Peter Woods (journalist)

Peter Woods (7 November, 1930 – 22 March, 1995) was a British journalist, reporter and newsreader. He began his career in print journalism, writing for newspapers including the "Yorkshire Post", the "Daily Mail" and the "Daily Mirror". However, he is best known for his television work with for BBC News on "Newsroom" initially as a reporter but also as a newsreader from the 1960s until the mid 1980s.

Woods seems to have been regarded as the archetypal British newsreader since he appeared as himself, reading the news, in a number of comedy sketches and films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These included "Monty Python", "There's a Lot of It About" and Jonnie Turpie's 1987 film "Out of Order". He also appeared (again as a newsreader) in an advertising campaign for KP Cheese Dips in the mid 1980s. Along with all the other BBC newsreaders of the time, Woods participated in the 1977 Christmas edition of the "Morecambe and Wise Show". They delivered a rendition of the song "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" (from the musical "South Pacific") with Woods getting the deep-voiced last line and using his trademark seriousness to comic effect.