Charlotte Green is a British radio continuity announcer and news reader for BBC Radio 4. Since 1998 she has specialised in news reading, including reading the news on Radio 4 flagship Today, and reading news items on The News Quiz.[1] The Daily Telegraph described her as "the supreme Radio 4 announcer whose warm yet slightly formal tones were once voted the nation's favourite".[2]
Contents |
Green was educated at the independent Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls in Elstree, followed by the University of Kent, where she gained a first-class BA in English and American Literature and was involved in university radio,[3] before joining the BBC as a studio manager in the mid-1980s.[1] She has said that "I wanted to be an actress, but I decided there were too many actresses around, so I joined the BBC."[4]
She joined the BBC in 1978.[3] She was initially a Studio Manager in the World Service, and then after reading out letters for PM and You and Yours[3] she became a continuity announcer, and then a newsreader in 1988.[1] She is a regular newsreader for the Today programme and the comedy programme The News Quiz,[1] and she has worked on PM and the Shipping Forecast. From 29 October 2005, she joined Chris Evans' Saturday afternoon show on Radio 2 to read phone numbers and announcements.[5]
Her voice is a marvel, something to make one feel safe and secure, like being tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle.
She was voted the "Most Attractive Female Voice on National Radio" in a poll by the BBC's Radio Times publication in 2002.[7][8] Green has acknowledged the reliance lonely listeners place in her; her habit of wishing listeners "a peaceful night" led many to send her letters.[2]
In addition to newsreading, Green has been a presenter, including for a programme on church music, a classical music concert series, and a series on World Service news bulletins.[4] She presented Notes & Queries with Clive Anderson on television.[3]
She played herself in a 2005 radio episode of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,[9] and again played herself in 2008 in Simon Brett's radio detective drama Charles Paris.[10] She has been impersonated by Jan Ravens reading out a double entendres-filled shipping forecast on the BBC radio comedy show Dead Ringers.[5] She signed a public letter of protest to the BBC Trust regarding cuts to the radio news service in 2007.[11]
Green has on a number of occasions attracted some attention for inopportune giggling during on-air broadcasts.[2][3][12]
Green enjoys going to the theatre, concerts and art exhibitions. She is an avid reader and a keen supporter of Tottenham Hotspur FC. She is also a Trustee of the University of Kent Development Fund.[1]