Editing Brian Redhead

{{Short description|British journalist and broadcaster}}
{{about|British journalist Brian Redhead||Redhead (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name        = Brian Redhead
| image       = Brian_Leonard_Redhead_(1929–1994).jpeg
| imagesize   = 240px
| caption     = Brian Redhead pictured on the cover of ''Personal Perspectives''<ref name=personal/>
| pseudonym   = 
| birth_name  = Brian Leonard Redhead
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1929|12|28}}
| birth_place = [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1994|01|23|1929|12|28}}
| death_place = [[Macclesfield]], [[Cheshire]], England
| education   = [[Royal Grammar School, Newcastle]]
| alma_mater  = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA)
| occupation  = {{hlist|Author|journalist|broadcaster}}
| spouse      = {{marriage|Jean Salmon|1954}}
| children    = 4
}}
'''Brian Leonard Redhead''' (28 December 1929 – 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster.<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | author=Anon| title = Redhead, Brian  | id = U175017 | year = 2007 | doi =10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U175017 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford}}</ref> He was a co-presenter of the [[Today (BBC Radio 4)|''Today'' programme]] on [[BBC Radio 4]] from 1975 until 1993, shortly before his death. He was a great lover and promoter of the city of [[Manchester]] and the [[North West England|North West]] in general, where he lived for most of his career.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-brian-redhead-1402199.html|website=independent.co.uk|title=Brian Redhead Obituary|first=Michael|last=Leapman|year=1994|publisher=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><ref name=radio>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110306160823/http://www.radioacademy.org/hall-of-fame-member/Brian-redhead/ Radio Hall of Fame: Brian Redhead]</ref><ref name=broad>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100729140738/http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/celebs/broadcasters2.html Manchester Celebrities: Brian Redhead]}}</ref><ref name=imdb>{{IMDb name}}</ref><ref name=odnb/>

==Education and early life==
Redhead was born in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. He was the only child of Ernest Leonard Redhead, a silk screen printer and advertising agent, and his wife, Janet Crossley (née Fairley).<ref name=odnb>Paul Donovan, 'Redhead, Brian Leonard (1929–1994)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/46722}}</ref> He was educated at the [[Royal Grammar School, Newcastle]]. After [[national service]], he read history at the [[University of Cambridge]] as an undergraduate student of [[Downing College, Cambridge]].

==Career==
Redhead's career in journalism started in 1954 as a journalist for the ''[[The Guardian|Manchester Guardian]]'' newspaper. He married Jean Salmon (known as Jenni) on 19 June 1954. They had four children: two sons, Stephen and James, and twins, Annabel (known as Abby) and William.

He became northern editor of ''The Guardian'' in 1965, and editor of the ''[[Manchester Evening News]]'' in 1969. After being passed over for the editorship of ''The Guardian'' in favour of [[Peter Preston]] in 1975, he left to join the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4, replacing [[Robert Robinson (broadcaster)|Robert Robinson]]. He was already an experienced broadcaster, having been 'discovered' around 1960 by a BBC Manchester producer, [[Olive Shapley]], who was looking for a presenter of a television programme called ''Something to Read'':<blockquote>I held auditions over two days and there were some promising people. However, on the second day a young man turned up who was clearly highly intelligent and knowledgable[sic], oozed confidence, communicated effortlessly through the camera, was very funny and never stopped talking. I knew instantly that this was the one.<ref>Olive Shapley ''Broadcasting a Life'', London: Scarlet Press, 1996, p.163</ref></blockquote>Later, Redhead presented ''Points North'' on television, and chaired the Saturday night [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] topical conversation programme ''A Word in Edgeways'' for many years.

In the 1970s Redhead appeared twice on BBC Two's music panel quiz ''[[Face the Music (British game show)|Face the Music]]'': on 10 June 1974<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Two - Face the Music, 10/06/1974 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00240x2 |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> and on 24 September 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Two - Face the Music, 24/09/1975 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024hnv |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>

He formed a partnership with fellow ''Today'' presenter [[John Timpson]] which lasted for over 10 years. Redhead and Timpson had a series of running jokes on the programme, including the mythical organisations "The Friends of the M6" (long-suffering motorists trapped in its frequent traffic jams) and "The League of Pear-Shaped Men" (of which he and Timpson were the principal members). 

