Longtime BBC Radio 4 Announcer Jefferson Departs

Jefferson Exits

Longtime BBC RADIO 4 continuity announcer PETER JEFFERSON has been let go by the station after 45 years, reports the DAILY TELEGRAPH. JEFFERSON, who officially retired in 2001 but continued as the voice of RADIO 4 on a freelance basis, will leave the station on SEPTEMBER 20th, although he will continue appearing on the station's "QUOTE UNQUOTE."

JEFFERSON joined the BBC as a librarian in 1964 and soon became an announcer on the WORLD SERVICE, the HOME SERVICE, and the LIGHT PROGRAMME (the BBC networks before 1967's creation of RADIO 1, 2, 3, and 4). He joined RADIO 4 in 1974.

The network says that the termination is unrelated to JEFFERSON's age nor his accidental swearing on the air last month. JEFFERSON was heard uttering an expletive after making a mistake reading lines just before the hourly time signal; the network received no complaints over the incident.

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