James Lee (born 21 April 1953 in

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

, England) is a freelance

continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...

and 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 ...

as well as a presenter of links for

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

. Lee is also an

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

licence holder in the U.K., operating with the callsign G4AEH.

Early life

Lee was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and lived in Camp Hill (to the west towards

Hartshill Hartshill is a large village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, contiguous with the much larger town of Nuneaton, the town centre of which is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the south-east. The parish borders the district of Nuneaton a ...

). He went to the King Edward VI Grammar School in Nuneaton (now the King Edward VI College). He worked for two years in a bank, and then decided to go to college. At Liverpool Polytechnic (now

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

), he studied business.

Career

He worked in hospital radio at

Walsgrave Hospital University Hospital Coventry is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital situated in the Walsgrave on Sowe area of Coventry, West Midlands, England, north-east of the city centre. It is part of the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwi ...

, and in 1980 was asked to join

Mercia Sound Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, formerly Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer Radio, Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Co ...

in Coventry. He joined 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 ...

in 1989. He did the Breakfast Show on

BBC CWR BBC CWR (Coventry & Warwickshire Radio) is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV, and via BBC Sounds from studio ...

for 18 months from 1990, and then the Afternoon Show for two years. The BBC then decided to merge BBC CWR with

BBC Radio WM BBC Radio WM is the BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Mailbox in Birmingham. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 193,000 ...

in Birmingham. In the early 1990s, he was involved in trials of DAB (

Digital Audio Broadcasting Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...

– i.e. Digital Radio), but was made redundant on 2 May 1997.

Freelance

Shortly after he re-joined as a freelance continuity announcer on Radio 4 and the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

, and joined

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

in 2002. He is known for his distinctive accent, and often interjects humour into his announcements. After the

Radio 4 UK Theme The ''BBC Radio 4 UK Theme'' is an orchestral arrangement of traditional British and Irish airs compiled by Fritz Spiegl and arranged by Manfred Arlan. It was played every morning on BBC Radio 4 between 23 November 1978 and 23 April 2006. T ...

made it into the UK popular music charts in 2006, Lee introduced it by saying "You don't often hear a hit single on Radio 4 ... but here's the UK theme".

External links

BBC Radio 4 profile, with photo

Jim Lee on BBC7 - Profile

Video clips

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jim Living people 1953 births English radio presenters Radio and television announcers BBC World Service people BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 Extra People from Nuneaton Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University British radio presenters