Anthony Hayward

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Anthony Hayward

Andy Peebles, who has died suddenly aged 76, was for 14 years a disc jockey on BBC Radio 1, where he presented shows across the schedule, switching between mornings, afternoons and evenings. In 1981, three years after joining Radio 1, he settled into a Friday evening spot with a programme combining music and a preview of the weekend’s sporting action. “I never dreamed that I’d get to talk to all those incredible people,” he said in a 2017 Radio Today podcast to mark the station’s 50th anniversary.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Anthony Hayward

Kathryn Apanowicz, who has died aged 64, was a child performer who grew up to find her best roles as an actor in three TV soaps. From playing a bullying nurse at a London hospital in Angels, she created further drama in EastEnders as one of “Dirty” Den Watts’s lovers, then moved back to her native Yorkshire to take the part of a newspaper reporter in Emmerdale. Her talent was discovered by Jess Yates, producer of the ITV children’s show Junior Showtime.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Anthony Hayward

Bill Dare, who has died aged 64 as a passenger in a road accident, was an influential force in TV and radio satire for almost 40 years. He was the puppet master – literally – producing eight series of Spitting Image for ITV in the 1990s, then figuratively in creating Dead Ringers for BBC radio. “We know how far we can go – as long as we are only upsetting some of the people some of the time,” Dare said during his time on Spitting Image (1990-94).

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Anthony Hayward

Henry Kelly, who has died aged 78, was a hard-nosed Irish journalist who reported on the Troubles in Northern Ireland before finding television fame as a presenter of ITV’s Saturday evening light-entertainment programme Game for a Laugh, which fashioned itself as a “people show”. Viewers and the studio audience were declared to be the stars – game for a laugh and at the centre of the action, which included challenges and pranks.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Anthony Hayward

Steve Hodson, who has died aged 77, made his name in one of the most cherished children’s television series of the 1970s, Follyfoot, which was inspired by the 1963 novel Cobbler’s Dream, about three young people working at a horse rescue centre. The teatime drama brought Hodson a legion of young admirers for his performance as Steve Ross, but also attracted many grown-up viewers over 39 episodes and three series from 1971 to 1973, with audiences of up to 14 million.