Nicholas Witchell

Nicholas Witchell
Born	Nicholas Newton Henshall Witchell 23 September 1953 (1953-09-23) (age 58) Shropshire, England
Occupation	BBC Journalist
Website
BBC Profile

Nicholas Newton Henshall Witchell (born 23 September 1953) is an English journalist. He is the current diplomatic and royal correspondent for BBC News. Previously he was a newscaster and a dog collar salesman.^[1]

Early life and career

Witchell was born in Shropshire and educated at Epsom College, a British independent school in Surrey, and later studied law at the University of Leeds, where he edited the student newspaper. In 1974 Terence Dalton Limited published Witchell's book The Loch Ness Story. The book provides a history of the alleged sightings of the Loch Ness Monster and includes a chapter entitled 'The "Monster" on Land'. Witchell's belief in the existence of the creature is described as "quite unshakeable". He has worked for the BBC since 1976.^[2] He has also reported from Northern Ireland.

Witchell, along with Sue Lawley, then became the first newsreader of the BBC Six O'Clock News when that programme, now called the BBC News at Six, was launched in 1984. In 1988, the Six O'Clock News studio was invaded during a live broadcast by a group of women protesting against Britain's Section 28 (a law against the teaching of homosexuality in schools). Witchell famously grappled with the protesters and is said to have sat on one woman, provoking the ambiguous frontpage headline in the Daily Mirror, "Beeb man sits on lesbian".^[3]

He was the first reporter to give the news of the Lockerbie disaster, the Zeebrugge ferry disaster and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.^{[citation needed]}

The following year he moved from the evening to the breakfast news slot, a role he filled for five years. During the 1991 Gulf War he was a volunteer presenter on the BBC Radio 4 News FM service.^[4] In 1994 he left the studio to become a reporter for factual affairs programme Panorama.

Royal correspondent

In 1998, Witchell became a royal and diplomatic correspondent. In 2002, his obituary of The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, recorded some time before her death but screened immediately after the announcement of her death, provoked controversy, as it mentioned her lovers and love of whisky.

Witchell provoked royal ire again in 2005. Whilst at a press conference at the Swiss ski resort of Klosters, Witchell asked The Prince of Wales how he and his sons were feeling about his forthcoming marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles. After a response from his son Prince William, the Prince of Wales said under his breath, and referring to Witchell, "These bloody people. I can't bear that man. I mean, he's so awful, he really is." Witchell himself was then in the headlines. The BBC defended their reporter saying "He is one of our finest. His question was perfectly reasonable under the circumstances."

Witchell is a Governor of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People, an Officer of the Order of St John and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has two children and lives in Central London with his long term partner Maria Staples.^[3][5]

Later career

Witchell appeared as himself in the Doctor Who Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned", broadcast on Christmas Day 2007.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15640104
2. ^ Tim Luckhurst "Nicholas Witchell: more touchy than feely"; The Independent, 28 August 2005. Retrieved on 30 June 2008.
3. ^ ^{a b} The Times (31 March 2005). "Witchell, the BBC man who 'sat on a lesbian'". London. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1548926,00.html. Retrieved 2006-10-30. 
4. ^ Sound Matters - Five Live - the War of Broadcasting House - a morality story
5. ^ "Nicholas Witchell: more touchy than feely". The Independent on Sunday. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/nicholas-witchell-more-touchy-than-feely-504545.html. Retrieved 2011-07-10. 
6. ^ Radio Times. 2007-12-09. pp. 124 
7. ^ "Full cast and crew for "Doctor Who" Voyage of the Damned (2007)". Internet Movie Database. 2007-12-09. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1061123/fullcredits#cast. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 

• You bloody people, article in the Evening Standard, March 31, 2005

External links

• Witchell profile from the BBC News website
• Witchell profile from the Times
• Transcript of interview at Kloisters 31st March 2005, including a video of Witchell's response to Charles's outburst about him

Persondata
Name	Witchell, Nicholas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 September 1953
Place of birth	Shropshire, England
Date of death
Place of death