TV-am Presenters

The original TV-am team

The Famous Five: Robert Kee, Angela Rippon, David Frost, Anna Ford and Michael Parkinson launch TV-am on 1st February 1983.

TV-am Presenters 1985

The TV-am team in the atrium, 1985. Can you name them all

@theannediamond

Anne Diamond replaced Lynda Berry as main co-presenter with Nick Owen on TV-am in June 1983. In 1988 Anne began hosting “Summer Sunday” and later went on to share the Sunday morning slot with David Frost, covering when he was away with her own show “Diamond on Sunday”. In 1990 Anne left TV-am to work on TVS show “TV Weekly” and later got back with Nick to present the BBC morning magazine and lifestyle show “Good Morning”. Anne can be heard on BBC Radio Berkshire and often seen on Channel 5’s “Wright Stuff” and ITV’s “Loose Women”

@nickowentv

Nick joined TV-am’s sports team in January 1983, and presented the sports bulletins on the first ever TV-am show. Six weeks later he was asked to become main presenter of “Good Morning Britain” replacing David Frost. Nick stayed until summer 1986 when he left to join ITV Sport. He is one of the main hosts of BBC Midlands Today.

@reallorraine

Lorraine Kelly was TV-am’s Glasgow based reporter covering stories all over Scotland, most notably the Lockerbie disaster. She joined in 1985, and by 1989 was a regular presenter of The Morning Programme, TV-am Reports and Good Morning Britain. In 1990 she became permanent co host of TV-am’s main show alongside Mike Morris. The rest is history...Lorraine continues to present her own breakfast TV show on ITV, making her the longest serving continuous breakfast presenter in Britain. Congratulations Lorraine!

@TV_am

Mike Morris was there at the start and lasted right to the bitter end, saying the final words on the last ever TV-am programme. He joined TV-am’s sports department but was quickly standing in as a presenter of Good Morning Britain. In 1987 he became one of the main presenters. After TV-am Mike had a stint at GMTV hosting Sunday mornings, and then joined Yorkshire TV as main presenter of regional news show “Calendar”. Mike sadly died in 2012 after a cancer operation. His funeral was attended by many former TV-am colleagues including Jayne Irving, Richard Keys and Timmy Mallett.

@KayBurley

Kay’s career began as a newspaper reporter, but by the early 80s she was working as a reporter at Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1985 Kay joined TV-am and was often seen reading the news, as well as covering a range of big stories including the Zeebrugge Disaster of 1987. It was also 1987 when Kay began presenting the first hour of TV-am with Richard Keys or Mike Morris and also covering Anne Diamond’s maternity leave. She fronted a careers phone in section called Success 88 and remained with TV-am until Sky News launched in 1989.

@TV_am

Writer, actor, newsreader. Gordon could do it all. He became the face of TV-am News in January 1984 and stayed until 1989. He was famous for his greeting “Helllllooo, Good Morning!” Previously he’d worked at ITN. In July 1986 he wrote a book for TV-am celebrating the Royal Wedding of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson. Gordon later moved to Australia where he died in 2015

@JohnStapletonTV

Looking to beef up TV-am’s news content, editor Greg Dyke asked John Stapleton to join TV-am in 1983. He’d worked on Nationwide for the BBC so was well known to viewers. John’s wife, Lynn Faulds Wood was already TV-am’s consumer expert when he joined. John was the only TV-am reporter at the scene of the IRA bombing in Brighton in 1984, and did live phone reports into TV-am that day. John would often present Good Morning Britain alongside Anne, Nick or Jayne Irving. After TV-am John moved to the BBC to present London Plus and Breakfast Time. He can claim to have presented just about every UK breakfast show, including GMTV, Daybreak and the current Good Morning Britain on ITV

@azizlisa

Lisa moved to TV-am from HTV West in Bristol to be one of the reporters. However it was not long before she was asked to cover Gordon Honeycombe’s holidays and sit alongside Geoff Meade for the Sunday news show TV-am Reports. When Gordon announced he was leaving, she was the natural choice to take over as main weekday news presenter on TV-am. She went on to read the news for Sky, and later returned to ITV West to present the local news alongside former TV-am colleague Richard Lyddon.

@brekkers

Scotsman Martin Frizell was one of TV-am’s busiest news reporters. From the early days he was a regular on the news bulletins reporting from all over the UK and across the world. In 1990 Martin began regular stints filling in for Mike Morris on the Good Morning Britain sofa with Lorraine Kelly, Maya Even and Kathryn Holloway. When TV-am closed, Martin did some reporting for Sky News and then joined GMTV, later going on to become editor. He is married to former GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips and is currently editor of ITV’s This Morning show

@michaelastracha

Michaela Strachan was an instant hit with Wide Awake Club viewers when she joined the team in 1986. She appeared on Saturdays and Sundays and often with Timmy Mallett on the summer editions of Wacaday. As the show evolved into Wideawake and then WAC 90 Michaela remained a firm favourite. She was given her own Sunday show “Michaela” and often hosted “Hey Hey it’s Saturday”. While at TV-am Michaela worked with Stock Aitken and Waterman to release a cover version of the song Happy Radio and could often be seen up late at night on Granada’s Hit Man and Her, nightclub dance show.

