Richard Whiteley
Encyclopedia
John Richard Whiteley, OBE
DL
(28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005), usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English
broadcaster
and journalist
. He was famous for his twenty-three years as host of Countdown
, a letters and numbers arrangement game show
broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4
. An edition of Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel, discounting a programme montage. Despite being a highly intelligent man, he enjoyed projecting an image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for excruciatingly bad pun
s; and bold wardrobe, particularly jacket
s and ties
.
and spent his childhood in Baildon: his family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill, which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School
, North Riding of Yorkshire
, where his English teacher was Russell Harty
. He later became a governor of the school. Leaving school with seven O-levels and three A-level
s, in 1962 he read English at Christ's College, Cambridge
, where he gained a third class degree, coincidentally the same class of degree as his Countdown co-star Carol Vorderman
was to attain at the same university nearly twenty years later. On leaving Cambridge in July 1965, Whiteley served three years as a trainee at ITN but left to join the newly-created Yorkshire Television
in July 1968.
Thanks to over twenty years worth of nightly instalments of Countdown as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar
and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked-up more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee
, the young girl who appeared on the BBC
's iconic Test Card F
.
Whiteley was notoriously bitten by a ferret
on an edition of Calendar in 1977. The animal remained clamped to his finger for half a minute before its indifferent owner finally prised it free. The clip is often repeated on programmes showing television out-takes. In an example of his famous self-deprecating humour, Whiteley once joked that when he died, the headlines would read, "Ferret man dies", which was the headline of the Yorkshire regional newspaper when he did die, in his honour. He said, "It's made a lot of people laugh and it's been shown all over the world. It's 30-odd years since it happened and I think I've been a great PR man for the ferret industry. Ferrets have a lot to be grateful for, to me, you see they've become acceptable because one of them bit me.".
started making Calendar Countdown, copying a popular French
quiz show format, Des chiffres et des lettres
. Whiteley was chosen as host, and continued with the show when Sir Jeremy Isaacs
brought it to Channel 4
as the first programme broadcast by the new station. After a successful first broadcast, with an audience of over 3.5 million viewers, the programme lost 3 million viewers for its second show.
However, it gradually rebuilt its audience over the following weeks, and it was as the host of Countdown that Whiteley became known to a wider audience in the United Kingdom outside Yorkshire. He was nickname
d "Twice Nightly Whiteley", in reference to the time when he would present the Calendar news programme and Countdown in the same evening, from 1982 to 1995. (In a self-deprecating joke, he often altered this to "Once Yearly, Nearly".)
As the presenter of Countdown, Whiteley developed a reputation for wearing garish suits and ties, and it was common for Carol Vorderman to comment on this. Whiteley also told many anecdotes and puns, which were often met by groans from other presenters and members of the audience. He was granted the honorary title of "Mayor
of Wetwang
" in 1998, and was known for his amusement at the village's name.
The "Mayor of Wetwang joke reached its head in 2000 when a contestant, Les Noble was the brother in law of the Mayor of Sunderland, on which Whiteley commented, "I know how it feels."
Countdown was not intended to be a long-lasting format, but it quickly became a flagship programme for Channel 4
. At the time of Whiteley's death, it still regularly attracted up to four million viewers. The Queen and The Queen Mother
are both said to have been fans. He had a cameo appearance
role as himself, presenting Countdown, in the film About a Boy
. From series 54, broadcast in 2006, the series champion has received the "Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy".
Whiteley became a Deputy Lieutenant
of West Yorkshire
in 2003, and was appointed OBE
in the June 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to broadcasting
. On 15 June 2003, Whiteley appeared on the BBC
show, Top Gear
and set the slowest time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment with his time of 2:06. To give a measure of how slow this was, Billy Baxter, who is blind, has beaten him with a time of 2:02.
Whiteley also had his own chatshow on BBC1. This was a chatshow with a twist—before he could interview his guests, he had to guess who they were.
on 24 June. This operation was not successful, and two days later Whiteley died at Leeds General Infirmary
.
He had suffered from asthma
since he was very young, and was a diabetic
. The edition of Countdown due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June when Countdown returned the following day. A number of shows had already been recorded when he went into hospital and his final show was broadcast on 1 July 2005 which was the grand final of the 53rd series. Two standalone episodes featuring former contestants, and recorded in 2003 to be broadcast whenever Channel 4's cricket
coverage finishes early, also remained in the vaults to be screened at a later date. As Channel 4 no longer covers cricket they may remain in the archives indefinitely, however one game's details has been leaked onto the internet.
for a memorial service
to celebrate Whiteley's life. Guests included Vorderman, who paid tribute to him, saying, "If he were here he would have welcomed you one-by-one, greeting every one of you by the hand and would have wanted a photograph taken".
He was described by Countdown regular Gyles Brandreth
as "a love god ... but he was the most innocent love god you could imagine. He was like a ray of sunshine, and like sunshine we all warmed to him".
In 2007 Channel 4 announced its creation of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Bursary, a nine-month work experience placement at Yorkshire Television, working with True North Productions
.
