Colin Murray
Colin Murray at Live 8, July 2005
Born	Colin Wright (1977-03-10) 10 March 1977 (age 35) Dundonald, Castlereagh, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Radio and Television Presenter
Known for	Presenting Match of the Day 2, 5 Live Sport, Fighting Talk Formerly Channel 5 football and BBC Radio 1

Colin Murray (born Colin Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish sports and music radio and television presenter. He is the current host of the BBC Television show Match of the Day 2 on BBC Two, and the BBC Radio 5 Live shows 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk, as well as a show on BBC Radio Ulster. He has previously hosted regular shows on Channel 5 television and BBC Radio 1. In 2007, Murray was named Music Broadcaster Of The Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Born and raised in Dundonald, east of Belfast, Murray first trained and worked as a news journalist. With a passion for both music and sport, he later moved into music journalism and publishing, before making his national radio debut in 1999 on Radio 1 in a short spell co-hosting The Session music show. This was followed by a television debut in 2002 as one of six co-presenters on Channel 4's short lived morning show RI:SE. From 2003 onwards, Murray established himself as a music radio presenter on the weekday daytime Colin and Edith show alongside Edith Bowman.

In 2006 Murray began his first role on BBC Radio 5 Live hosting the sports themed Saturday morning comedy panel game Fighting Talk, and also began presenting Channel 5's live UEFA Cup football coverage on midweek evenings. In 2006 he moved shows on Radio 1, departing Colin and Edith to front the late night weekday evening music vehicle, The Colin Murray Show. In 2008 he also began presenting The Late Show with Colin Murray, a once a week late night music show for Radio Ulster. In 2009 he left Radio 1 to take on the additional roles at 5 Live - hosting Kicking off with Colin Murray on Friday nights, and 5 Live Sport on Sunday afternoons. In 2010 he moved from presenting live football on Channel 5, to fronting the BBC's Match of the Day 2 Sunday night highlights show.

Life and Career[link]

1977-1993: Early Life[link]

Murray was born in 1977 in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald in Castlereagh Borough (a suburb of the Greater Belfast urban area in Northern Ireland), and grew up in Dundonald's Ballybeen estate.^[1] He was educated at the Regent House Grammar School in Newtownards, and later at Dundonald High School, leaving after GCSEs.^[1] Hyperactive since childhood, Murray was asked to leave the grammar school due to what was perceived by teachers as a tendency to disruption - always asking awkward questions or telling jokes - traits he later identified as ideal for his future career in presenting, and which he felt should really have been nurtured by teachers.^[2]

1994-2002: Early career and Radio debut[link]

After leaving school, Murray went on to study journalism full time.^[1] He started work as a news journalist, working both in Northern Ireland as a trainee for The News Letter, before in 1994 moving to Toronto, Canada, for a year, working on a fellowship for the Toronto Sun.^[3][4][5] After returning from Toronto he moved into music journalism, writing for newspapers about rock and pop bands, including establishing a long standing column in the Irish Sunday People, before moving into music magazine business with a new title called BLANK.^[1][3] After Murray set it up and acted as co-publisher, Blank became the highest circulating music magazine in Ulster.^[6] After Blank was merged with another title, Murray left the magazine.^[1]

After Blank, Murray co-presented the weekly live music programme Session in Northern Ireland on BBC Radio 1, with Donna Legge, broadcast just in Northern Ireland.^[1] Murray had initially thought the audition was for a show on BBC Radio Ulster.^[6] This was followed with a six month spell in 1999 presenting the main national programme The Session, from Tuesdays to Thursdays.^[7] Spells deputising for hosts of other major Radio 1 shows also followed.^[6]

By 2002 Murray's work in radio and television earned him an audition as one of six co-presenter of Channel 4's new national breakfast television show, RI:SE. Having initially auditioned as the entertainment presenter, Murray was instead was chosen as a news presenter.^[1] While at RI:SE he continued to co-host the evening session in Northern Ireland with Donna Legge one day a week, commuting between the Channel 4 studios near Heathrow and Northern Ireland.^[1] His time with RI:SE was brief and unhappy, with Murray later stating it "scared me off TV for a long time".^[3]

2003-2008: Radio Career[link]

