. Mike then moved into production for STV, working as a producer/director until 1999, when he went freelance.
Mike also lectures at Napier University and Glasgow Metropolitan College.
Website
BBC Radio Scotland announcer who did an occasional stint as a TV announcer in the 1970s.
Harry has sadly passed away.
Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.
Alasdair Hutton started in broadcasting as a trainee technician in radio at 4BH in Brisbane at the age of 15. He then turned to journalism and after his return to Scotland joined BBC Scotland as a contract radio announcer in 1964 moving to television continuity in Northern Ireland in 1965 and then back to BBC Scotland in 1968. He left in 1979 to become the Member of the European Parliament for the South of Scotland.
After he left the Parliament in 1989 he reapplied to the BBC as an announcer but was not considered good enough to interview. He became narrator of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1992 and narrates a wide variety of live shows and concerts around the world as well as videos and audio presentations. He became Convener of Scotland Borders Council in 2003.
Paul worked as a continuity announcer/director for BBC Scotland from 2000 before moving to London in December 2002 to become a member of the ITV 1 Network announcing team. His voice is also heard occasionally on ITV 2. Paul has also worked for several radio stations, including The Eagle, Star and BBC Radio Scotland.Website
Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland. Formerly worked with Q96.An announcer from the early-1980s until the early-1990s. Robert was also a Conservative councillor so consequently never read the television news summaries - nor was he ever heard to give his name at closedown. After he left the BBC, Robert became STV's compliance officer. He passed away in the late-1990s.Colin is a freelance announcer, and former presentation director/announcer with BBC Scotland. He works full-time for national air traffic control at Glasgow Airport.
Border TV continuity announcer and news reader in the mid-1990s who is now a freelance announcer at BBC TV Scotland and also lectures in media at Ayr. 
Rob was a continuity director/announcer with BBC Scotland from 1995 - July 2008, covering TV and radio. He was also involved in managing the transition from analogue to digital transmission systems. Currently, Rob is a news presenter and reporter for BBC Scotland TV and radio.
He has also worked as a freelance reporter at Westsound FM and presented for QFM. Other posts include: reporter for Stirling Sports Agency, Glasgow; reporter for Slough, Windsor and Eton Observer; reporter/financial editor for Drapers Record business-to-business magazine.
A BBC Scotland announcer since the mid-1980s, Gillean must surely be one of the longest serving announcers on British television. Still heard regularly on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland. Gillean celebrated 25 years with the BBC in late November 2005.Scottish voice who got an attachment as a BBC Network announcer in 1989. BBC World Service TV announcer, 1992. Worked briefly in 1993 as an announcer for ITV Carlton in London. She has also worked as an announcer with BSB, Living TV and BBC Scotland.
Andrea is currently an announcer with Five.
Former head of news at Paisley's QFM and now a BBC TV Scotland continuity announcer.Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.Formerly a presenter with Scotland's Radio Clyde and Scot FM and now a BBC TV Scotland continuity announcer.Announcer for Scottish TV, 1964 - 1969 and also an announcer on BBC TV Scotland. Alec was an actor whose famous role was as the original cast member Dougal Lachlan in STV's 'Take The High Road' from 1980 until 1991.
Charles was a BBC TV announcer (attachment) between 1987 and 1989. He was also a regional television announcer on BBC Scotland for a while in the early-1990s. He was a BBC Radio 2 announcer, news reader and presenter between 1981 and 1989 and a commentator on 'Come Dancing' from 1985 to 1986 and 1988 to 1995. Charles also voiced BBC TV presentation trails.
Charles is now the managing director of A1 VOX, the London sound studios. Until late-2002, he also presented the afternoon show on London's Jazz FM. He is one of the main voices of the UK version of the History Channel on satellite television, along with former Beeb colleague David Allan.
Charles tells us: "My most memorable moments? Doing BBC One continuity the night PanAm 103 crashed on Lockerbie. Working with the true greats of television continuity - announcers like Martin King, David Allan and Andy Cartledge. And the golden moment when I put the BBC Two symbol up on screen and cheerfully announced 'This is BBC One'".
Image courtesy of Paul R Jackson.
Website
James joined BBC Scotland from Grampian in the mid-1970s. He perhaps holds a little place in presentation history for two reasons: he was the first BBC Scotland announcer to use the COW globe in 1985 - as a result, he started his shift in the early evening calling the channel "BBC Scotland" but changed the name back to "BBC 1 Scotland" when the new ident appeared at 7pm; he's also quite possibly the last BBC announcer to have uttered the phrase "trade test transmission" - this was on a Saturday afternoon in 1987 when BBC Two Scotland closed down between the OU and coverage of a Scottish party conference.
James left BBC Scotland Presentation in the late-1980s. He went freelance and moved to Leeds. He worked for BBC North East and West Yorkshire FM.
In 1994 he was on of three audio describers in a television trial called Audetel. This provided audio description to blind and partially sighted viewers. The trial led to the inclusion of AD in the 1996 Broadcasting Act and the 2003 Communications Act.
James is currently managing editor of the AD department at ITFC in West London.
