Robert Dougall
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Robert Dougall MBE (27 November 1913 - 19 December 1999) was a British broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer.
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[edit] Early life and radio broadcasting
Dougall was born and educated in the London borough of Croydon. He attended Whitgift School but did not carry on to university despite having some talent in languages, specifically French and German. He joined the BBC initially in the accounts department, but soon found a job as an announcer for the Empire Service (later renamed BBC World Service) on his 21st birthday in 1934. By 1939, he had risen to the position of senior announcer and his was the voice that announced Britain's declaration of war on Germany to the world in September of that year. Shortly before this announcement, he had transmitted a message as an "anonymous" Englishman (although speaking in German), imploring Germany to withdraw its forces and avert the impending conflict:
"I got the first page with about three minutes to go. Then, the red light came on and it was up to me. It was an intensely dramatic script and most of the pages were fed to me at the microphone, so I had to get it right first time. God knows I put my heart into it."
Dougall worked as a radio reporter during the early part of the Second World War, but also served with the Royal Navy from 1942. He resumed his broadcasting work after demobilisation in 1946 as an announcer and newsreader for the BBC Home Service. In 1947, Dougall was appointed Programme Manager for the BBC's Far Eastern Service, a position which required him to move to Singapore.
[edit] Television news
Dougall's radio work took a back seat when he returned to London in 1951 to work as a television newsreader (he is thought to be the only person from the BBC's early radio service who had an enduring career in television.) Between 1946 and 1955, the BBC news was merely voiced over a photograph of Big Ben, a measure sanctioned by Chief News Editor Tahu Hole to reinforce the absolute impartiality the Corporation was renowned for. However, the arrival of ITN in 1955 prompted the BBC to have its newsreaders perform to camera - indeed, they began this approach only three weeks before ITN began transmission. Dougall was among the first of these newsreaders to appear in-vision in 1955 (the others were his contemporaries Kenneth Kendall, Michael Aspel and Richard Baker with Kendall being the very first).
Dougall presented general BBC news reports and the Newsroom programme during the 1960s and was awarded the MBE in 1965, receiving his honour on the same day as The Beatles. He was the first person to present the long-running BBC Nine O'Clock News in 1970, continuing in this role until his retirement from the newsroom in 1973. According to The Times he was probably paid about 100 pounds a week before his retirement. Dougall felt that there were too many programmes analysing the news: "There has to be self-criticism but it becomes destructive after a while. There is just too much of it and people get depressed."
[edit] Post-retirement
Like Peter Woods, Dougall was considered an archetypal newsreader and frequently appeared as himself in comedy programmes of the 1970s and early 1980s, including The Goodies and Yes Minister. He also presented seven series of Channel 4's over-60s programme, Years Ahead over four years and appeared in an advertising campaign for the jewellers Preston's of Bolton during the 1980s.
Dougall was also known for his love of animals and birds and he was president of the RSPB for a five-year period. He wrote several books about birds in the 1970s and an autobiography, In and Out of the Box, in 1973. Robert lived in Walberswick in Suffolk though his main home for many years was in Hampstead in London.
[edit] Family
Dougall's granddaughter Rose is a singer/songwriter, formerly with Brighton band The Pipettes. Dougall's grandson Tom Dougall is a guitarist with Brighton band Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong.
[edit] Bibliography
- In and out of the box (1973) ISBN 000272703x
- Now for the good news (1976) ISBN 0264663799
- A Celebration of Birds, Collins and Harvill Press (1978) ISBN 0002621134
- The Ladybird Book Of British Birds
- Basil Ede's Birds, Severn House (1980) ISBN 0727820052
- foreword by The Duke of Edinburgh
- Birdwatch Round Britain with Herbert Axell, Collins and Harvill (1982) ISBN 0002622564
- foreword by Ian Prestt
[edit] Contributions
- An Introduction To Bird and Wildlife Photography In Still and Movie, Marchington, John and Clay, Anthony, Faber & Faber (1974) - Foreword.
[edit] Sources
Barker, Dennis (1999). Obituary: Robert Dougall (HTML). Guardian Unlimited Archive. Retrieved on 2006-06-17.
Miall, Leonard (1999). Obituary: Robert Dougall (HTML). The Independent, 21 December 1999 (archived at findarticles.com). Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