By 2003, Murray had teamed up with Edith Bowman (his former co-host from RI:SE) to work together on Radio 1 presenting their own Colin and Edith show. It began in September 2003 in the weekend late morning slot, but from March 2004 it was moved to the weekday afternoon slot.^[8] The partnership increased the listener figures to a decade high of 5.5 million.^[3]

In 2006 Murray became the new presenter of BBC Radio 5 Live's comedy sports panel quiz show, Fighting Talk, his first regular show on 5 Live. Broadcast live on Saturdays mornings, his first show was on 4 February.^[9] Also in February 2006, Murray became the anchor for Channel 5's midweek evening live European UEFA Cup football television coverage, with former anchor John Barnes acting as a roving reporter.^[10]

In 2006, Murray left the Radio 1 Colin and Edith show to start The Colin Murray Show, a new music show on the same station, from September, showcasing new and alternative music in the Mondays to Thursdays 10pm - Midnight slot, with Edith remaining in the lunchtime slot.^[3][11] Murray was inevitably compared with the late holder of the slot, John Peel, with Murray stating "What I like is that it's always represented honesty, and never been influenced by what's supposed to be cool at the time. Peel played music he liked; I just play music I like". In 2007 there was a year on year increase in listeners to the slot of 160,000.^[3]

From February 2008 Murray also began presenting a weekly late night music show on BBC Radio Ulster in Northern Ireland.^[5] After failing to find a suitable sound location, he actually presents the show from his own house, in his bedroom, drawing on his extensive music collection as well as new music downloaded onto iTunes.^[12] It began as a Saturday night show,^[5] but later moved to Fridays.^[12]

2009- Present: Departure from Radio 1 and Television Career[link]

In 2009 Murray resigned from his Radio 1 late night show, to expand his work at BBC Radio 5 Live, becoming the new presenter of 5 Live Sport on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, in time for the start of the 2009/10 football season.^[13] The Friday slot is a weekend preview show, Kicking off with Colin Murray,^[12] while the Sunday show comprises six hours of live sports coverage.^[2] Kicking Off saw a close to 20 percent increase in listeners after its first year, according to RAJAR figures.^{[citation needed]} Having taken a self-imposed two months holiday from work before starting at 5 Live, the 5 Live shows had to start without him while he recovered from a bout of H1N1 swine flu.^[14]

In 2010 Murray left Channel 5's football team to replace Adrian Chiles as presenter of the BBC's Match of the Day 2 football highlights television programme, broadcast on Sunday nights on BBC Two as a companion show to the flagship Saturday night Match of the Day show on BBC One. Reeson's Rumour-Mill recently postulated that following his replacement of Adrian Chiles, the BBC received multiple complaints regarding his questionable dress sense along with his untidy and shabby appearance.^{[citation needed]} He also hosted the BBC Two nightly highlights show for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa through June and July.^[15][16]

In sports television, Murray has also presented coverage of late-night American Football and the European Poker Tour for Channel 5.^[6] From January 2010, Murray has also presented the BBC's televised coverage of the annual BDO World Darts Championship, alongside Bobby George.^[12] In music television, Murray has co-hosted Glastonbury Festival coverage for both BBC Three (and Radio 1), presented a late-night music show Ear Candy on Channel 4, under the 4music strand, and guest presented the BBC music show Top of the Pops.^[6] He has also presented ITV2's coverage of the Brit Awards.^[6] In documentary television, in 2010 Murray co-wrote and presented the BBC Two documentary Davis v Taylor: The '85 Black Ball Final, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1985 World Snooker Championship final.^[7]

As a game show presenter, Murray has co-presented the Channel 4 challenge show Born Sloppy with Sara Cox,^[6] fronted the Soduku based game show Street-Cred Sudoku broadcast on UKTV G2 in 2005.^[17] and the Channel Five quiz show Payday in 2007.^[3] Other TV work has included presenting shows on BBC Three such as EastEnders Revealed, a companion show to the popular soap series.^[6] As a narrator, Murray has appeared on the BBC television series Can't Take It With You, and Boys Will Be Girls on E4.^[6] He has also provided the narration for the gameshow Scream if You Know the Answer! on Watch, alongside host Duncan James.^[18]

As a celebrity contestant/participant on various television shows, Murray has appeared as Mark Knopfler on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes in 2005,^[6] performed in Comic Relief does Fame Academy in 2007,^[3] competed in the Celebrity MasterChef in 2009,^[19] and been the Dictionary Corner guest on the Channel 4 game show Countdown.^[2]

In the autumn of 2011 he was announced that he would present Driving Wars on digital television channel Dave.