Former BBC Scotland announcer.
Border TV continuity announcer and news reader between 1990 and 1995, who since 1997, has worked as a freelance continuity announcer for BBC TV Scotland in Glasgow. John has also presented for Radio Borders and combines his broadcasting work with a full-time job as a mathematics lecturer. Iain joined BBC Scotland in May 1973, initially working for BBC Radio 4. He was a regular continuity voice on BBC One Scotland between 1974 and 1978 and was one of the pioneers of the practice of linking the entire mixture of Network and Scottish programmes from Scotland. Early teething troubles included chopping off part of the prime-time Les Dawson show one Saturday night and transmitting a rehearsal of his next programme junction in its place. There was one viewer phone call - expressing thanks!
Iain moved to the new BBC Radio Scotland in 1978 to head up its announcer team. In 1982 he took up a post with BBC Radio 2. Since 1995 he has been working with the BBC World Service as a news reader.
In his spare time, Iain plays bass guitar in a vintage rock 'n' roll band.
Formerly Morag Irvine. Currently working on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.
Gordon was an announcer on Scottish Television from 1961 until 1973, when he became a transmission controller. He left STV in 1992 to join BBC Scotland, where he was a radio announcer and news reader. Gordon also sat in the television announcer's chair at BBC Scotland on a few occasions. He left BBC Scotland in 2000.Former BBC Scotland announcer.Anne was a Grampian TV reporter, news reader and co-presenter of 'North Tonight' in the 1990s. She then joined BBC Scotland as a TV announcer/presentation director; she also announced and read the news on BBC Radio Scotland.
As part of cutbacks at BBC Scotland (c. 2006), TV announcers no longer perform announcing or news presenting duties on BBC Radio Scotland.
Alister was a continuity announcer in the Presentation Department at BBC Scotland between April 1981 and December 1989; starting in radio before moving to television, then back to radio again.
Speaking to TTVRP in February 2006, Alister recalled his radio days at BBC Scotland: "In radio, the pace was more relaxed and the work far more varied than the TV side. Apart from straight continuity announcing I often presented ‘Leisure Trail’, a programme for outdoor enthusiasts broadcast on Saturday mornings and produced by the late Murdoch McPherson. Then, for a good while, I had my own show called ‘The Light Programme’ – easy-listening music and chat for Friday afternoons with many interesting guests from the world of music and entertainment. In this connection there was also ‘Alister Smith’s Christmas Lights’ broadcast early on Christmas morning and featuring young local musicians of all ages.
"At the same time I was also the person behind Leslie McQueen, Tom Ferrie’s charismatically camp visitor to the late chart show that went out Mondays to Thursdays on BBC Radio Scotland between 10pm and midnight. Much to my surprise, Tom’s teenage audience quickly embraced this gay little baker from Rutherglen until he soon became a regular guest: with his accordion, his trumpet and those awful renditions of country and western songs accompanied and sung excruciatingly. Furthermore, Lesley was a prominent feature of Tom Ferrie’s Christmas and New Year ‘specials’, as illustrated by ‘Tom And Leslie’s New Year Party’ etc.
"In a different domain, presenting orchestral concerts for BBC Radio 3 was another of my many privileges, taken along with all the additional things I was allowed to do at BBC Scotland, made my entire time there highly satisfying and eminently enjoyable. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
"After leaving the BBC, I went into commercial radio as Head of Production at CentreSound 96.7 in Stirling (now Central FM), where I was ever so fortunate to have as my boss Mr Colin Lamont - aka Scottie McClue – surely one of the most affable men you will ever meet. But commercial radio was not my bag. Thus I drifted into tertiary education and IT where I remained until retirement."
Mark was an announcer from the early-1980s until the early-1990s. He had a particularly warm, distinctive voice and made the occasional off-the-cuff remark which meant he stood out from the crowd a little - at least amongst people who appreciate these things. Since he left the presentation team, Mark has presented a wide range of programmes on BBC Radio Scotland, including the rural affairs programme 'Out of Doors'.Popular Grampian in-vision announcer in the 1980s and early-1990s, who moved to the BBC in Scotland as a continuity announcer; she now presents the mid-morning show on Forth 2. Arlene continued with television work as presenter of 'The River' - a Grampian programme which followed the River Dee from its source to the sea traversing Braemar, Lochnagar, Balmoral, Glen Tanar and Banchory. She has also guest presented for Scottish Passport.Pam is currently presentation editor for BBC Scotland, responsible for day-to-day presentation services on all of the BBC's local radio and television services there. Her voice is still regularly heard on the airwaves.
As Pam Rennison, she started her presentation career with BBC North East in Newcastle during the days of regional television continuity in the English regions. Pam also co-presented with Mike Neville on a short-lived North Eastern quiz show called 'The Wall Game'. She was one of the first regional presenters when the BBC introduced its breakfast TV service.
Pam spent a few years in London in the mid-1980s, where (as Pam Tibbetts) she worked as a national announcer/news reader; she also presented the TV Choice slot on 'Breakfast Time' for a period before moving back to Scotland.
