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David Hamilton (born David Pilditch; 10 September 1938) is an English radio and television presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 television shows. He is often known as 'Diddy David Hamilton', a name given to him by the comedian
Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...
.


Early life

Hamilton was born in Manchester and attended Glastonbury Road Grammar School at
St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...
in Surrey until the age of 17. While at school he became a columnist on the weekly national magazine ''Soccer Star''. He performed
national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
from 1959.


Television career

On leaving school, Hamilton became a script-writer for the TV series ''Portrait of a Star''. Following his national service, he became an in-vision television announcer for ABC Weekend TV based in
Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...
, Manchester, and appeared with close friend
Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...
in the TV series ''Doddy's Music Box'', acquiring the nickname 'Diddy'. Throughout the 1960s, he hosted shows for the ITV franchises Tyne Tees, Anglia and Westward. When ABC closed down in 1968, he transferred to its successor company
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
as an announcer, subsequently hosting many shows for them including ''Miss TV Times'', ''TV Times Gala Awards'', ''The World Disco Dance Championships'', as well as many outside broadcasts, circus and sports shows. He appeared alongside comedians
Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...
and Tommy Cooper and hosted Thames TV's showcase weeks on television in New York City and Los Angeles. Later he hosted ATV's Saturday night series ''Up For the Cup'', and four series of TVS's hangman-style game show '' All Clued Up''. For BBC TV, he hosted ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' and '' Seaside Special'' and the '' Eurovision Song Contest Previews'' in 1986. For seven years, he was the main host of one of the earliest satellite TV stations, Lifestyle. Hamilton was one of the final people on the network when it closed on 24 January 1993, appearing on the final segment wishing viewers goodbye.


Radio career


BBC Radio

Hamilton made his broadcasting debut with the British Forces Network in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
in Germany during his national service in 1959. His first UK broadcast was as the host of ''The Beat Show'' from the Playhouse Theatre, Manchester, in 1962. He hosted the show on the BBC Light Programme until 1965. He presented the final edition of '' Housewives' Choice'' in 1967 and was first heard 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 November 1967, presenting ''Family Choice''. By the late 1960s, Hamilton was presenting many shows for BBC radio, including ''Music Through Midnight'', ''Roundabout'', ''Pop Inn'', ''Radio 1 Club'' and shows featuring the music of Frank Chacksfield. In 1970, he joined the team of ''Late Night Extra'' and in 1973 was offered his own daily show on Radio 1 every weekday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm. In 1975, the show was simultaneously broadcast on Radio 1 and Radio 2 (listeners being able to hear the show in stereophonic sound on Radio 2's VHF frequency), giving it the largest British audience of the day. In November 1977, the show moved to Radio 2 and he remained with the station until he quit at the end of 1986, stating that the music policy had become ''Geriatric'', as the then head of music Frances Line had decided to change the music policy to reflect that of the old Light Programme.


Commercial radio

Since January 1987, Hamilton has been heard on many commercial stations in the UK. He joined
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
's Radio 210 initially to present a mid-morning show from 9am to 12 noon although the show was quickly brought forward an hour, starting at 8am. He then joined Capital Gold in November 1988 to present its daily 10am to 1pm show. In addition to that, he also presented a weekly oldies show which was heard on various ILR stations around the UK. This was usually heard on a Sunday afternoon. In late 1994, Hamilton presented the Breakfast show on Melody FM (now Magic 105.4) for four years before moving to London's Liberty Radio to present an afternoon show. He also did a show on the
Classic Gold Classic Gold was a network of three "Gold" music formatted stations which broadcast on AM in Bradford, Hull and Sheffield. They were the sister stations of Pennine Radio, Viking Radio and Radio Hallam respectively and they were part of the ...
Network on a Sunday. In 2000, he joined
PrimeTime Radio PrimeTime Radio was a national UK radio station. Launched in 2000, it was part of Saga Radio Group until it became independent in 2004. It operated as a sister station to Saga DAB radio, Saga Digital radio. The line up featured a variety of pres ...
, presenting the weekday mid-morning show, where he remained until its demise in 2006. In October 2001, he left Classic Gold and presented the breakfast show on
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
's Saga 105.7 FM before moving to
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
's Saga 106.6 FM in early 2003. From 2004 to 2006, he was heard on radio stations around the UK, presenting his ''Million Sellers'' show, which would usually go out on a Saturday lunchtime, and was repeated at midnight. Around this time he also had a sojourn at Big L 1395. In April 2012, Hamilton was one of the launch presenters on ''The Wireless'', an Internet-based radio station operated by Age UK and aimed at older people throughout the UK. He was a founder director of Lite FM in Peterborough and Splash FM in Worthing, hosting the first programme with guest
Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...
in 2003. In February 2021, he started a daily lunchtime show with Boom Radio, the national DAB station aimed at the
baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...
generation.


Stage

On stage Hamilton has compered shows by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
, the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, David Cassidy and many other pop acts. He has hosted shows 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 ...
and the
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...
, and headlined in four major pantomimes. In 2016, he embarked on a 40-theatre tour, David Hamilton's Rock 'n' Roll Back The Years, with band The Fugitives, and singers.


Sport

Hamilton was the compere for the Wembley Lions Speedway team in 1970 and 1971. During the 1970s, Hamilton was also the match day presenter for the Reading Racers Speedway Club. Latterly he was seen frequently on BBC One's ''
Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...
'' and BSkyB's ''Football First'' as he was the matchday compère at Fulham F.C.


Books

Hamilton is the author of six books: ''David Hamilton's Beauty Tips for Women'', 1974, ''The Music Game'' (autobiography), 1986, ''A Fulhamish Tale'', 2012, ''The Golden Days of Radio One'', 2017 and ''Commercial Radio Daze'', 2020. David Hamilton's new autobiography, "The Long and Winding Road", published in 2024.


Current work

In 2019, Hamilton celebrated 60 years in broadcasting. By this time he was heard regularly on his local stations
BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of East and West Sussex. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Queens Road in Brighton. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC R ...
and
BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Guildford. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey ...
. His ''Million Sellers'' show continues to be aired on several stations in the UK and abroad. In 2021, at the age of 82, he became the oldest broadcaster to present a daily show on national radio with his lunchtime show on Boom Radio. The same year ''David Hamilton's Million Sellers'' and ''David Hamilton's Hotshots'' launched on the Now 70s music television channel and he was a guest on ''Britain's Biggest 70s Hits'' on Channel 5. He has been a newspaper reviewer on
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
and also began contributing to
GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...
in 2022. On 2 December 2023, speaking on Mark Dolan Tonight he disclosed during a royal family studio discussion that, "I have 9 grandchildren".


Television


References


External links


David Hamilton's Official website

David Hamilton on Boom Radio

British Entertainment History Project. David Hamilton

Neil Sean Meets David Hamilton.

Tailor Made Radio: David Hamilton's Million Sellers.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, David 1938 births Living people 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters English game show hosts English radio DJs English television presenters Mass media people from Manchester Radio and television announcers