Alan Dedicoat

Last updated

Alan Dedicoat
Born (1954-12-01) 1 December 1954 (age 68)
Hollywood, Worcestershire, England
Other namesThe Voice of the Balls, The Wealdstone WeatherBoy, Deadly, Deadly Alancoat
Occupation(s) Announcer, newsreader
Years active1979–present
Employer BBC
Website Official website

Alan Dedicoat (born 1 December 1954)[ citation needed ] is an English announcer for programmes on BBC One. He is known as the "Voice of the Balls" on the National Lottery programmes, providing a voiceover for the draws since 1995. [1] He was a BBC Radio 2 newsreader until his retirement from this role in March 2015. Dedicoat is the announcer on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing and its American version, Dancing with the Stars .

Contents

Early life

Dedicoat was born on 1 December 1954 in Hollywood, Worcestershire.[ citation needed ] [2] The son of a newsagent, Dedicoat was educated at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham. [2] Dedicoat originally worked in the Civil Service as an executive officer, before joining the BBC. [3]

Career

Radio

Dedicoat joined BBC Radio WM at Pebble Mill in 1979 as a presenter, before moving to BBC Radio Devon four years later. After working in the West Country, he moved to London to join the Presentation Department of BBC Radio 2 in 1986 at Broadcasting House, [2] and later became its head, a position he retained until his retirement in 2015. As part of this job, he read the news on BBC Radio 2's weekday breakfast programme, Wake Up to Wogan , until its final edition in December 2009. He also performed this role on Sarah Kennedy's show, until she left the station in August 2010. He then became the newsreader for Vanessa Feltz in January 2011, but following a reshuffle of newsreaders in September 2012, his final shift was reading the news on weekdays between 10 am and 5 pm. He was also the voice of Radio 2's "emergency CD" (played when there is a fire alarm or other unforeseen break in programming) and their multiple choice automatic phone menu.

After 28 years at the station, Dedicoat's final news bulletin on BBC Radio 2 was at 5pm on Friday 27 March 2015, as he retired from Radio 2 broadcasting. It was as part of Wake Up to Wogan that Dedicoat acquired the nickname "Voice of the Balls" from presenter Sir Terry Wogan; [2] he was also called "The Wealdstone WeatherBoy" due to Wealdstone's close proximity to Harrow, where Dedicoat lives. In 2017, he joined Bauer Radio's digital station Mellow Magic, as the breakfast show newsreader for his former Wake Up To Wogan colleague Fran Godfrey.

Television

In 1994, the National Lottery and its draw programmes were launched on BBC Television. The following year, Dedicoat began working as the show's announcer. [1] He also takes part in the BBC's telethons, such as Children in Need , announcing the totals at certain intervals. Dedicoat voices previews and the voice-overs in Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. In 2005, he became the announcer for Dancing with the Stars , the American version of Strictly Come Dancing, which broadcasts annually (previously semi-annually) on Disney+ (ABC in 2005–2021). [4] Since 2009, he has been the voice-over for the CBBC show Copycats . In the late 1980s and 1990s, he was a regular voiceover artist for trailers on BBC Television.

Controversy

In 2015, a recording of Dedicoat was obtained by The Sun newspaper, in which he allegedly claimed that the BBC allowed a "drug peddler" to deliver Class A substances to the desks of staff. He subsequently apologised and retracted his comments. [5]

Other work

Dedicoat is also an after dinner speaker. [6]

Personal life

Dedicoat is the co-owner of multiple examples of the AEC Routemaster (the best-known London red bus) with fellow broadcasters Charles Nove, Ken Bruce and Steve Madden. [7] He is Patron of the Hospital Broadcasting Association, and has taken part in the National Hospital Radio Awards, both as the voiceover and in person. In addition, Dedicoat is the president of Hospital Radio Bedside, a hospital radio station broadcasting to hospitals in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Wimborne in the UK. [8] [9]

Dedicoat lives in Harrow on the Hill, London.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Wogan</span> British-Irish radio and television broadcaster (1938–2016)

Sir Michael Terence Wogan was an Irish-British radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday breakfast programme Wake Up to Wogan regularly drew an estimated eight million listeners. He was believed to be the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Stuart</span> British newsreader (born 1949)

Moira Clare Ruby Stuart, is a British presenter and broadcaster. She was the first female newsreader of Caribbean heritage to appear on British national television, having worked on BBC News since 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital radio</span> A radio broadcasting service for Hospitals

Hospital radio is a form of audio broadcasting produced specifically for the in-patients of hospitals, primarily in the United Kingdom. Hospital radio has been found to be beneficial to patients, lifting their mood and aiding recovery.

