Christopher Elliot Stuart (19 February 1949 – 12 July 2022) was a British journalist, songwriter and radio and television presenter and producer. He was executive producer of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 matte ...

quiz series ''

Only Connect ''Only Connect'' is a British television quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In the series, teams compete in a tournament of finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues. The title is taken from a passage in E. M. F ...

''. As a presenter, he fronted the early breakfast show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

between 1988 and 1991. He was also one of the first presenters on

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

Life and career

Stuart was born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

on 19 February 1949 and grew up in Manchester, Hull, Birmingham, Nottinghamshire, before his family settled in Leicestershire. He read

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, and after graduation moved to Wales where he began working as a journalist for the '' Western Mail''. He was also a musician and a member of the comedy band "Baby Grand", who had two BBC Two TV series and released an album on the Decca label. In 1978, he joined the newly formed

and hosted the station's breakfast show, ''AM'', for almost ten years. On television, Stuart hosted the 1989

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition (known as Cardiff Singer of the World from 1983 to 2001 and BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff in 2003) is a competition for Classical music, classical singers held every two years. The competition wa ...

and also fronted his own chat show on

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

called ''The Chris Stuart Cha Cha Chat Show''. He had been an active songwriter and, among other music credits, composed the theme tunes and incidental music for the animation series ''

SuperTed ''SuperTed'' is a Welsh language superhero animated television series about an anthropomorphic teddy bear with superpowers, created by writer and animator Mike Young. Originally created by him as a series of stories to help his son overcome h ...

'' and ''

Sali Mali Sali Mali is a popular Welsh people, Welsh children's book and television character, first created by author Mary Vaughan Jones and illustrated by Rowena Wyn Jones in 1969. Many Welsh language, Welsh-speaking children learnt to read by reading S ...

'', both produced by Calon. In 1985, Stuart began working on

as stand-in presenter, mainly covering for

Roger Royle Roger Michael Royle (born 30 January 1939) is a British Anglican priest and broadcaster. He is known for having presented the '' Sunday Half Hour'' programme on BBC Radio 2 for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Early life and education Royle was bor ...

on '' Good Morning Sunday'' and for Ray Moore on the station's early breakfast show. When Moore left in 1988, due to health issues, Stuart replaced him for three years and after

Frances Line Frances Mary Line OBE (22 February 1940 – 13 October 2021), whose married name was Frances Lloyd, was a British radio executive. From 1990 to 1996, she was Controller of BBC Radio 2, the first woman to hold the post and only the third to run ...

became station controller, he moved to the late night programme until the beginning of 1992, when he was replaced by

Derek Jameson Derek Jameson (29 November 1929 – 12 September 2012) was an English tabloid journalist and broadcaster. He began his career in the media in 1944 as a messenger at Reuters and worked his way up to become the editor of several British tabloi ...

and his wife. Stuart remained associated with Radio 2; for three years he hosted the Saturday film review show and continued to stand-in for other presenters including

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...

, Jimmy Young,

Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer from Northern Ireland. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regula ...

, and John Dunn. For Radio 4 he presented several series of the science quiz, ''Inspiration'' and also worked as a network commentator on major events including the funeral services of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

and

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

. For more than two decades, he commentated on the annual ''RBL Festival of Remembrance'' at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. Stuart also remained associated with

, presenting the station's Saturday sports coverage for five years. In 2014, Radio Wales paid tribute to him as part of series called ''Radio Greats''.

Personal life

In 1978, Stuart married Caroline Lynch-Blosse. They had a daughter Josephine, but the marriage ended in divorce. Stuart then married Megan, a former Editor of

and producer on Radio 4's ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

.'' They had three children and Stuart was also father to another child from a previous marriage. In 1992, Stuart and his wife set up an independent production company called ''Presentable'', whose wide-ranging output included ''Late Night Poker'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, as well as ''Only Connect''. The company was sold in 2006 to RDF Media who subsequently merged with

Zodiak Media Zodiak Media was a Swedish and later French global independent television group with up to 45 companies covering fiction, entertainment, and animation, spread across 15 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, S ...

. Stuart died from

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

on 12 July 2022, at the age of 73. The 18th series of ''Only Connect'' was dedicated in his memory.

References

External links

Stuart – UKgameshows.com

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Chris 1949 births 2022 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford BBC Radio 2 presenters BBC Radio Wales presenters British male journalists British radio personalities Deaths from colorectal cancer People from Durham, England Television personalities from County Durham