Ian Peacock
Encyclopedia
Ian Peacock is a radio presenter and writer. He has appeared regularly on BBC Radio 4
since the late 1980s. Described as “a natural broadcaster” by The Observer
, he has a Gold Sony
Award for feature-making. He was named by The Independent
as a 'Media Star 2006' - one of the media people who would "have the most impact" over the year.
, he has lived in Newcastle
, Durham
, Cambridge
, Oxford
and London
. He now lives in Hertfordshire
. After graduating with a first in English Literature
, he presented and produced for BBC Radio
Cambridgeshire
and went on to make documentaries and features for BBC network radio.
producers and presenters and is a corporate media trainer.
He has contributed to many BBC Radio 4 programmes, such as Today, Front Row, Word of Mouth, Home Truths and Loose Ends.
Ian Peacock has presented numerous documentaries and series for BBC Radio 4, such as Revenge, Memories Are Made Of This, Every Breath You Take, Think About It, Tales Of Cats and Comets, Tripping The Light Fantastic, The Art Of Indecision, The Secret Life Of Phone Numbers, Lady Curzon And A Pineapple, From Arial To Wide Latin, Creative Genius, It Was A Dark And Stormy Night, Remembrance Of Smells Past, Tempus Fugit, Cache In Pocket, We Were Here - How To Make Your Own Time Capsule and the first ever radio feature about Nothing.
He has interviewed many well-known people such as Tony Blair
, Barbara Cartland
, Stephen Hawking
, Bob Hope
, Spike Milligan
, Oliver Reed
and Robbie Williams
, and has reported from cities as far afield as Paris
, Athens
, Katmandu, Cairo
, New York
and Los Angeles
.
Peacock has also reported for BBC Television
, recorded adverts for Saatchi and Saatchi and done voiceovers for the BBC and corporate clients.
He is currently with London literary agents Gregory & Company and has written for publications such as Men's Health
and The Times
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
since the late 1980s. Described as “a natural broadcaster” by The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, he has a Gold Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
Award for feature-making. He was named by The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
as a 'Media Star 2006' - one of the media people who would "have the most impact" over the year.
Early life and career
Born in NorthumberlandNorthumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, he has lived in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He now lives in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. After graduating with a first in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, he presented and produced for BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
and went on to make documentaries and features for BBC network radio.
Activities
He trains BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
producers and presenters and is a corporate media trainer.
He has contributed to many BBC Radio 4 programmes, such as Today, Front Row, Word of Mouth, Home Truths and Loose Ends.
Ian Peacock has presented numerous documentaries and series for BBC Radio 4, such as Revenge, Memories Are Made Of This, Every Breath You Take, Think About It, Tales Of Cats and Comets, Tripping The Light Fantastic, The Art Of Indecision, The Secret Life Of Phone Numbers, Lady Curzon And A Pineapple, From Arial To Wide Latin, Creative Genius, It Was A Dark And Stormy Night, Remembrance Of Smells Past, Tempus Fugit, Cache In Pocket, We Were Here - How To Make Your Own Time Capsule and the first ever radio feature about Nothing.
He has interviewed many well-known people such as Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland
Dame Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, CStJ , was an English author, one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century...
, Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
, Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
and Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, and has reported from cities as far afield as Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Katmandu, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Peacock has also reported for BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
, recorded adverts for Saatchi and Saatchi and done voiceovers for the BBC and corporate clients.
He is currently with London literary agents Gregory & Company and has written for publications such as Men's Health
Men's Health (magazine)
Men's Health , published by Rodale Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, United States, is the world’s largest men’s magazine brand, with 44 editions around the world. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. It covers fitness, nutrition, sexuality, lifestyle and other aspects of...
and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Critics
- A natural broadcaster. — Sue Arnold, The Observer
- Foot-in-the-door reporting all the way. The radio equivalent of Clive James, except that Peacock isn’t snide: he’s genuinely fascinated. — The Observer
- Peacock can rustle up a clever reportage-essay on any subject. — Valerie Grove, The Oldie