His sense of humour often appeared in asides in the ''Today'' programme. Talking of a convoy moving at 3&nbsp;mph, Redhead observed that was probably 3&nbsp;mph faster than they were moving on the [[M25 motorway]] that morning. When working the same slot as [[John Humphrys]], he gleefully reported that Humphrys had turned up for work on his day off (probably before 6.00am) and was livid. On another occasion, he reported that the weather would be "brighter in the north than the south, like the people". [[Sue MacGregor]] and [[Peter Hobday (presenter)|Peter Hobday]] were also co-presenters, and the team was celebrated in 1987. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2017/10/today-at-60.html|title=Today at 60 |website=blogspot.com|date=20 October 2017 }}</ref>

During his time on the ''Today'' programme, Redhead was accused of political bias by [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|Chancellor]] [[Nigel Lawson]], and in reply enquired "Do you think we should have a one-minute silence now in this interview, one for you to apologise for daring to suggest that you know how I vote and secondly perhaps in memory of [[monetarism]] which you have now discarded?" He later had a similar set-to with [[President of the Board of Trade|Trade and Industry Secretary]] [[Peter Lilley]].

The feeling was that Redhead was to the left of his co-presenter John Timpson. Many years later [[Libby Purves]], who also presented ''Today'' at the time, characterised them as classic opposites – Redhead the self-made [[Northern England|Northerner]], with social democratic leanings and aspirations to better himself, Timpson the gentle (and, perhaps, gently declining in terms of social prestige) old-school conservative middle class [[Southern England|Southerner]]. In her words, Timpson "wanted it to be 1950", while Redhead "was more than ready for the New Britain of the 21st century, although he died before seeing its birth". However, Redhead claimed to be more of a Tory [[Wets and dries|wet]], not a socialist, and stated that he had cast a personal vote for [[Macclesfield]]'s Conservative MP, [[Nicholas Winterton]].

The death of Redhead's youngest son, William, in a car crash in France in 1982, aged 18, led him to rediscover religious faith, and he became a confirmed member of the [[Church of England]] a few months later. In the [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] series ''The Good Book'', he charted the history of the Bible.<ref name=goodbook/> 

In the last years of his life, there was some speculation that after his retirement from ''Today'' he would train for [[ordination]] as an Anglican priest. He was also a strong supporter of the [[hospice]] movement, ambiguously calling it "the best thing that has happened in this country since the Second World War". He served as Chancellor of the [[University of Manchester]].{{when|date=June 2024}}

During the [[Gulf War|First Gulf War]] in 1991, he was a volunteer presenter on the BBC [[Radio 4 News FM]] service.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/abramsky_oxford2.shtml Sound Matters – Five Live – the War of Broadcasting House – a morality story]</ref>

===Publications===
During his career he published the following books:
* ''The Bedside Guardian 10: A Selection from the Guardian 1960-1961''<ref name=bedside>(foreword/editor) ''The Bedside Guardian 10: A Selection from the Guardian 1960-1961''. Collins, 1961.</ref>
*''The Good Book: An introduction to the Bible''<ref name=goodbook>The Good Book: an introduction to the bible (with Frances Gumley) . Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, 1987 Hardcover, 1988 Paperback {{ISBN missing}} {{OCLC|973625449}}</ref>
*''The Anti-Booklist''<ref name=anti>(with [[Kenneth McLeish]] (ed.)), ''The Anti-Booklist''. London: [[Hodder & Stoughton]], 1981 {{ISBN|0-340-27447-6}}</ref>
* ''A Love of the Lakes''<ref name=lakes>(with Geoffrey Berry) ''A Love of the Lakes''. Constable, 1988 {{ISBN|0-09-468740-4}}</ref>
*''The National Parks of England Wales''.<ref name=parks>The National Parks of England Wales [[Oxford Illustrated Press]], 1988. Hardcover; reissued by Magna Books June 1994{{ISBN missing}}</ref>
*''Plato to NATO: Studies on political thought''<ref name=plato>Plato to NATO: Studies on political thought [[Penguin Books]], 23 February 1995 {{ISBN|0-14-024677-0}}</ref>
*''Personal Perspectives''.<ref name=personal>Personal Perspective [[Harper Collins Publishers]], January 1996. Hardcover {{ISBN|0-00-638685-7}}</ref>
*''Manchester – a Celebration''<ref name=celebration>Redhead, Brian (9993) London: [[André Deutsch]] Limited {{ISBN|0-233-98816-5}}; reissued by Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1994</ref>
*''North West of England''. [[BBC Books]]. 1994 {{ISBN missing}}

==Personal life==
Redhead married Jean (Jenni) Salmon in 1954 and had four children.<ref name=whoswho/>

In 1993, his health started to fail and he was in pain on his left side and leg. He was thought{{by whom|date=August 2016}} to need hip surgery, but in fact{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} had a ruptured [[Vermiform appendix|appendix]] which was leaking toxins, causing liver and kidney failure and other problems. He took leave from ''Today'' in early December, expecting to return after Christmas, but died in January 1994.


==References==
{{reflist}}


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{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Robinson (broadcaster)|Robert Robinson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Presenter of [[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today Programme]]|years=1975–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Naughtie]]
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Redhead, Brian}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne]]
[[Category:People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne]]
[[Category:Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:The Guardian journalists]]
[[Category:English radio personalities]]
[[Category:British radio people]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]