Other work[link]

Murray has continued his journalism work into his presenting career by writing a monthly 'radio diary' piece for The Guardian newspaper.^[6] In 2005 Murray created the radio documentary, The Trouble With Drugs.^[7] In October 2009, Murray published his first book, A Random History of Football, ISBN 978-1-4091-1290-7, through Orion Publishing, a compendium of random and relatively unknown stories about football.^[2] In 2007, Murray directed magician Chris Cox's Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Everything Happens for a Reason.^[20] Murray has also compèred at the Leeds Festival since 2004.^[21] In 2003 he co-hosted the Kerrang! Awards with Edith Bowman.^[6]

Outside the UK, Murray has been a weekly fixture on The Fan 590's breakfast programme in Toronto, Canada; he appears on Fridays with frequent FT panelist Greg Brady and Jim Lang wherein he discusses the week's big sporting topics in the UK, as well as the upcoming weekend's English Premier League (or either FA Cup or League Cup) action.

Personal life[link]

Murray has two sisters and a brother.^[2] He was married on 17 March 2012 (St Patrick's Day), though it was not mentioned per se on that day's episode of Fighting Talk.^[22]

Murray has been a fan of Liverpool F.C. since childhood.^[3][10] He got five stars tattooed on his arm when Liverpool won the European Cup for the fifth time.^[15] He has also stated he is a Chester F.C. fan after falling in love with the club following their rise from closure and fronted by the fans. He was guest of honour at the end of season awards. On his role as both a football presenter and a fan, Murray said in 2009 that "The biggest stick I get when I'm presenting football is from Liverpool fans",^[12] and in 2010 "I like a laugh but I am serious also about football and the impartiality required to respect all football fans."^[15] Murray is also the Irish Football Association's Football for All ambassador.^[23]

Whilst living in Toronto, Canada, he became a supporter of the baseball team Toronto Blue Jays and a fan of Major League Baseball in general, and has since spent his annual summer holidays in North America watching MLB games.^[4]

During the pre-show sound check of the 12 December 2009 episode of Fighting Talk, Murray said that he had quit smoking six weeks earlier.

Awards[link]

Murray has won three Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards. In the 2007 Sony Awards he was named Music Broadcaster Of The Year,in 2005 awards he was given the Feature Award for a documentary he made titled The Trouble With Drugs,^[7] while in 2011 he took gold for best sport program Fighting Talk.

In 2002 Murray was named IPR Northern Ireland Entertainment Journalist of the Year, for his long running music column in the Irish Sunday People.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Colin Murray at the Internet Movie Database

Edith Bowman
Presenting at the BT Digital Music Awards
Born	Edith Eleanor Bowman (1975-01-15) 15 January 1975 (age 37) Anstruther, Fife, Scotland
Occupation	Radio/TV Presenter
Known for	Formerly Weekday afternoon Radio 1 show
Children	Rudy Brae Bowman Smith
Website
edithbowman.com

Edith Eleanor Bowman (born 15 January 1974) is a Scottish music critic, radio DJ and television presenter. She is mostly known for hosting the weekday afternoon show and from September 2009 weekend morning on BBC Radio 1 and for presenting a variety of music related television shows and music festivals.^[1]

Media career[link]

Television[link]

Bowman's first on-screen job on TV was as a news reader on MTV UK. She went on to host many shows for the station, including co-presenting chart show Hitlist UK with Cat Deeley, with whom she also presented travel show Roadtripping for BBC Choice in 2002.

She became a presenter on Channel 4's breakfast show RI:SE when it launched on 29 April 2002.

In 2004, she co-presented the BBC Scotland series Teen Commandments with Cameron Stout. After occasional appearances in 2003, Bowman co-presented Top of the Pops up until the end of the series, replacing Fearne Cotton while she was away. In total she appeared on the show ten times including the final weekly episode. She returned to Top of the Pops for the 2006 Christmas Special.

Since 2005, she has been the voice of the television and radio adverts for the electrical store, Comet.

