Brian Perkins (born 11 September 1943 in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

, New Zealand) is a former senior newsreader on

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 ...

Career

He first started working in 1962 in Christchurch on radio stations of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS), and its successor, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC). He worked on 3YA, 3YC and sometimes on 3ZB, and in those days all the work was continuity functions. When he came to Wellington at the end of 1962 he started reading the news both on television and on radio. The NZBC introduced him to many forms of radio including compiling programmes, commentary and other functions. In 1965 he moved to London, and obtained a role announcing and newsreading for 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 ...

. A keen musician, he began by learning the cello and changed to a double bass. While in London he attended the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

. In 1969 he went back to New Zealand to play the double bass with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Nine years later he returned to Britain to work exclusively for BBC Radio 4, although he also appeared on

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English businessman, and former television presenter, radio DJ, writer and producer. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK, pres ...

's Sunday morning show on

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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in the early 1980s, and again in a one-off revival of that show in 1992. He retired from the BBC in 2003 on reaching the age of 60. He specialised in presenting the news in a clear and concise way. In 2006, he was voted the third most popular voice on British radio.

Post-retirement

After his retirement, he continued to work as a newsreader on Radio 4, but in a freelance capacity, and also provided formal readings for the comedy programme '' The News Quiz''.

"The Godfather of Radio 4"

From 2000, radio and television comedy impressions show '' Dead Ringers'' had a running joke depicting Brian Perkins as the "Godfather of Radio 4", played on the show by impressionist

Jon Culshaw Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000. Culshaw has voiced ...

. His imitation often refers to himself as "Big Daddy Perkins" and frequently badmouths BBC colleagues, hinting that he's given out various punishment beatings to those who had earned his ire. In one sketch, the ''Dead Ringers'' Brian telephoned the real Brian, accusing him of not being hard enough. The real Brian riposted with a claim that he'd put Peter Donaldson's feet in concrete and thrown him into a canal. In the 2007 ''Ten Years of Blair'' special of Dead Ringers, Perkins was portrayed as the Godfather of not only the BBC but the entire nation, acting as the British head of state. Brian and Jon later appeared together on the

panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

''Wireless Wise''. Taking it one step further, humourist Danny Wallace refers to Perkins as a

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in his 2006 travelogue '' Yes Man''.

References

External links

*
Dead Ringers sketch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Brian 1943 births Living people British radio personalities Radio and television announcers New Zealand broadcasters People from Whanganui