Bill Buckley (LBC)
Encyclopedia
Bill Buckley is a radio and television presenter. For three years, he was a co-presenter of BBC Television's consumer affairs programme That's Life!
, and has presented shows on BBC Southern Counties Radio
, BBC Radio Leicester
, London
talk radio station
LBC 97.3
and BBC London 94.9
.
, on BBC1 with Esther Rantzen
. His mother had entered him for the job without his knowing.
After three years, he left to become a reporter for the BBC's Holiday Programme, and spent the next six years traveling the world. Other TV appearances include Call My Bluff, Blankety Blank
, All Star Secrets
, Songs of Praise
, Children in Need
, and a variety of regional work in the south for Meridian Television on subjects as diverse as consumer affairs, politics and amateur film-making.
From 1989, he has also presented daily radio shows for numerous commercial and BBC stations in the South, London
and Manchester
.
Buckley's acting experience includes playing Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at Leatherhead
. He also toured in the black comedy Widow's Weeds
, and starred in numerous pantomimes, playing King in Jack and the Beanstalk
at the Theatre Royal, Brighton
.
Beginning in 1997, Buckley was senior continuity announcer for Channel 5 Television from its launch for five-and-a-half years. He became well known for his commentary over the closing credits of the channel's late-night/early-morning run of Prisoner: Cell Block H
, on which he read out viewers' letters and made comments about the episode just broadcast.
Buckley has also written a hit song. He provided both the words and music for Su Pollard
's number two hit single, "Starting Together". Buckley regularly reviews the national press on “BBC Breakfast
”, the BBC News Channel and Sky News.
Buckley announced that he was stepping down from the overnight show from early September 2009 due to the unsociable hours, but intended to continue his Sunday food and drink programme. He presented what was scheduled to be his penultimate programme in the morning of Tuesday 8 September, with the intention of presenting his final programme the following morning. However, his photograph was removed from station's website on Tuesday, and it was announced that the overnight slot would be presented by someone else. His name was also removed from the Food and Drink show's description.
, including many overnight shows on BBC Radio London 94.9FM. Over Christmas and New Year 2009-10, Buckley filled in on BBC Radio London and BBC Radios Solent
, Sussex
, Surrey, Kent, Berkshire and Oxford. He presented the lunchtime show on BBC Radio Leicester
, weekdays noon to 2pm, from 15 March 2010 until 17 September 2010. From January 2011 until September 2011, he was the host of BBC Berkshire's lunchtime slot showBuckley was also BBC London 94.9's food and drink correspondent, guesting every Wednesday night on Joanne Good's Late Show on BBC Radio until early 2011. He is currently a stand in presenter for various BBC Local radio stations such as BBC Berkshire, BBC London 94.9 and BBC Wiltshire.
. Buckley has previously cooked on the Carlton Food Network
and live on Channel 5 on Open House with Gloria Hunniford
. He has also appeared as a judge on three series of ITV1
's Britain's Best Dish
and UKTV Food
's The People's Cookbook with Antony Worrall Thompson
and Paul Rankin
. He has been food editor of BBC Southern Counties magazine and was elected to the prestigious Guild of Food Writers. In 2008 Buckley replaced Loyd Grossman
on Ten Minutes to Table, co-presenting with Xanthe Clay, for Telegraph TV. Buckley has judged the Academy of Chocolate Awards, Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards. Buckley is a restaurant reviewer for View London
.
That's Life!
That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
, and has presented shows on BBC Southern Counties Radio
BBC Southern Counties Radio
BBC Southern Counties Radio was the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Surrey and Sussex. The station also covered a large part of North-East Hampshire. It was the first BBC Local Radio station to introduce a controversial all-speech format...
, BBC Radio Leicester
BBC Radio Leicester
BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The station broadcasts from studios in Leicester on 104.9 FM, on DAB, and via the BBC iPlayer.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
talk radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3 is a London-based talk and phone-in radio station. It is one half of the latest incarnation of LBC, the news and speech service which was Britain's first commercial radio station when it went on air in October 1973...
and BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...
.
Career
Buckley's broadcasting career began in 1982. While working as a newspaper reporter in his native West Midlands, he was chosen from thousands of hopefuls to present the consumer programme, That's Life!That's Life!
That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
, on BBC1 with Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
. His mother had entered him for the job without his knowing.
After three years, he left to become a reporter for the BBC's Holiday Programme, and spent the next six years traveling the world. Other TV appearances include Call My Bluff, Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1978 Australian game show Blankety Blanks ....
, All Star Secrets
All Star Secrets
All Star Secrets was an NBC daytime game show that aired from January 8 to August 10, 1979. A Hill-Eubanks Production, the show was hosted by co-creator Bob Eubanks and announced first by Charlie O'Donnell, but due to conflicts with his announcing duties on Wheel Of Fortune, he was later replaced...
, Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
, Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
, and a variety of regional work in the south for Meridian Television on subjects as diverse as consumer affairs, politics and amateur film-making.
From 1989, he has also presented daily radio shows for numerous commercial and BBC stations in the South, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
Buckley's acting experience includes playing Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
. He also toured in the black comedy Widow's Weeds
Widow's weeds
Widow's weeds can refer to:* Widow's Weeds , an album by the Norwegian gothic metal band Tristania* Clothes worn by a widow during a period of mourning for her husband -...
