Peter James Hobday (16 February 1937 – 18 January 2020) was a British radio presenter, best known for presenting the early-morning

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 ...

breakfast current affairs programme ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''throughout the 1980s, remaining until 1996. He was a colleague of

Brian Redhead Brian Leonard Redhead (28 December 1929 – 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was a co-presenter of the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 from 1975 until 1993, shortly before his death. He was a great love ...

, and the two men were a regular presenting duo on the programme. Hobday was the presenter of ''

The Money Programme ''The Money Programme'' is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC Two which ran between April 1966 and November 2010. It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" (financial journalists) William Davi ...

'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 matte ...

television. He helped launch the late-night current affairs programme ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'' on BBC2, where he was both presenter and economic specialist. He was also involved in launching ''In Business'' on Radio 4. His removal from the ''Today'' programme in 1996 was greeted with dismay from its listeners, and allegations of ageism were levied at the BBC. Later, he presented BBC Radio 4's '' World at One''. Bilingual in French and English, and competent in Italian, he also contributed to French and French-Canadian television. Following his journalistic career, Hobday ran media training sessions for industry leaders and senior union officials, served as a visiting professor at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

, and worked as a conference chairman. He divided much of his time between London and Italy, and wrote a memoir titled ''In the Valley of the Fireflies: An Englishman in Umbria'' (1995). Hobday passed away on 18 January 2020. His brother John Hobday, who predeceased him, took the part of the first police constable in Ambridge in BBC Radio 4's ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

''.

Books

* ''Man the Industrialist'' (Priory Press, 1973) "Social History of Science Library" series * ''

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Today: An Introduction to the Richest Oil Power'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1978) * ''In the Valley of the Fireflies. An Englishman in

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

'' (Michael Joseph, 1995) * ''Simple Guide to England: Customs & Etiquette'' (Simple Guides, 1998) * ''Managing the Message: How the Media Can Be Influenced'' (London House, 2000) * ''The Girl in Rose: Haydn's Last Love'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004)

References

BBC archives 1937 births 2020 deaths BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 4 presenters {{UK-journalist-stub