John Churchill Dunn was a British disc jockey and radio presenter known for hosting the weekday drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 between 1976 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Bruce</span> British DJ (born 1951)

Kenneth Robertson Bruce is a Scottish radio and television presenter. He is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 between 1986 and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Stewart</span> British radio presenter (1941–2016)

Edward Stewart Mainwaring, known as Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, was an English radio broadcaster and TV presenter. He was principally known for his work as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2, and as a presenter of Top of the Pops and Crackerjack on BBC Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Durbridge</span> British broadcaster

Don Durbridge was a UK radio presenter who started his career on the BBC Light Programme, and subsequently worked on the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and on BBC Radio 2,. He also broadcast for many years on BBC Radio Medway, BBC Radio Kent and Invicta Sound in Kent, and latterly on PrimeTime and Saga DAB radio. On PrimeTime he introduced the late night slot, In Mellow Mood, until the station's demise in 2006. He was also the regular matchday announcer for Fulham Football Club in the mid-1970s and for Gillingham Football Club during the 1980s.

Paul Christopher Walters was a BBC radio and TV producer, best known for his work and appearances on Terry Wogan's BBC Radio 2 breakfast show Wake Up to Wogan from 1995 until a few months before his death in 2006, where he was known to millions as "Dr Wally Poultry". He was also referred to by the name "Pauly Walters."

<i>Wake Up to Wogan</i> Former British radio programme (1993–2009)

Wake Up to Wogan (WUTW) was the incarnation of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show that aired each weekday morning from 4 January 1993 to 18 December 2009. It was the most-listened-to radio show in the United Kingdom, and the flagship breakfast programme broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The show was presented by Terry Wogan, who had previously presented the breakfast show between 1972 and 1984, but the title WUTW was only added at the start of his second tenure. Wogan replaced Brian Hayes, who had hosted the breakfast show during 1992.

Frances Helen Godfrey is a former BBC Radio 2 newsreader, most famous for her appearances on Wake Up to Wogan, a long-running breakfast show in the United Kingdom. Godfrey began contributing to Wake Up to Wogan in 1993 and made her final appearance on the show on 9 May 2008.

Charles Alexis Nove is a British radio broadcaster who currently presents the weekday breakfast show for classical music station Scala Radio.

Colin Derrick Berry is a British radio disc jockey, presenter and newsreader, best known for his many years at BBC Radio 2.

The National Lottery Results is the television programme that broadcasts the drawing of the National Lottery in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 2</span> British national radio station

BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. The 'About Radio 2' BBC webpage says: "With a repertoire covering more than 40 years, Radio 2 plays the widest selection of music on the radio—from classic and mainstream pop to a specialist portfolio including classical, country, folk, jazz, soul, rock 'n' roll, gospel and blues."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Houston</span> Voiceover artist, former announcer and television newsreader

Robin Houston is a British voiceover artist and former announcer, radio and television newsreader and quiz show host. After starting his career as an announcer and stage manager, he became one of the pioneers of commercial radio in the United Kingdom. He went on to read the news on television for 15 years and to become one of the most well known announcers in television entertainment. For many years he was a host of television quiz shows, and is now a veteran voiceover artist with over 50 years' experience in the field.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 2, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

This is a list of events from British radio in 1954.

Douglas Cameron is a British broadcaster and newsreader who for over 30 years broadcast on LBC, most notably on the breakfast programme with co-presenter Bob Holness in the 1980s. Cameron's radio awards include induction into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame in recognition of his 42-year broadcasting career.

References

  1. 1 2 "Alan Dedicoat". theedge-uk.com. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "BBC – Radio 2 – Presenters – Alan Dedicoat". BBC. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Alan Dedicoat". Jillie Bushell Associates. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Alan Dedicoat Credits TV.com
  5. ↑ "BBC announcer claims staff have Class A drugs delivered to their desk – then backtracks" . The Independent. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Jla Alan Dedicoat
  7. ↑ The red brigade, The Guardian 9 April 2005
  8. ↑ "Hospital Radio Bedside Charity". Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  9. ↑ Durkin, Jim (1 March 2014). "Poole Hospital radio staff walking on air after four decade milestone". Bournemouth Daily Echo. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.