Michael Watts (18 October 1938 – 5 March 2018) was a British journalist and broadcaster best known for his "Inspector Watts" column in the ''Sunday Express'' and other publications, which ran for over 35 years.

Journalism career

Watts, born in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and educated at

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

, began in journalism at age 16 as a reporter on the '' Nottingham Evening News''. After four years there, he became London editor of ''The Viewer'' television magazine for a year, before joining the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' in 1960. There, he was variously gossip column editor, deputy news editor, and deputy editor in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and started the paper's ''Town Talk'' diary. In 1969 he began ''The World of Michael Watts'', a consumer column laced with social comment and humour. This concluded with the Great Corny Joke Contest, offering a cash prize of a "Crisp Oncer" - at £1 "the meanest prize in Fleet Street", and one which became relatively meaner as the years passed. In the 1980s, as the pound coin was replacing the pound note, Watts bought several hundreds of the latter from a bank so that the Crisp Oncer prize could continue. In carrying out investigations and taking up readers' battles with companies and bureaucracy, Michael Watts became known as "Inspector Watts" - and the column continued for 22 years, until he left the ''Sunday Express''. However, he started the column again in the relaunched ''

London Evening News The ''London Evening News'' was an evening newspaper published in London beginning on 14 August 1855. It was cheap, at a halfpenny per issue. It changed its name to ''The Day'' but "gave a poor news service", and had failed by 1859. Sources ...

'' and, the following year, in ''Saga'' magazine. Then in 1989 the ''Sunday Express'' asked Watts to bring it back to them, which until 1991 he did. His column and broadcasts were often commented upon by other publications, and in addition to continuing in ''Saga'', the column also ran for five years in the ''

Westminster Review The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly United Kingdom, British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the libe ...

'', and from 2002 to 2005 in ''Active Life'' magazine (still handing out Crisp Oncers). Watts freelanced in later life. He died on 5 March 2018.

Broadcasting

Watts's radio work for ''

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 ...

'' included twice-weekly consumer spots on ''Up To The Hour'', and presenting ''The Weekly World'' and ''News Stand''. Plus much for ''

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

''.

Awards

The Michael Watts column twice won the Consumer Writers' Award, in 1978 ''UK Press Gazette'', December 1978, 'Press Salute'. and 1986.

Published works

Author of ''I Say! I Say! Great Britain’s Best Corny Jokes and the Debatable Wit and Wisdom of Michael Watts'', published by

Sidgwick & Jackson Sidgwick & Jackson was an imprint of book publishing company Pan Macmillan. Formerly it was an independent publisher; as such, it was founded in Britain in 1908. Its early authors include poet Rupert Brooke and novelist E.M. Forster. In m ...

, 1971 ().

References

External links

Gentlemen Ranters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Michael 1938 births 2018 deaths British male journalists British radio personalities British writers People from Nottinghamshire People educated at Nottingham High School