John Timpson

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For other uses, see Timpson (disambiguation).

John Timpson in the mid 1960s

John Harry Robert Timpson OBE, (2 July 1928 – 19 November 2005), born in Kenton, Middlesex, was a British journalist, best known as a radio presenter. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, a boys' independent school in Northwood, London.

He went straight to the Wembley News as a sixteen-year-old cub reporter. After five years there and two years of national service, he moved to Norfolk and the Eastern Daily Press, and then in 1959 to the BBC.

From 1964 he presented Newsroom on BBC 2, the first British television news programme to make the switch to colour in 1968.

Timpson co-presented (with Brian Redhead and others) the BBC Radio 4 Today programme from 1970 to 1976 and again from 1978 to 1986, working on television during the gap. From 1983 to 1987, he also presented the popular weekly show, Any Questions?. After his retirement from the BBC he returned to Norfolk and wrote books about the oddities of England, East Anglia especially. He also wrote an autobiography published in 1976 entitled 'Today and Yesterday'. He was generally perceived as something of a small-c conservative and traditionalist, and probably politically to the right of his colleague Brian Redhead.

He was awarded an OBE in 1987.

On 22 February 2006, family, friends and co-workers gathered to attend a memorial service in memory of John Timpson. One speaker was Director of BBC Radio and Music, Jenny Abramsky.