, and starred in numerous pantomimes, playing King in Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
at the Theatre Royal, Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
.
Beginning in 1997, Buckley was senior continuity announcer for Channel 5 Television from its launch for five-and-a-half years. He became well known for his commentary over the closing credits of the channel's late-night/early-morning run of Prisoner: Cell Block H
Prisoner (TV series)
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
, on which he read out viewers' letters and made comments about the episode just broadcast.
Buckley has also written a hit song. He provided both the words and music for Su Pollard
Su Pollard
Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard, 7 November 1949, Nottingham) is an English comedy actress, most famous for her roles in the sitcoms Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord?. She is also well known for her unusual and flamboyant dress sense and her abrupt voice....
's number two hit single, "Starting Together". Buckley regularly reviews the national press on “BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
”, the BBC News Channel and Sky News.
LBC radio show
Buckley filled in for many of LBC 97.3's presenters for several years and also regularly hosted a weekend night-time slot. In May 2007 his show shifted to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 1.00 until 5.00am. Buckley began presenting LBC's Sunday Afternoon Food and Drink programme in January 2008.Buckley announced that he was stepping down from the overnight show from early September 2009 due to the unsociable hours, but intended to continue his Sunday food and drink programme. He presented what was scheduled to be his penultimate programme in the morning of Tuesday 8 September, with the intention of presenting his final programme the following morning. However, his photograph was removed from station's website on Tuesday, and it was announced that the overnight slot would be presented by someone else. His name was also removed from the Food and Drink show's description.
BBC Radio
Since leaving LBC, Buckley has presented various programmes on BBC Local RadioBBC Local Radio
BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. They cover a variety of areas with some serving a city and surrounding areas, for example BBC Radio Manchester; a county, for example BBC Radio Norfolk; an administrative region for...
, including many overnight shows on BBC Radio London 94.9FM. Over Christmas and New Year 2009-10, Buckley filled in on BBC Radio London and BBC Radios Solent
BBC Radio Solent
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC Local Radio service for the Isle of Wight and the English counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Its studios are located in Southampton, in the same purpose-built office block in Havelock Road as the BBC South Today news studios, and there are district offices in Portsmouth,...
, Sussex
BBC Sussex
BBC Sussex is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Sussex. It began on 14 February 1968 as BBC Radio Brighton, later becoming BBC Radio Sussex and then part of BBC Southern Counties Radio, before adopting its present name on 30 March 2009...
, Surrey, Kent, Berkshire and Oxford. He presented the lunchtime show on BBC Radio Leicester
BBC Radio Leicester
BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The station broadcasts from studios in Leicester on 104.9 FM, on DAB, and via the BBC iPlayer.-History:...
, weekdays noon to 2pm, from 15 March 2010 until 17 September 2010. From January 2011 until September 2011, he was the host of BBC Berkshire's lunchtime slot showBuckley was also BBC London 94.9's food and drink correspondent, guesting every Wednesday night on Joanne Good's Late Show on BBC Radio until early 2011. He is currently a stand in presenter for various BBC Local radio stations such as BBC Berkshire, BBC London 94.9 and BBC Wiltshire.
Cookery
In September 2005, Buckley appeared on Come Dine With MeCome Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
. Buckley has previously cooked on the Carlton Food Network
Carlton Food Network
Carlton Food Network was a British digital television channel, provided by Carlton Television, showing food and cookery programmes. It launched in September 1996, and closed in November 2001...
and live on Channel 5 on Open House with Gloria Hunniford
Gloria Hunniford
Gloria Hunniford is a Northern Irish TV and radio presenter, and formerly a singer.-Biography:...
. He has also appeared as a judge on three series of ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's Britain's Best Dish
Britain's Best Dish
Britain's Best Dish is a British daytime cookery show on ITV hosted by Mary Nightingale. Amateur cooks from around the UK compete to cook "Britain's Best Dish" and a prize of £10,000. The judges are Ed Baines, John Burton Race and Jilly Goolden...
and UKTV Food
UKTV Food
Good Food is a lifestyle channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel originally launched on 5 November 2001 and relaunched in its current format on 22 June 2009. Good Food is available on satellite through Sky and on cable services, primarily...
's The People's Cookbook with Antony Worrall Thompson
Antony Worrall Thompson
Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson is a British celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster.-Biography:...
and Paul Rankin
Paul Rankin
Paul Rankin is a Scottish born, Northern Irish celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Born in Glasgow, Scotland his parents moved back to Ballywater, where he grew up. This was stated when he was the subject of an episode of a short programme named Proud Parents on Channel...
. He has been food editor of BBC Southern Counties magazine and was elected to the prestigious Guild of Food Writers. In 2008 Buckley replaced Loyd Grossman
Loyd Grossman
Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman, OBE, FSA is an American-British television presenter, chef and musician who has mainly worked in the UK.- Early life, education and honours :...
on Ten Minutes to Table, co-presenting with Xanthe Clay, for Telegraph TV. Buckley has judged the Academy of Chocolate Awards, Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards. Buckley is a restaurant reviewer for View London
View London
View London, owned by the 2 View Group Ltd, is an online entertainment guide to London, UK covering restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs in London. It also has a "What's On" guide and reviews of current cinema releases by Matthew Turner, its resident film critic.The site allow users to post...
.