David Gray (9 January 1961 – 21 February 2024) was a Scottish broadcaster, journalist, senior producer and news editor at BBC Radio Orkney.

Career

Gray was born in

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

, Scotland. Gray started his career as a mechanic, fixing cars in a garage across from the BBC studio in

. He then joined BBC Radio Orkney in

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, Scotland, and spent over thirty years at the station. From 2008 to 2021, Gray was the News Editor. Throughout his long career at 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 ...

, Gray presented various programmes on the station, starting with a metal programme, before working on their flagship news programme ''Around Orkney'' each weekday morning. Gray also interviewed many guests from the island, with an 'In Conversation' programme. Gray retired in 2021, but briefly returned in 2024 to do six weeks holiday cover. Gray hosted various different events across

, including for Orkney's Business Festival in 2016. In 2021, Gray was a guest on the

podcast ''Scotland Outdoors'' for

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

Death

Gray died suddenly in an

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

hospital on 21 February 2024 following a short illness. He was 63. Tributes were shared across social media from family, friends, colleagues and listeners.

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 ...

News managing editor, Peter MacRae, said "The Orkney audience took Dave to their hearts because he was the same person on air as off. He was passionate about Orkney and local journalism and a strong advocate for maintaining the BBC's commitment to Scotland's rural communities." Gray interviewed ITV broadcaster

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

shortly before his death, with Kelly paying tribute on

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, "Just heard the very sad news that BBC Radio Orkney legend Dave Gray has died. I saw him just two weeks ago when I was in Orkney and we had a great chat. He will be sorely missed - my sincere condolences to his family and all of his friends." Lorraine Kelly struck by loss weeks after last meeting
- 23 February 2024 -

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Dave 1961 births 2024 deaths People from Orkney Scottish radio presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists