Paul William Vaughan (24 October 1925 – 14 November 2014) was a British journalist, radio presenter (of art and science programmes) throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and a narrator of many

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

science documentaries, among them ''Horizon''. He was also a semi-professional

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and classical musician.

Early life

He was born in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

, South London, but after ten years moved to

New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...

in Surrey. His father worked at the Linoleum (& Floorcloth) Manufacturers' Association (LMA), which became the British Floorcovering Manufacturers' Association. He was the younger brother of dance archivist and historian David Vaughan. He attended Raynes Park County School (a boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, which became Raynes Park High School in 1969), which he attended with other well-known voices on Radio 4, who also followed him to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He studied French and English at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

. He did military service in the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

– REME.

Early career

He began work for the pharmaceutical company Menley and James, now part of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

, in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

. From 1955 to 1965 he was the Chief Press Officer of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(BMA) at

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...

Broadcasting career

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Vaughan was the main voice of

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

's arts and science programmes. As well as working on television, he was also heard on similar radio programmes.

Science

From 1968 until 1995 Vaughan was the main narrator of the BBC's heavyweight science documentary series ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

''. Science and technology were rapidly developing in that period, notably in biology and electronics, and consequently there was much to report for the ''Horizon'' series. On 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 ...

Vaughan presented ''Science in Action'', and ''Discovery'', and on Radio 4 ''New Worlds'' (1969–1973).

Arts

Vaughan presented the Radio 4 magazine arts programme ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

'' from its beginning in 1973 through to its closure in April 1998. ''Kaleidoscope'' initially had science also in its remit, and later in October 1995 Vaughan's input into the programme was limited to reviewing books and music, to introduce some structure to the programme's topics. On Radio 3 he presented '' Record Review'' from 1981, taking over from John Lade, who had presented it from its beginning in 1957. He also presented a programme similar to ''Kaleidoscope'' called ''World of

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

'' for

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

in-flight entertainment.

Other work

Vaughan narrated the 1984 television drama '' Threads''. When the phone network

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

was launched in Britain, for many years his voice, using the tagline "The future's bright, the future's Orange", was used exclusively for the television adverts. He was also one of the most widely heard voices for Tesco's "Every Little Helps" promotion and for Colgate toothpaste commercials.

Musical career

Paul Vaughan was a self-taught

Clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist in both jazz and classical music and played in the Worcester Park and Wimbledon Symphony Orchestras.

Personal life

He married in north-east Surrey in 1951 to Barbara Prys-Jones, daughter of Welsh poet Arthur Prys-Jones; Vaughan and Prys-Jones had four children. After his divorce from Prys-Jones, Vaughan married BBC producer Philippa (Pippa) Burston in 1988, with whom he had two sons.

Filmography

Publications

* ''Exciting Times in the Accounts Department'', 1995, Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd, 256 pages, * ''Something in Linoleum: A Thirties Education'', 14 February 1994, 224 pages, * ''The Pill on Trial'' 1972, Penguin Books, 272 pages, * ''Family Planning: The Family Planning Associations Guide to Birth Control'' 1969, Queen Anne Publishers, 96 pages, * Work to be Done: Careers in Mental Health'' 1966 London: National Association for Mental Health. * ''Doctors' Commons: a short history of the British Medical Association'', (Hardback – 1959, Heinemann), (Paperback – 18 August 2011,

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

), 254 pages,

References

External links

BBC Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Paul 1925 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford BBC Radio 4 presenters BBC Radio 3 presenters BBC World Service people English male voice actors French–English translators Medical journalists People from New Malden People educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School 20th-century British translators