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David Martin Vine (3 January 1935 – 11 January 2009) was an English television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards, most notably his coverage of major snooker tournaments for the BBC.
Early life
Born in
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, he grew up in the north-west of the county, attending
Barnstaple Grammar School on Park Lane in
Barnstaple. His father was a carpenter.
Career
Vine worked for the ''North Devon Journal Herald'' from the age of 17 and various newspapers, becoming the sports editor of the ''
Western Morning News
The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England.
Organisation
The ''Western M ...
'' in
Plymouth. He joined
Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV (TV network), ITV franchise-holder for the South West England, South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a ...
in 1961, though he worked for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
for the majority of his broadcasting career. He joined the BBC, to work on BBC2, in 1966. He was working at BBC2 even though Westward Television were not aware of this because at the time BBC2 could not be received in the South West. An article in the ''Daily Mail'' led to Westward TV learning about his BBC work and he had to resign from Westward TV.
Programmes he hosted include ''
Sportscene
''Sportscene'' is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland.
History
''Sportscenes predecessors were ''Sports Special from Scotland'' and ''Sportsreel'', which was broadcast every Saturday at around 5 ...
'', ''
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 ...
'' (1967–1971), ''
Jeux Sans Frontieres
''Jeux'' (''Games'') is a ballet written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to th ...
'', ''
Miss UK'', ''
Miss World'', ''Quiz Ball'', ''Sunday League Cricket'', ''
Rugby Special
{{unreferenced, date=February 2021
''Rugby Special'' was the main rugby union programme on the BBC in the UK. The show ran from 1966 and past presenters included David Vine, Keith Macklin, Cliff Morgan, Chris Rea, Nigel Starmer-Smith, Bill Beaum ...
'', ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...
'', ''
A Question of Sport
''Question of Sport'' (previously ''A Question of Sport'') is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast on ...
'' (1970–1972, 1974-1977 and 1989), ''
Grandstand'', ''
Superstars'', ''
Starshot'', ''
Ski Sunday
''Ski Sunday'' is the BBC Sports weekly magazine-style television show covering winter sports, broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays in a late afternoon or an early evening time-slot. It began in 1978, and is currently presented by Ed Leigh ...
'' (1978–1996) and the BBC's Winter and Summer Olympic Games coverage.
In August 1967, Vine presented the
Wimbledon World Lawn Tennis Professional Championships, which was the first tennis tournament at Wimbledon to feature professional players and also the first colour television sports service in Europe, which
BBC2 launched on 1 July 1967.
Vine provided the
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
commentary for the
Eurovision Song Contest 1974
The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporati ...
, also hosting the preview shows of the international entries, and compèred the 1975
Miss World broadcast, the latter resulting in some embarrassment because he found it difficult to understand what many of the contestants were saying. He introduced the 1967 professional tennis championships at Wimbledon in colour. In addition to the 1967 Wimbledon pro-event, he presented Wimbledon highlights from 1979 until 1982 and also BBC's Show Jumping coverage. He also hosted the first World Darts Championships in 1978.
He was the anchorman at the
World Snooker Championships
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...
at the
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...
,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, from 1978 – the first year the BBC covered the championships daily – until his retirement in 2000 as well as the
Grand Prix,
UK Championship
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan ...
and the
Masters. Vine's supposed friendship with
Steve Davis
Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...
was parodied in a ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...
'' sketch in which Davis boasted, "I'm a mate of David Vine".
Vine's final work for the BBC was covering the weightlifting at the 2000 Sydney Olympics a sport he had covered since the 1970s, after which he retired owing to a heart condition. He had a
coronary artery triple bypass operation in 2001. He contributed to programmes on the
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%).
The channel was originally la ...
channel shortly before he died aged 74 at his home near
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
Personal life
He married his first wife, Shirley, in 1958. They had met through amateur dramatics and had three children. The family lived in
Mannamead, Plymouth. Shirley died in 1970. Vine married his second wife, Mandy, in 1972 in
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
. The couple had a son.
References
External links
Extensive biography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vine, David
1935 births
2009 deaths
BBC sports presenters and reporters
Beauty pageant hosts
English game show hosts
English sports broadcasters
English television presenters
People educated at Barnstaple Grammar School
People from Newton Abbot
Snooker writers and broadcasters