She has also presented various music programmes for Channel 4 such as Channel 4 Presents... and TBA. Edith also appeared on children's art program SMart in 2007.

Edith regularly appears on coverage of festivals such as Glastonbury, T In The Park and Reading and Leeds Festival, for both BBC Radio and TV.

In 2010, she appeared on Noel Fielding's team on the BBC satirical music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, alongside Irish recording artist Imelda May.

On 29 April 2011, she reported for BBC TV on their coverage of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.^[2]

Recently^[when?] she has been narrating the McFly Documentary McFly on the Wall.

Radio[link]

Bowman presented Hit Music Sunday with Cat Deeley on Capital FM in 2001–2002.

On 29 March 2003, she teamed up with Colin Murray, who had also worked on RI:SE, to co-host Colin and Edith on BBC Radio 1. In April 2004 this show moved from a weekend morning slot to weekday afternoons, broadcasting between 13:00 and 16:00, after the departure of Mark and Lard from the station.

In August 2006, Bowman became the sole occupier of the BBC Radio 1 afternoon 13:00 to 16:00 slot, with Murray taking over a Late Night Specialist slot. In September 2008, she returned to the airwaves following maternity leave, initially taking over from Dick and Dom on the Sunday Morning Lie In from 10:00 to 13:00. She then returned to weekday afternoons on 3 November 2008.

In July 2009 it was announced that Radio 1 were to change their daytime schedule, and this saw Bowman moved to Weekend Breakfast, with Greg James replacing her on the afternoon programme.^[3] Bowman was quoted as saying she felt she had taken her shows as far as she could, and the move meant she could create a new show for a new market.^[4][5]

In February 2012, it was announced that Edith Bowman was being replaced by Gemma Cairney on Weekend Breakfast, and would move to Tuesday evenings, in order to take over The Review Show, from Nihal. Her first show of the new Review Show was on 24 April 2012.

Career milestones[link]

In 2005, Bowman presented BBC Scotland's coverage of the Live 8 event at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, and hosted the network's T in the Park programmes together with Dougie Anderson who had also worked on RI:SE.^[6] Also in 2005, she hosted the Q Awards with Colin Murray live on BBC Radio 1.

She also presented the BBC Three TV coverage of Glastonbury, T in the Park and The Reading Festival with Colin Murray. She also hosted the TV coverage of the first Electric Proms with Zane Lowe.

On 7 July 2007 she was a presenter of the BBC coverage of Live Earth.

Since leaving the weekday afternoon slot on Radio 1 Bowman's TV career has extended. She has presented several one off film specials for Channel 4. She has also presented "Evo Music Rooms" a late night music programme for Channel 4 and presents The Vue Film Show, also for Channel 4. In 2011, she is also due to present "T in the Park" music festival for BBC3.

Charity interests[link]

In May 2008, Bowman supported the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer,^[7] alongside fellow celebrities: comedian Alan Carr, actress Anna Friel, singer Natalie Imbruglia and model Twiggy.^[8]

Singing[link]

Bowman's television debut was on the Grampian Television talent show The Big Break.^[9] At the age of 14, she covered Bananarama’s Venus but finished joint last in her heat.

on 11 March 2005 she won the TV talent show Comic Relief does Fame Academy, a charity music contest in which she sang Champagne Supernova with Jools Holland's band.^[10] Earlier in the competition she sang a version of Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone". The show also featured Al Murray, Kim Medcalf, Adrian Edmondson, Jon Culshaw, Konnie Huq, Dawn Steele, and other celebrities.

Personal life[link]

Bowman was born in Anstruther in Fife, Scotland. She studied at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh. In 2004, she began dating Elbow frontman Guy Garvey until she left him in 2005, inspiring many of the songs for his third album, Leaders of the Free World.^{[citation needed]} Edith lives in London with Editors frontman Tom Smith.^[1] In December 2007 it was announced they were expecting a baby.^[11] On 10 June 2008, Bowman gave birth to son Rudy Brae Bowman Smith.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Edith Bowman

• Official website
• BBC Radio 1's Review Show with Edith Bowman at BBC Programmes
• Edith Bowman on Myspace
• Edith Bowman on Twitter
• Edith Bowman at the Internet Movie Database