Derek Hobson Explained

Derek Hobson Northern Ireland born Hobson is a TV and radio broadcaster and journalist, best known as the original host of ITV's New Faces,[1] which introduced, among others, Lenny Henry, Victoria Wood, Debbie McGee, Jim Davidson, Les Dennis and Michael Barrymore to a Saturday night audience of more than 12 million viewers.

Hobson was also a continuity announcer for ATV in Birmingham and was one of the presenters of the regional news programme ATV Today.[2]

After leaving ATV, Hobson co-presented Not For Women Only,[3] a regional magazine programme for TVS, with Jill Cochrane. He also presented and co-created the format for the game show That's My Dog for TSW, which ran for four years on the ITV network from 1984.[4]

Personal life

When aged 32, on Tuesday 24 April 1979, he was banned from driving for a year by Stratford-upon-Avon magistrates, when living at 5 Wootton Hall in Wootton Wawen near the town. Warwickshire Police had stopped his car on Guild Street and Birmingham Road in Stratford at 4.05am on Saturday 9 December 1978. The policeman believed that he had been drinking, after Hobson had driven the wrong way around a one-way system of road works.[5] A sample of urine showed 137mg of alcohol in his urine, 30mg above the legal limit.[6] He was fined £60 for drink driving, £15 for refusing a breath test, and £10 for ignoring a temporary keep-left sign.[7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Press Your Buttons Now! - We look back at talent shows of yesteryear. . BBC . 2018-09-06.
  2. Web site: Victoria Wood dies aged 62 . ATV Today . 2018-09-06.
  3. Web site: Not for Women Only (1982). https://web.archive.org/web/20180422152529/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b74e29753 . dead . 22 April 2018 . BFI . 2018-09-06.
  4. Web site: The Continuity Booth. The TV Room. 2018-09-06.
  5. Coventry Evening Telegraph Tuesday 13 March 1979, page 18
  6. Coventry Evening Telegraph Tuesday 24 April 1979, page 14
  7. Liverpool Daily Post Wednesday 25 April 1979, page 9
  8. Daily Mirror Wednesday 25 April 1979, page 17