In 2008, three years after Whiteley's death, Giggleswick School
announced its plans to raise £1.3m to build a Theatre in his honour. The 288-seat theatre has been built at the school where Whiteley was a pupil and governor, and provides a resource for the whole local community. Work on the second phase of the Theatre was completed in autumn 2010. The Theatre now hosts a range of public performances.
, his longtime girlfriend, to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas
(VAO). Sent with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia
, the VAO team found three Ethiopians whose eyes fitted Whiteley's prescription. The BBC followed this story on their Inside Out programme which was broadcast on 19 September 2007.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005), usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. He was famous for his twenty-three years as host of Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
, a letters and numbers arrangement game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. An edition of Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel, discounting a programme montage. Despite being a highly intelligent man, he enjoyed projecting an image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for excruciatingly bad pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s; and bold wardrobe, particularly jacket
Jacket
A jacket is a hip- or waist-length garment for the upper body. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear...
s and ties
Necktie
A necktie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the ascot tie, bow tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck...
.
Early life and career
Whiteley was born in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
and spent his childhood in Baildon: his family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill, which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
, North Riding of Yorkshire
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...
, where his English teacher was Russell Harty
Russell Harty
Russell Harty was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.-Early life:Born Frederick Russell Harty in Blackburn, Lancashire, he was the son of a fruit and vegetable stallholder on the local market...
. He later became a governor of the school. Leaving school with seven O-levels and three A-level
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...
s, in 1962 he read English at Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, where he gained a third class degree, coincidentally the same class of degree as his Countdown co-star Carol Vorderman
Carol Vorderman
Carol Jean Vorderman MBE is a British media personality, best known for co-hosting the popular game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 to 2008. In September 2011 she became a co-anchor of the ITV1 panel show Loose Women....
was to attain at the same university nearly twenty years later. On leaving Cambridge in July 1965, Whiteley served three years as a trainee at ITN but left to join the newly-created Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
in July 1968.
Thanks to over twenty years worth of nightly instalments of Countdown as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar
Calendar (News)
Calendar is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Yorkshire at its studios in Leeds, serving Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and parts of the North Midlands and North West Norfolk...
and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked-up more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee
Carole Hersee
Carole Hersee is a costume designer who is best known for appearing in the centrepiece of the iconic United Kingdom television Test Card F, which aired on BBC Television from 1967 to 1998 and was revived in 2009...
, the young girl who appeared on the BBC
BBC
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...
's iconic Test Card F
Test Card F
Test Card F is a test card that was created by the BBC and used on television in the United Kingdom and in countries elsewhere in the world for more than four decades...
.
Whiteley was notoriously bitten by a ferret
Ferret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...
on an edition of Calendar in 1977. The animal remained clamped to his finger for half a minute before its indifferent owner finally prised it free. The clip is often repeated on programmes showing television out-takes. In an example of his famous self-deprecating humour, Whiteley once joked that when he died, the headlines would read, "Ferret man dies", which was the headline of the Yorkshire regional newspaper when he did die, in his honour. He said, "It's made a lot of people laugh and it's been shown all over the world. It's 30-odd years since it happened and I think I've been a great PR man for the ferret industry. Ferrets have a lot to be grateful for, to me, you see they've become acceptable because one of them bit me.".
Countdown
In 1982, Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
started making Calendar Countdown, copying a popular French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
quiz show format, Des chiffres et des lettres
Des chiffres et des lettres
Des chiffres et des lettres is a French television programme. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants...
. Whiteley was chosen as host, and continued with the show when Sir Jeremy Isaacs
Jeremy Isaacs
Sir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
brought it to Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
as the first programme broadcast by the new station. After a successful first broadcast, with an audience of over 3.5 million viewers, the programme lost 3 million viewers for its second show.
However, it gradually rebuilt its audience over the following weeks, and it was as the host of Countdown that Whiteley became known to a wider audience in the United Kingdom outside Yorkshire. He was nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d "Twice Nightly Whiteley", in reference to the time when he would present the Calendar news programme and Countdown in the same evening, from 1982 to 1995. (In a self-deprecating joke, he often altered this to "Once Yearly, Nearly".)
As the presenter of Countdown, Whiteley developed a reputation for wearing garish suits and ties, and it was common for Carol Vorderman to comment on this. Whiteley also told many anecdotes and puns, which were often met by groans from other presenters and members of the audience. He was granted the honorary title of "Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Wetwang
Wetwang
Wetwang is a Yorkshire Wolds village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated west of Driffield on the A166 road....
" in 1998, and was known for his amusement at the village's name.
The "Mayor of Wetwang joke reached its head in 2000 when a contestant, Les Noble was the brother in law of the Mayor of Sunderland, on which Whiteley commented, "I know how it feels."
Countdown was not intended to be a long-lasting format, but it quickly became a flagship programme for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. At the time of Whiteley's death, it still regularly attracted up to four million viewers. The Queen and The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
are both said to have been fans. He had a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
role as himself, presenting Countdown, in the film About a Boy
About a Boy
About a Boy is a 1998 novel by British writer Nick Hornby. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 2002.-Plot summary:The novel is about Will Freeman, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus, an introverted, bullied 12-year-old who lives alone with his suicidal mother, Fiona...
