Richard Baker (broadcaster)

Richard Douglas James Baker OBE RD (15 June 1925 – 17 November 2018) was an English broadcaster, best known as a newsreader for BBC News from 1954 to 1982, and as a radio presenter of classical music. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first reader of the BBC Television News (in voiceover) in 1954.

Early life

The eldest son of a plasterer, Baker was born in Willesden, north London, and educated at Kilburn Grammar School and at Peterhouse, Cambridge.

Baker's undergraduate years were interrupted by war service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II. He was on a minesweeper that protected the Allied Arctic supply convoys to the USSR. He was awarded the Royal Naval Reserve decoration. In May 2015 he was awarded the Ushakov Medal for his service in the Arctic convoys of World War II.

Broadcasting career

After graduating from Cambridge University, Baker worked as an actor and as a teacher. An approach to the BBC saw him gain his first broadcasting role, presenting classical music on the BBC Third Programme.

He introduced the first BBC television news broadcast on 5 July 1954, although John Snagge read the actual bulletin. He presented news bulletins on the BBC until he stepped down on 31 December 1982. A competent pianist, he also became closely associated with classical music broadcasting, and presented many music programmes on both television and radio, including, for many years, the annual live broadcast from the Last Night of the Proms. He was a regular panellist on the classical music quiz show Face the Music.