Timothy Brinton
Encyclopedia
Timothy Denis Brinton sometimes referred to as Tim Brinton, was a British
broadcaster and Conservative Party
politician. The son of a neurologist, he was educated at Summer Fields School
in Summertown
in Oxford
, followed by Eton College
in the small town of Eton
in Berkshire
, and at the University of Geneva
.
, Brinton studied acting and production at the Central School of Speech and Drama
. He then joined the BBC
as an announcer and newsreader and moved in 1959 to ITN, where he was a newscaster until 1962. He was also a presenter on the BBC Light Programme
in 1965.
Brinton was a Kent County Council
lor from 1974 to 1981 and Member of Parliament
(MP) for the marginal seat of Gravesend
from 1979
(gaining the seat from Labour
) to 1983, and, following boundary changes, for the new Gravesham constituency
from 1983
until he stood down in 1987
. An inveterate Eurosceptic
, he became a supporter of the United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP) in 2003.
Alternative 3
, and lent it the gravitas it needed to be a successful hoax. The programme had been due to be broadcast on April Fools' Day
, 1977, but industrial action meant that it was broadcast in June. Sometimes cited as a British parallel to Orson Welles
's radio production of The War of the Worlds
, Alternative 3 purported to be an investigation into Britain's contemporary "brain drain
." Alternative 3 uncovered a plan to make the moon
and Mars
habitable in the event of climate change
and a terminal environmental catastrophe on Earth. When the DVD was released in October, 2007, it had a 30 minute featurette in the extras, featuring an interview with Brinton, as well as his fellow "conspirators", David Ambrose
and Christopher Miles
who also directed Alternative 3, alongside a production stills gallery and contemporary press cuttings.
politician Sal Brinton
), and in 1965 married Jeanne Frances Wedge (two daughters). After his death it was revealed that he had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease
for five years.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
broadcaster and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. The son of a neurologist, he was educated at Summer Fields School
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...
in Summertown
Summertown, Oxford
Summertown in North Oxford is a suburb of Oxford, England.Summertown is a residential area, one mile square north of St Giles, the beautiful boulevard leading out of Oxford’s city centre. Summertown is home to exclusive schools and the city’s most expensive houses. On both sides of Banbury Road are...
in 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...
, followed by Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
in the small town of Eton
Eton, Berkshire
Eton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, and at the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
.
Career
After national service with the Scots GuardsScots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
, Brinton studied acting and production at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
. He then joined 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...
as an announcer and newsreader and moved in 1959 to ITN, where he was a newscaster until 1962. He was also a presenter on the BBC Light Programme
BBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
in 1965.
Brinton was a Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
lor from 1974 to 1981 and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the marginal seat of Gravesend
Gravesend (UK Parliament constituency)
Gravesend was a county constituency centred on the town of Gravesend, Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
from 1979
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
(gaining the seat from Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
) to 1983, and, following boundary changes, for the new Gravesham constituency
Gravesham (UK Parliament constituency)
Gravesham is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
from 1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
until he stood down in 1987
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
. An inveterate Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom
Euroscepticism , is a significant element in the politics of the United Kingdom since the inception of the European Communities —comprising the European Economic Community , the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Coal and Steel Community...
, he became a supporter of the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
(UKIP) in 2003.
Alternative 3
Brinton was the presenter and narrator of the mockumentaryMockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Alternative 3
Alternative 3
Alternative 3 is a television programme, broadcast once only in the United Kingdom in 1977, and later broadcast in Australia and New Zealand, as a fictional hoax, an heir to Orson Welles' radio production of The War of the Worlds...
, and lent it the gravitas it needed to be a successful hoax. The programme had been due to be broadcast on April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
, 1977, but industrial action meant that it was broadcast in June. Sometimes cited as a British parallel to Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's radio production of The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (radio)
The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker...
, Alternative 3 purported to be an investigation into Britain's contemporary "brain drain
Brain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
." Alternative 3 uncovered a plan to make the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
habitable in the event of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and a terminal environmental catastrophe on Earth. When the DVD was released in October, 2007, it had a 30 minute featurette in the extras, featuring an interview with Brinton, as well as his fellow "conspirators", David Ambrose
David Ambrose
David Ambrose is a British novelist and screenwriter whose credits include at least 20 Hollywood films, 3 stage plays, and countless hours of television, including the controversial Alternative 3. He was born in Chorley, England and attended Blackburn Grammar School and Merton College, Oxford...
and Christopher Miles
Christopher Miles
Christopher Miles was born in London, England, the eldest of four children to ‘Wren’, a councilor, and John Miles, a consulting engineer, whose family had been in the steel industry for several generations...
who also directed Alternative 3, alongside a production stills gallery and contemporary press cuttings.
Personal life
He married Jane-Mari Coningham in 1954 (marriage dissolved, one son, three daughters, one of whom is the Liberal DemocratLiberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
politician Sal Brinton
Sal Brinton
Sarah Virginia Brinton, Baroness Brinton is a member of the British Liberal Democrats. She contested the Watford constituency at the 2005 and 2010 General Elections...
), and in 1965 married Jeanne Frances Wedge (two daughters). After his death it was revealed that he had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
for five years.