Going For Gold Biographies: John Suchet

Hi all!  Today I’ve got another Going For Gold treat as we’re here on the eve of the exciting return of this fantastic game show.  The treat is a detailed biography of the new presenter, John Suchet.  You’ll know John as one of ITN’s major news presenters and a classic music fan.  Well, now he’s taking on game shows and we look forward to that!  Anyway, here goes… John Suchet in-depth… enjoy!

John Suchet was born on the 29 March 1944 and is a British newscaster and television presenter.  Of Jewish and Anglican descent on his father’s and mother’s side respectively, Suchet attended the Uppingham School in Rutland and went on to study at the University of Dundee.  He was awarded an Honourary Doctorate .

John Suchet in his younger days as one of ITN

In 1972, Suchet would commence a long run as newscaster for Indepenedent Television News.  He presented various new bulletins from 1972 right up to 2004.  Bulletins included News At One and later the time revised News at 1:30.  He was also one of the anchor presenters on News At Ten, ITV’s most coveted news programme.  

John Suchet in a promo for Classic FM is a big classic music and Beethoven fan.

In 1992, Suchet became one of the main presenters on the ITV Early Evening News shortly after it replaced the News At 5:40 programme and this Suchet continued to do until 1999.  Up to 1994, Suchet had alternated with Carol Barnes to read the news on the bulletin after which Suchet became the sole presenter.  Suchet had also replaced the traditional early evening newscasters for ITN, Michael Nicholson and Alastair Stewart.

 

Suchet participated in special event programmes for ITN including the coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral, election coverage shows and the Budget.

Into the new millennium, Suchet shifted television channels to become one of the newscasters for Channel Five after a brief break from news reading on ITV.  Suchet also featured as guest presenter on This Morning on ITV and a guest panelist on Five’s The Wright Stuff.  Suchet has also got involved with radio work and hosts the show, Composer’s Notes on Classic FM.  Suchet has admitted being a Beethoven fan and has toured with his material.  Also, Suchet mentioned he could speak lots about Chopin on a recent Going For Gold show after the composer was the answer to one of the questions.

The latest work for Suchet sees him present the new format of Going For Gold which plays on Five and sees its revival some twelve years later.

David Suchet is one of John's younger brothers and famous as fictional sleuth, Hercule Poirot.

Suchet’s younger brother, David Suchet is well known for his role as the famous fictional Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, created by crime writer, Agatha Christie.  In a recent episode of BBC’s genealogy programme, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, David Suchet appeared trying to trace his ancestors.  John Suchet featured briefly in the programme helping his brother with the research.  The programme revealed that the Suchets’ paternal grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew and that the surname Suchet originated from the original name, Suchedowitz.

Going For Gold Biographies: Henry Kelly

Hi all!  I think no Going For Gold coverage would be complete without a detailed mention of the presenters behind the show!  As you’ll know by now, if you never watched Going For Gold, Henry Kelly is the star of the original format.  He hosted Going For Gold for ten great series and he’ll be remembered for great slogans like “What am I?” or “Who am I?”, “Select” and “Laconic” plus “You’re playing catch-up”.  Now learn more about the man himself in this in-depth biography…

Henry Kelly was born on the 17 April 1946 in Athlone, Westmeath, Ireland and is an Irish television and radio presenter.  He went to the Belvedere College and attended University College Dublin.  At the latter he was an auditor for the Literary and Historical Society.  After leaving university Kelly went onto become a journalist and became the Northern editor of the Irish Times based in Belfast during the 1970s.  In 1976, Kelly moved to London where he featured on World Tonight on BBC Radio 4.  

Henry Kelly stars with his fellow presenters in LWT's 'Game For A Laugh' with Matthew Kelly, Jeremy Beadle and Sarah Kennedy.

1980 saw Kelly take on a completely new direction in his career leaving behind jornalism and becoming one of four presenters for the prank entertainment show, Game For A Laugh which was produced by London Weekend Television alongside Matthew Kelly, Jeremy Beadle and Sarah Kennedy.  In 1987, Kelly embarked on a new presentation role in the game show, Going For Gold which saw Kelly take the helm for a total of ten series until the demise of Going For Gold in 1996.  It was broadcast at lunchtimes on BBC One.

In 1992, Kelly returned to radio and became one of the first presenters to feature on the newly launched Classic FM.  His show was aired in the mid-morning on weekdays and moved to the breakfast slot in June 2003.  Kelly moved radio stations and became the late afternoon presenter on London’s LBC 97.3 radio station from September 2003.  He stayed with LBC until the end of 2004.  Kelly announced he was looking to return to television work, some eight years after his final run on Going For Gold but with a lack of television work he continued on radio hosting the late show on BBC London 94.9 radio for a fortnight in June 2005.

Henry Kelly today.

Kelly secured a more permananent spot on BBC Radio Berkshire from September 2005 where he now has his own weekday mid-morning show.  In August 2006, Kelly made a return to Classic FM and hosted a Sunday morning show alongside his duties on BBC Radio Berkshire but his time on Classic FM again was terminated as his show was replaced by other programs in early 2008.

Tomorrow, don’t miss the biography on John Suchet, the new host of Going For Gold!