Mirza Michael John Bukht (10 September 1941 – 4 August 2011) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

commercial radio executive. Under the pseudonym Michael Barry, he was a chef and television personality who was a regular co-presenter on the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air 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 matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

television show ''

Food and Drink ''Food and Drink'' is a British television series on BBC Two. First broadcast between 1982 and 2002, it was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations. Hi ...

''. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

1996 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

"for services to Radio and Television Broadcasting."

Education and background

Barry was educated at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(BA). His father was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

diplomat while his Welsh mother was from

Resolven Resolven () is a small village and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the Vale of Neath. Location The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, north east of the town of Neath, next to the A465 ''Heads o ...

in Southern

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Career

From 1973 to 1997 he was the Programme controller for

Capital Radio Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...

, GWR Group Radio, Classic FM, Jamaica Broadcasting and the Principal of the

National Broadcasting School The National Broadcasting School began operating in 1980 as an independent organization supported by the UK's Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to provide professional training in radio presentation, production and journalism for Independe ...

. The first programme controller of Capital Radio and of Classic FM (the format of which he devised), he had also worked for Kent's Invicta FM. He spent time during the early 1980s on the Wild Coast of the now defunct Republic of

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River,

he river The He River is a tributary of the Xi River in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it ...

Kei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

, setting up the now defunct

Capital Radio 604 Capital Radio 604 was a radio station that broadcast to listeners in South Africa from transmitters located in the Transkei using Medium Wave (AM) on 603 kHz. Founded by Martin Rattle, the station started transmitting on 26 December 1979 ...

, where he moonlighted as the Capital Crafty Cook. He was regarded by those South African broadcasters who worked under his tutelage as having mentored a generation of highly professional radio presenters. Inane patter was his nemesis. His mantra: "If you've nothing to say,

segway A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter device invented by Dean Kamen. The name is a registered trademark of Segway Inc. It was brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, and then subsequently as the Segway PT. ''HT ...

!" In 1997 he gave up his full-time work with Classic FM because of a stress-related illness. He was perhaps best known by the general public as a regular co-presenter on the BBC2 television show ''

'' in the late 1980s and 1990s, where he was the series' regular chef. He was sometimes known as 'The Crafty Cook' for his frequent use of the adjective 'crafty' to describe his cooking technique. He wrote several books on cooking, including Michael Barry's ''Food and Drink Cookbook''. He was a Fellow of The

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...

, and lived in Kent. Bukht died on 4 August 2011, after suffering for some time from ill health, survived by his partner Jennie Jones, his son and his three daughters.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukht, Michael 1941 births 2011 deaths Alumni of King's College London English Muslims People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School BBC television presenters English television chefs English people of Pakistani descent English people of Welsh descent British radio executives Officers of the Order of the British Empire Capital (radio network) Classic FM (UK) People from Resolven