Denis Tuohy

Denis Tuohy (born 2 April 1937,^[1][2] Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a television broadcaster, newsreader and journalist and actor.

Tuohy attended Queen's College, Belfast, where he learned to debate and acquired an interest in acting.^[3] In 1960, he appeared in Over the Bridge, a play written by Sam Thompson and directed by Jimmy Ellis.^[3][4][5] Later that year, Tuohy became the first Catholic broadcaster for BBC Northern Ireland.^[6][7]

Tuohy moved to London in 1964 to work for the new BBC2.^[6] At the channel's launch that April, he was scheduled to be the first face on air.^[6] However, there was a power failure on the opening night, and newsreader Gerald Priestland was briefly seen before transmission was aborted and the official launch postponed until the day after. The opening broadcast began with a shot of a burning candle and Tuohy then blowing it out.^[8]

Tuohy participated in several of the BBC's current affairs programmes of the 1970s, including Tonight and the long-running Panorama, and, after moving to Thames Television, he presented This Week (and TV Eye, 1978–1986). He interviewed Margaret Thatcher in the leadup to the 1979 United Kingdom general election.^[6][9] Communication specialist Geoffrey Beattie analysed the interview extensively in a work on patterns of interruption in conversation.^[10][11] During the 1990s, he was mainly known for his work as a reporter for ITN.^{[citation needed]}

After retiring from broadcasting, Tuohy took up acting again, playing roles in the television dramas Fair City, The Clinic, and Fallout.^[3] He also wrote a memoir, Wide-eyed in Medialand: A broadcaster's journey.^[6][12]

References[]

Notes[]

External links[]

• Denis Tuohy at the British Film Institute

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