Friends of Peter Barker have informed us of his death, aged 90.
Peter was one of three BBC Radio 3 presenters who were dismissed by Controller Nicholas Kenyon in the mid-90s. He had a mellifluous, authoritative delivery that none can match today.
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Peter is second from the left in the front row.
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Remember Peter very warmly on Radio 3 and very good. May he rest in peace.
Reminded me – wasn’t Edward Sturton taken off the Today programme for similar criticism – apparently sounding ‘too posh’, too south of England public school, and then side-lined to the Sunday religious programme, crack of dawn, at 7am??? Or was that at another time?
Sic transit gloria mundi. He was the epitome of the glory days of Radio 3. We shall never again see the like of it or him.
Rest in peace.
I well remember going in to do something for Radio 3, and Peter Barker was to be the announcer. The producer appeared carrying a script. A quick glance at the paper, and then out from Peter’s jacket pocket came a pen: “I’ll just put this into Barker-ese”.
A series of quick emendations followed – indeed, he pretty much re-wrote the whole script – and then a few moments later, elegant, beautifully constructed sentences flowed perfectly into the microphone from that most recognisable of radio voices.
Requiescat in pace.
Simply the best.