Gerald Francis Priestland (26 February 1927 - 20 June 1991) was a news correspondent and newsreader for the BBC. February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ...

Gerald Priestland at the news desk during BBC2's hampered opening night

Priestland began his work at the BBC with a six-month spell writing obituary pieces for broadcast news. Iindeed, he even jokingly wrote his own obituary shortly before leaving the job for a post as a sub-editor in the newsgathering operation. In 1954, he became the youngest person (at 26 years) to work as a BBC foreign correspondent, having been sent by the controversial Editor of News, Tahu Hole, to the BBC's office in New Delhi. Between 1958 and 1961, Priestland was relocated to Washington DC where he covered, among other things, the successful election of John F Kennedy. Following this, he most of the next four years as the BBC's Middle East correspondent, before requesting a transfer back to London as a television newsreader. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location Location of Washington, D.C., with regard to the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia. ... JFK redirects here. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Possibly Priestland's best known news broadcast occurred on the opening night of the BBC2 channel (Monday 20 April 1964). He had the onerous and unexpected task of anchoring the evening's transmission from the newsroom at Alexandra Palace as a consequence of an extensive power failure across London. The channel's output that evening was restricted to repeated readings of the news and apologies for the loss of normal service and only lasted for about three hours. BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC. History The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:20pm on April 20, 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Alexandra Palace from the east Alexandra Palace was built in Muswell Hill, North London, England in 1873 as a public entertainment centre and North London counterpart of The Crystal Palace. ...

During the late 1960s, Priestland was back in the USA as chief American correspondent where he covered such events as the assassination of Martin Luther King and the outraged response of students to the Vietnam War. He returned to England at the end of the decade but his broadcasting duties were interrupted when he suffered a nervous breakdown. In the course of his recovery, Priestland became a devoted member of the Quaker religion, despite having been a confirmed atheist in his youth. From the 1970s onward, he became increasingly involved in religious broadcasting and was the BBC's religious affairs correspondent from 1977 to 1982. During this period, he reported on both Papal elections of 1978 and introduced a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 4 entitled Yours Faithfully. Priestland published his autobiography, Something Understood in 1986, a work which he hastily altered before publication to express his true feelings about Tahu Hole, who had recently died: "he was a monster in every sense." The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, Ph. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Nervous Breakdown was the first Black Flag 7 EP. It was released in 1978 on SST Records. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sistine Chapel is the location of the conclave. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Priestland participated in a number of television and radio programmes for both the BBC and ITV until his death in 1991. After his death he received the rare honour (shared with John Reith, Huw Wheldon and Richard Dimbleby) of having a series of annually broadcast lectures named in his honour. ITV (Independent Television) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith (July 20, 1889 - June 16, 1971), later Sir John Reith (1927-), then Baron Reith (1940-) established the British tradition of independent public service broadcasting. ... Legendary BBC broadcaster Sir Huw Wheldon was born in Wales in 1916. ... Richard Dimbleby CBE (May 25, 1913–December 22, 1965) was a British journalist and broadcaster. ...

Source

• Leonard Miall, Inside the BBC - British Broadcasting Characters: p.215-220. ISBN 0-297-81328-5

External links

• The launch night that never was - the BBC's own account of their attempts to maintain transmission during the power failure, featuring recorded footage of Gerald Priestland's efforts