The one and only Moira returns to our screens

indeed, Sissons is a journalist and lacks the qualities in presenting you claimed were needed. that was quite clear in my post



Humpries was mentioned as he told moira she was sensationally sexy and they should make love on the basement

So you think Sissons is a useless journalist ?
This is his Wikipedia entry and all I'll ask is that you tell me one single entry in it you've ever come near to equalling in your busy internet forum life.


Peter George Sissons (born 17 July 1942 in Liverpool) is a television newsreader in the United Kingdom.

Originally from Liverpool, he attended the Dovedale Road Junior School with John Lennon and Jimmy Tarbuck and after the 11+ to the Liverpool Institute for Boys from 1953 to 1961 with Bill Kenwright, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. He later studied at University College, Oxford where he was Treasurer of the University College Players.

After many years as a journalist, his first stint as a newsreader came in 1976 when he began anchoring ITN's News At One bulletins alternately with Leonard Parkin until the first incarnation of the series was dropped by ITV in 1987 after Leonard Parkin decided to retire from ITN; Sissons subsequently left for the BBC.

In June 1989, Peter Sissons took over from Sir Robin Day as the presenter of Question Time. He continued until December 1993, when he was followed by David Dimbleby.

He also co-presented BBC's 1992 General Election Night coverage with David Dimbleby and Peter Snow. Previously he had been a co-presenter on ITN's election night programmes in 1983 (with Sir Alastair Burnet and Martyn Lewis) and in 1987 (with Burnet and Alastair Stewart).

He has worked for ITN, Channel 4 News and BBC News, where he hosted the BBC Nine O'Clock News and the Ten O'Clock News. He retired from this position in January 2003. Sissons reportedly accused the BBC of ageism in response to its decision to move him from the prime slot.[1]

He now presents weekend afternoons on BBC News, the corporation's 24 hour rolling news channel. Sissons also presents News 24 Sunday, the replacement for Andrew Marr's BBC One programme The Andrew Marr Show when it is off air during the Summer. He also occasionally presents weekend bulletins on BBC One.

Sissons is also a Liverpool John Moores University Honorary Fellow and delivered a lecture on 19 June 2008 speaking about the City of Liverpool.[2]

His daughter is the actress Kate Sissons.



First clarification - his name is spelled Sissons and not Sissins.

Sorry not buying it,

HE was dreadful during that Saturday with the Glasgow airport attracts.

yet you stick up for one old newsreader, yet not another? don;t you like older woman reading the news? or is it just the young ones?

Guru: You're twisting Hymagumba's words. He didn't say Sissons was a useless journalist, he said he was useless AND a journalist, meaning useless on-screen and a journalist.

no, I implied he was a useless presenter, as I made clear when I realised I had been careless in writing the post at the top of this page.

oh and if you go back to my first post, you'll see that i spelt his name correctly the first time.

Nice try at editing his name but too late really.
The skill is to get it right first time.

Wait a minute, Showbizguru.

What on earth does this have to do with Hyma?

I thought we were having a discussion about newsreaders, not about personal facts about members?

Whether Hyma has done anything on that salubrious resume or not, it doesn't alter the fact that nowadays Sissons is a bumbling, confused newsreader who now seems completely out of his depth.

Plus it doesn't really matter how you spell his name - I doubt the man can spell it himself nowadays.

I did, in my earlier post actually, you'll notice I spelt it correctly there. Also that change was submitted a whole before you pointed it out.

But do carry on picking holes in my spelling rather than actually responding to my post.

Read the Wiki entry.
You don't suddenly become useless with that CV.
But then I don't suspect a single one of you has ever read an autocue in your life.
Except in your dreams of course.

By that logic you assume that because you've never done something, you aren't allowed to pass judgement on it.

Simon Cowell has never performed in public. The majority of the UK population has never stood for office. Does that make their opinions any less valid on the X Factor or in a General Election?

Pull the other one, Guru.

Oh - and yes, I have read an autocue, albeit at a local level. The pedal got stuck, as it always does on Look North.

Showbizguru has been banned from this forum to allow the conversation to return on topic. A reminder that personal insults are not welcome here and will not be tolerated.

If people are unable to have a constructive debate then warnings and bannings will follow.

Well I am please to see that Moira is returning to our screens (albeit briefly) to narrate next week's programme (returning to our screens in voice only, perhaps).

Whether a journalist or not, she did what we needed her to do in a simple and effective way, i.e. delivering the news. We all knew that Moira would never be seen out in Baghdad wearing a flak jacket and bullet-proof vest. But as far as newsreading was concerned, she was fine.

As for the ageism debate - it's true. Just how many ladies of a certain age do we see on our screens reading the news? The answer is none!

Put another way, if Moira had actually been a trained journalist and was able to do live interviews and was able to juggle simultaneous breaking news stories, she would probably still have been removed from our screens because she was "a certain age". Does anyone else here think that she would otherwise still be on air? And can you name any single other 60year old news anchorlady in the UK? Nope!

It's pathetic.