@TimmyMallett

From Piccadilly Radio in Manchester to TV-am, it had to be pop music that would bring Timmy to breakfast TV. Pop on Tuesday looked at the music industry and was presented from TV-am’s atrium. During Summer 1983 Timmy presented Summer Run, a children’s show, and then became a presenter on The Wide Awake Club. When Roland Rat left TV-am in 1985, Timmy was asked to present a new children’s show called Wacaday. It was an instant success and returned for many series, making Pink Punky and Mallett’s Mallet famous. The show won a TV Times Top Ten Award.

@TV_am

Irishman and Game for a Laugh presenter Henry Kelly was Michael Parkinson’s replacement on the weekend TV-am programmes. In late 1983 he teamed up with Toni Arthur to present the Saturday Good Morning Britain, and they worked together until mid 1984. Henry was also a regular stand in for Nick Owen during the week. He left TV-am in 1987 after presenting his own show “Kelly on Sunday”

@TV_am

It was TV-am editor Greg Dyke’s PA who first suggested the woman who ran her keep fit class could be the perfect person to rival the BBC’s Green Goddess. Lizzie Webb was hired and given the name Mad Lizzie and was quickly getting Britain shaking out in the mornings from May 1983. Lizzie’s two daily exercise slots were much sought after by the record industry. If they could get Lizzie to play their music then it was almost certain to become a hit and climb up the charts. Simon Cowell would write to Lizzie to thank her for playing his artists’ music. The other feature of Lizzie’s slot was her ability to persuade celebrities and politicians to join in with her. Take That made one of their first ever TV appearances with Lizzie on TV-am. Lizzie stayed with TV-am until the station closed in December 1992 and has been running her own venture Creativity in Sport, helping young children learn maths through exercise with her sidekick Joggy Bear.

@TV_am

David Frost, later Sir David, was one of the founding members of TV-am working with Peter Jay to put together the original application to the IBA for a breakfast TV franchise. A man of great influence and good connections, he was quickly able to gather together some of the biggest names in TV and business to put TV-am together and persuade the IBA they were the group they should choose. In December 1980 Frost’s TV-am, then written as TV-AM, was awarded the contract. On February 1st 1983, David Frost welcomed viewers to the very first Good Morning Britain, as part of the Famous Five presenting team - Ford, Rippon, Parkinson and Kee being the others. After a shaky few weeks boardroom changes saw chairman Peter Jay ousted and Frost removed from his role as main presenter. Instead he would concentrate on big interviews and Sunday mornings. What happened next would mould Sunday morning TV for decades to come. Frost on Sunday was his own creation working with producer Trevor Poots. They created a programme that would hold politicians to account live on air every week. The interviews themselves often made the news and were the headlines in the Monday morning papers. Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major made several appearances. Frost on Sunday moved to BBC One for a long run after TV-am closed.

@TV_am

Born in Sheffield Jayne Irving was a radio reporter and regional TV reporter before joining TV-am from Thames News. Initially she was the Bristol based reporter but was soon fronting news bulletins in London. Popular with viewers, she was asked to stand in for Anne Diamond on Good Morning Britain from 1984 and co presented with Nick Owen, Mike Morris, John Stapleton and Richard Keys. In 1986 she was asked to present a new slot aimed mainly at the female audience, After Nine. Jayne stayed until September 1989 and left TV-am to present the BBC’s Open Air.

@richardajkeys

Richard Keys was a sports journalist and presenter, joining TV-am in 1984. In 1987 he became one of the main presenters on Good Morning Britain with Anne Diamond and Mike Morris. In July 1988 a new 6am slot called the Morning Programme was introduced and Richard became the main presenter. But, sport was Richard’s main interest and he left to join Sky, popping back from time to time to cover for Mike Morris. He is still involved in sports broadcasting.

@TV_am

Kathy Tayler was brought to TV-am by Bruce Gyngell to replace Anne Diamond as the main presenter on Good Morning Britain in 1989. Former athlete Kathy was regularly seen on BBC Sport programmes and as a reporter on the BBC’s Holiday programme. After a few months presenting GMB, Kathy was asked to replace Jayne Irving on After Nine. Kathy remained at TV-am until the very last day, and can now be seen on shopping channel QVC.

@TV_am

Dr Maya Even joined TV-am's Westminster unit in 1989 and presented a daily politics news feature called "Westminster Watch". In 1990 she began presenting TV-am's weekday early slot which had a variety of names including "TV-am" and "Good Morning Britain". In 1991 the 6am-7am segment was relaunched as "First Report" with new music, titles and set. The format returned to the "Good Morning Britain" set after the announcement TV-am had lost its franchise. Maya was also Lorraine Kelly's deputy on GMB and hosted her own Sunday morning news and politics show "Even on Sunday".

