Nigel Brian Windsor Widlake (13 April 1931 – 2 January 2017) was a British journalist, broadcaster and presenter.

Early life

Widlake was born in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

on 13 April 1931.

Education

Widlake was educated at two

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s for boys, at the time based in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

in West London: first at Colet Court School, now known as

St Paul's Juniors St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court) is a private preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most Juniors pupils progress at the age of 13. The School was ...

, when, shortly after enrolment, he and others were evacuated to the village of

Much Hadham Much Hadham, formerly known as Great Hadham, is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. The parish of Much Hadham contains the hamlets of Perry Green and Green Tye, as well as the village of Muc ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

in the early part of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and then at St Paul's School, followed by

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

Life and career

Widlake served initially as a cadet before his promotion to 2nd Lieutenant in the

Royal Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

on 4 November 1950. Widlake worked as a reporter for

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

in the 1960s, and was a regular presenter of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's news magazine programmes ''

The World at One ''The World at One'' (or ''WATO'', pronounced "what-oh") is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs radio programme, broadcast weekdays from 13:00 to 13:45 and produced by BBC News. The programme describes itself as "Bri ...

'' and '' PM'' during the 1970s and 1980s. Widlake joined London's news and talk radio station

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

to present a breakfast programme on LBC Crown FM, later LBC NewsTalk 97.3 in 1989. He then transferred to LBC's hour-long Midday News programme. Widlake conducted

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's first ever televised interview in 1961. At the time, Mandela was on the run from the South African police. He also became well known for co-presenting ''

The Money Programme ''The Money Programme'' is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC Two which ran between April 1966 and November 2010. It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" (financial journalists) William Davi ...

'' on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and d ...

in the early 1980s with

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for te ...

. Widlake died, following a short illness, at home in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

on 2 January 2017, at the age of 85.

Personal life

Widlake became the stepfather of the sports journalist, TV presenter and former cricketer

Mark Nicholas Mark Charles Jefford Nicholas (born 29 September 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer and broadcaster. He played for Hampshire County Cricket Club, Hampshire from 1978 to 1995, captaining them from 1985 to his retireme ...

, following his marriage to the actress Anne Nicholas in 1989. He had one daughter and one son, as well as one stepdaughter and two stepsons. Widlake died on 2 January 2017 in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widlake, Brian 1931 births 2017 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 4 presenters British television journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists People educated at St Paul's School, London Royal Hampshire Regiment officers 20th-century British Army personnel