Bernard Michael Falk (16 February 1943 – 4 August 1990) was a British television

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and interviewer perhaps best known for his contributions to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

current affairs and magazine programme '' Nationwide'' in the 1970s and the

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 ...

travel programme '' Breakaway'' in the 1980s. He was born in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

the son of Samuel, a wine merchant, and Belinda Mary Falk (née Kennedy), and was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

. He began his career in print

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

with the ''Birkenhead News'' and played Liverpool's

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club becam ...

in the evenings as a member of a beat group called 'Tony Snow and his Blizzards', later renamed 'The Bohemians'. He then worked on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', before his first job as a television reporter on

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

's regional news programme ''

Scotland Today ''Scotland Today'' was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's C ...

'', covering local issues across Central Scotland. He quickly graduated to ''Scotland Today Report'', a weekly current affairs programme - filmed mostly within STV's region - on the issues of the day. He enjoyed a short spell at

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

, appearing on ''

Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin ...

'' and then, an often controversial series of late-night entertainment shows called ''Falk On....'' with the last word of the title featured the subject to be discussed. He later moved to London to join BBC current affairs, appearing in programmes including '' 24 Hours''. In 1971 Falk was imprisoned for four days in Belfast's Crumlin Road jail for contempt of court. He had interviewed a member of the IRA but refused to reveal his source to the police. He also hosted the early

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

survival show ''Now Get Out of That,'' the late-night live chat show/discussion programme '' Sin on Saturday'' in August 1982 - which was axed after three shows - and for reporting on British

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

night programmes. He also worked on '' Start The Week'' on

and was the regular presenter of BBC Radio 4's Saturday morning travel programme, ''Breakaway''. He introduced ''Going Places '' on Radio Four on Fri 3rd August 1990 at 1830 hrs as usual and died on the Saturday, having only recently been moved from ''Breakaway''. Falk had a history of heart problems and died of a heart attack, aged 47. He was married and divorced twice.

External links

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Bernard Falk BBC Archive report from the first annual Mersey Beat conventionNow Get Out of That - UKGameshows
1943 births 1990 deaths People from Southport British reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Journalists imprisoned for refusing to reveal sources People educated at Liverpool College Daily Mirror people Journalists from Liverpool Mass media people from Liverpool Television presenters from Liverpool {{UK-tv-journalist-stub