@KHollowayPCC

Kathryn Holloway was TV-am’s Newcastle based reporter covering stories from the Scottish Borders to Yorkshire. She left Tyne Tees TV to work for TV-am in 1988 when the Newcastle regional studio was being set up by former Tyne Tees colleague Vivien Nailis. The Lockerbie disaster was one of the first big stories the Newcastle news crew was sent to. Kathryn was quickly co-presenting Good Morning Britain and The Morning Programme, taking it in turns with Kathy Rochford to cover for Anne Diamond. In 1990 Kathryn moved full time to London to report, news read and present. She stayed with TV-am until the very end and was one of the presenters on the last day, with Lorraine Kelly and Mike Morris. Kathryn is now the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire.

@TV_am

Kathy Rochford joined TV-am in 1988 as Midlands Reporter, based in Birmingham. Kathy came from the BBC where she was a well known face on the regional news programme Midlands Today. As well as being out on the road filing reports for TV-am News, she quickly became a regular Good Morning Britain and Morning Programme presenter. In 1990 she returned to the BBC to front the newly launched East Midlands Today news programme in Nottingham

@AnnekaRice

The star of Channel Four’s Treasure Hunt, in 1985 Anneka Rice was asked to be Anne Diamond’s stand in on Good Morning Britain. She would regularly appear with Nick Owen, Henry Kelly, Mike Morris and Richard Keys. Her last appearance was in 1987.

@CarolineRighton

Caroline Righton was first introduced to TV-am viewers in April 1987. She came from the BBC regional news programme London Plus. She was co-presenter of “TV-am”, the 06.15-07.00 weekday slot at the time, with Mike Morris or Richard Keys. Caroline’s time at TV-am was relatively short and she left in October 1987 to join the BBC’s Breakfast Time.

@WinceyWillis1

Wincey Willis replaced Commander Philpott as TV-am’s main weekday weather presenter in May 1983. She was poached from Tyne Tees TV by new editor Greg Dyke as part of the station relaunch. As well as the weather, Wincey presented other segments on TV-am, mainly featuring animals and pets. Wincey left in 1987 to concentrate on other TV work and conservation projects

@radiogazzer

Gary Champion was a regular sports reporter and presenter. He often presented the shorter Saturday edition of Good Morning Britain which had a sports focus.

@TV_am

Commander David Philpott was recruited by David Frost and Peter Jay to be TV-am’s first weather presenter. His first appearance was on the newsroom based early show “Daybreak” with Robert Kee. In May 1983 he moved mainly to weekend weather duties but was often still seen on the main weekday show standing in for Wincey Willis. His last TV-am appearance was in 1987. He was sometimes later seen presenting the weather on TSW - Television South West

@TV_am

Trish Williamson replaced Wincey Willis as the main weekday weather presenter in 1987. Previously she had worked in TV-am’s showbusiness department in a production role. In late 1987 and early 1988 she was a regular continuity announcer introducing programmes during the ACTT dispute. In 1989 Trish joined ITN’s national weather service as one of the launch presenters, and later was seen presenting the weather on TSW - Television South West. Trisha moved to Norfolk to work for the BBC but sadly died in a road accident

@spanswicktweets

In 1985 George Spanswick arrived at TV-am to work as a secretary and in the duty office answering calls from viewers. In 1988 she was asked to present the weather forecasts when Trish Williamson was away, and to do the continuity links on Sunday mornings. This led to stints on WAC and eventually to her own shows Cue George and George’s Garden. She left in 1989 and was later seen on Yorkshire Television’s Calendar news programme. George can now be heard on BBC Local Radio across England and will soon return to BBC Radio York to host their breakfast show

@GylesB1

Author, actor, writer, politician and presenter Gyles Brandreth was a TV-am regular for most of the station’s time on air. From video reviews to the TV-am postbag slot, he was always sharp and witty and game for a laugh with presenters and guests on the TV-am sofa. One highlight for him was singing in a Welsh male voice choir made up of TV-am presenters and Errol the Hamster on a Roland Rat show.

@DrHilaryJones

Dr Hilary Jones can proudly claim to have been part of ITV Breakfast TV for three decades. He was a TV-am doctor who made regular appearances on the Doc Spot. When Kathy Tayler went on maternity leave in 1991, Hilary was asked to stand in for her on After Nine as main presenter. He was later to be seen on GMTV and ITV Daybreak and is still seen on the current ITV Good Morning Britain and Lorraine shows

@TV_am

Geoff Clark joined the TV-am sports team in 1987 and was quickly presenting the sports items in the studio. When a new sports focused edition of Good Morning Britain was launched in 1987 on Saturday mornings Geoff became main presenter alongside athlete Judy Simpson. Another athlete, Suzanne Dando would deputise for Judy. The programme was relaunched in 1988 with Geoff single heading Saturday Sport, and when it was revamped again in 1991 as Talking Sport he remained the presenter. Geoff was later seen as presenter of Meridian Tonight (South East) and then of BBC South East Today

@TV_am

Ulrika moved to weather presenting after doing secretarial work at TV-am. She became a firm favourite with viewers and also presented her own shows and segments such as Good Morning Moments, On the Move and Success 90 & 91.