. From series 54, broadcast in 2006, the series champion has received the "Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy".
Whiteley became a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
in 2003, and was appointed OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the June 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
. On 15 June 2003, Whiteley appeared on the BBC
BBC
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...
show, Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
and set the slowest time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment with his time of 2:06. To give a measure of how slow this was, Billy Baxter, who is blind, has beaten him with a time of 2:02.
Whiteley also had his own chatshow on BBC1. This was a chatshow with a twist—before he could interview his guests, he had to guess who they were.
Final illness and death
In May 2005, Whiteley was taken into hospital with septicaemia. He made a slow recovery from the illness, but doctors discovered problems with his heart and carried out an emergency operation for endocarditisEndocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices...
on 24 June. This operation was not successful, and two days later Whiteley died at Leeds General Infirmary
Leeds General Infirmary
Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI or, more correctly, The General Infirmary at Leeds, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust....
.
He had suffered from asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
since he was very young, and was a diabetic
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
. The edition of Countdown due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June when Countdown returned the following day. A number of shows had already been recorded when he went into hospital and his final show was broadcast on 1 July 2005 which was the grand final of the 53rd series. Two standalone episodes featuring former contestants, and recorded in 2003 to be broadcast whenever Channel 4's cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
coverage finishes early, also remained in the vaults to be screened at a later date. As Channel 4 no longer covers cricket they may remain in the archives indefinitely, however one game's details has been leaked onto the internet.
Memorial
On 10 November 2005, five months after his death, thousands of friends and admirers gathered at York MinsterYork Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
for a memorial service
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
to celebrate Whiteley's life. Guests included Vorderman, who paid tribute to him, saying, "If he were here he would have welcomed you one-by-one, greeting every one of you by the hand and would have wanted a photograph taken".
He was described by Countdown regular Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
as "a love god ... but he was the most innocent love god you could imagine. He was like a ray of sunshine, and like sunshine we all warmed to him".
In 2007 Channel 4 announced its creation of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Bursary, a nine-month work experience placement at Yorkshire Television, working with True North Productions
True North Productions
True North Productions is an independent British television production company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The company creates factual programmes and series in a wide variety of genres, including observational documentary, crime, current affairs, history, wildlife, food,...
.
In 2008, three years after Whiteley's death, Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School
Giggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
announced its plans to raise £1.3m to build a Theatre in his honour. The 288-seat theatre has been built at the school where Whiteley was a pupil and governor, and provides a resource for the whole local community. Work on the second phase of the Theatre was completed in autumn 2010. The Theatre now hosts a range of public performances.
Vision Aid Overseas
Three pairs of Whiteley's spectacles were donated by Kathryn ApanowiczKathryn Apanowicz
Kathryn Apanowicz is a British actress best known for her 1980s television appearances in the BBC soap operas, Angels, where she played Nurse Rose Butchins, and EastEnders, where she played the caterer, Magda Czajkowski...
, his longtime girlfriend, to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas
Vision Aid Overseas
Vision Aid Overseas is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, which provides optical aid and services to developing countries in Africa.-History:...
(VAO). Sent with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, the VAO team found three Ethiopians whose eyes fitted Whiteley's prescription. The BBC followed this story on their Inside Out programme which was broadcast on 19 September 2007.
Books by Richard Whiteley
- Letters Play!: a treasury of words and wordplay. London: Robson ISBN 0860519929
- Whiteley, Richard (2000) Himoff!: the memoirs of a TV matinee idle London: Orion Books ISBN 0-7528-4345-1
Biographies
- Apanowicz, Kathryn (2006) Richard by Kathryn. London: Virgin Books ISBN 1-85227-375-5
- Whiteley, Richard (2000) Himoff!: the memoirs of a TV matinee idle London: Orion Books ISBN 0-7528-4345-1
TV appearances
- Calendar News
- CountdownCountdown (game show)Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
(1982-2005) - The Richard Whiteley Show (1995-1996)
- Richard Whiteley Unbriefed (1999)
- Holiday: You Call the Shots (2001-2002)
- Top Gear (2004)
Obituaries
- "Obituary: Richard Whiteley". (BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 26 June 2005). - "Richard Whiteley: I bet they'll report 'Ferret Man Dies'". (Yorkshire Post, 27 June 2005).
- "Richard Whiteley" (Daily Telegraph, 28 June 2005)
- "Richard Whiteley" (The TimesThe TimesThe 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...
, 28 June 2005) (requires account) - "Richard Whiteley" (The IndependentThe IndependentThe 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...
, 28 June 2005) - "Thousands say farewell to 'Our Richard'" (bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
, 10 November 2005)
External links
- The Richard Whiteley Theatre at Giggleswick School
- Vision Aid Overseas
- UKGameshows: Richard Whiteley
- "Farewell to a jolly good egg" (The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 28 June 2005) - Richard Whiteley on CultIdols.com
- TV Cream's tribute to Richard Whiteley
- Clip of the ferret biting Richard Whiteley on Youtube