Richard Morecroft (born 20 January 1956) is an English-born Australian radio announcer, TV newsreader and presenter, and conservationist. He presented the Adelaide News bulletin, before becoming the long-running host of the nightly bulletin of ABC News NSW from 1983 until 2002. Between 2010 and 2012, he hosted the quiz show ''

Letters and Numbers ''Letters and Numbers'' is an Australian game show on SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS. It is hosted by former newsreader Richard Morecroft, co-hosted by David Astle and Lily Serna. Although it is based on the France, French game show ''Des chiff ...

''.

Early life

Morecroft was born in

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

in the English

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

. His father Peter and mother Phyll moved the family to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in 1966 for the benefit of his brother Andrew's respiratory problems; Peter set up a dentist's practice there.

Broadcasting career

Morecroft studied English and Drama at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

with thoughts of becoming an actor or teacher. He became involved in the university radio station and auditioned for the ABC before completing his degree. He was hired as a radio announcer and later transferred to work in television, hosting the 7pm Adelaide bulletin for a couple of years before being approached to replace James Dibble who had presented the bulletin since it began in 1956. He moved to Sydney in 1982 and took over the 7pm Sydney bulletin in July 1983, as well as presenting

Behind the News ''Behind the News'' (more commonly known as ''BTN'') is an Australian children's news program televised by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Described as an 'educational news program aimed at 10-13 year old kids', ''BTN'' is commo ...

. In 1985, he and

Geraldine Doogue Geraldine Frances Doogue () (born 29 April 1952) is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter, known for her work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Since January 2024, she has been co-host of ABC Radio Natio ...

co-hosted '' The National'', the ABC's short-lived experiment with an hour-long nightly news service, combining news and current affairs, with Max Walsh and Richard Carlton as chief reporters. Also during his time with the ABC, Morecroft participated with the ABC's Natural History Unit in the production of ''Raising Archie'', about a

flying fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

which he raised and used to keep under the news desk while at work. Morecroft presented the 7pm Sydney news bulletin until 2002, and also hosted election-night broadcasts and educational programs. He would always sign off by saying "And that's the news to this minute." Morecroft became such a widely recognizable Australian newscaster that he appeared as himself in many Australian movies and television shows during and after his career. Including: ''

Police Rescue ''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC and Southern Star Entertainment, Southern ...

'' (1991–1996), '' The Roly Poly Man'' (1993), '' Wildside'' (1997–1998) and '' Red Hill'' (2010). He left the ABC in 2002, being replaced by

Tony Eastley Tony Eastley is an Australian newspaper journalist and radio and television newsreader and host. Journalism career Eastley began his journalism career in the 1970s with ''The Examiner'' newspaper in Launceston, Tasmania before joining the Austra ...

, and underwent a sea change, moving to a property near

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village in the Jervis Bay Territory and on the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay, known as the Jervis Bay Terri ...

with his partner, artist Alison Mackay. He said he was not retiring, but wanted to work in a different way. Morecroft returned to the ABC to host ''Richard Morecroft Goes Wild'' in 2002, drawing on his passion for environmental issues. In 2010, it was announced that he would host ''

'' on

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...

, an Australian version of the French

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Des chiffres et des lettres ''Des chiffres et des lettres'' (; ) is a French Television show, television programme which originally aired from 1965 to 2024. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. It was one of the l ...

'', on which the British game show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' is based. The first program aired on 2 August 2010. Morecroft was joined by

crossword A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

compiler

David Astle David Robert Astle (born 9 November 1961) is an Australian TV personality and radio host, and writer of non-fiction, fiction and plays. He also co-hosted the SBS Television (SBS) show ''Letters and Numbers'', as the dictionary expert, in company ...

and mathematician Lily Serna.

Environmental activities

Morecroft is a governor of the Taronga Foundation and a director of the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales. He is a trustee of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

and is a patron of WIRES.

Publications

His book ''20 Years from the Waist Up'' was published in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morecroft, Richard Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Living people 1956 births English emigrants to Australia Articles containing video clips