Anthony H. Wilson dies

NW

nwtv2003 11 August 2007 6:32pm

steddenm posted:

It's such a shame that he has died. I expect Granada will be a quiet place today.

Have just found this online - one final look around Granada with Antony Wilson.

RIP, mate.

http://www.itvlocal.com/granada/documentaries/?player=GRA_Documentaries_26&void=76963

I think that must have been his last presenting gig for Granada, after that he's been at the BBC.

Granada showed a documentary about his life and career about 4 or 5 years ago to co-incide with the release of 24 Hour Party People where Wilson was played by Steve Coogan. It would be nice if they could show that again.

RM

Roger Mellie 11 August 2007 10:30pm

Here is the interview with Tony on BBC NWT about his fight with cancer:
Gordon Burns+AHW
I believe he had a kidney removed in February to try to stem the spread of the cancer, but sadly it didn't work as hoped.

I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of years ago, and he was a top bloke-- delighfully affable and insane in equal measure. I think Manchester owed him a great debt (one the NHS in the city didn't feel like repaying

). Which other regional news broadcaster could claim to have film made about them too?

He did present a couple of national quiz shows: Topranko and Remote Control . He narrated a lot of the Coro documentaries too.

He also filed reports for World In Action , but got dismissed from that after seriously upsetting Sir Keith Joseph (a Thatcher minister) during an interview-- Wilson's bosses saw the uncut version of the interview accidentally!

Regarding the swearing incident (I've dredged this up from another thread), his take on events:

Quote:

It was during the lunchtime bulletin. They had no rehearsal for it apparently, so it was a mess in the first place. None of the cameras in the studios had a red light operating, so he didn't which camera he was looking into.

So when the first report rolled, he let rip at the director. Unfortunately for him, the mute button on his mike was broken, so viewers heard heard him say "there's no f**king red light on the camera, f**king amateurism p*sses me off".

Granada bosses couldn't sack him, because technically it wasn't his fault. They just didn't renew his contract, although the official line was that he left Granada to campaign for the (now shelved) North-West Regional Assembly.

He did tell me that he hated the way Granada had changed since ITV plc merger, and that Granada Reports had gone steeply downhill in his opinion-- although he says Ms Meacock still does a sterling job.

Tony Wilson (AKA Anthony H Wilson) did a few sketches for R&J, since of course they all used to read the news and sport together on Granada Reports back in the day.

As a little tribute here's Mr Wilson presenting Granada Reports with Richard Madeley, with Wilson casting a typical wry eye over then-emerging pop "megastar" Frank Sidebottom (sorry for cack audio/visual BTW):
Granada Reports

RIP Tony

NW

nwtv2003 12 August 2007 9:35pm

nwtv2003 posted:

Granada showed a documentary about his life and career about 4 or 5 years ago to co-incide with the release of 24 Hour Party People where Wilson was played by Steve Coogan. It would be nice if they could show that again.

For anyone interested it was called That Tony Wilson and if you have a spare 50 minutes it's available to watch on ITV Local Granada, it's very interesting, especially with some of his remarks about Liverpool.

TI

This Is Granada 22 August 2007 11:44am

Just to let everyone know, you can see a special programme about Tony Wilson, this Monday evening on Granada.

Tony Wilson: A Tribute, Bank Holiday Monday at 8pm on Granada

(August 2007)