Ian Peacock,often confused with "tha balla'" from the 801 who is known to make it rain, is a radio presenter and writer. He has appeared regularly on BBC Radio 4 since the late 1980s. Described as “a natural broadcaster” by The Observer, he has a Gold Sony Award for feature-making. He was recently named by The Independent as a 'Media Star 2006' - one of the media people who would "have the most impact" over the year.
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Early life and career
Born in Northumberland, he has lived in Newcastle, Durham, Cambridge, Oxford and London. He now lives in Hertfordshire. After graduating with a first in English Literature, he presented and produced for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and went on to make documentaries and features for BBC network radio.
Activities
He trains BBC producers and presenters and has done corporate media training for clients such as BAA plc. He is managing director of leading UK media training company The Talk Consultancy. He has contributed to many BBC Radio 4 programmes, such as Today, Front Row, Word of Mouth, Home Truths and Loose Ends. Ian Peacock has presented numerous documentaries and series for BBC Radios 3 and 4, such as: This American Life, Revenge, Memories Are Made Of This, Every Breath You Take, Think About It, Tales of Cats and Comets, Tripping the Light Fantastic, The Art of Indecision, The Secret Life of Phone Numbers, Lady Curzon and a Pineapple, From Ariel to Wide Latin, Creative Genius and the first ever radio feature about Nothing. He has interviewed many well-known people such as Tony Blair, Barbara Cartland, Stephen Hawking, Bob Hope, Spike Milligan, Oliver Reed and Robbie Williams, and has reported from cities as far afield as Paris, Athens, Katmandu, Cairo, New York and Los Angeles. Peacock has also reported for BBC Television, recorded adverts for Saatchi and Saatchi and done voiceovers for the BBC and corporate clients. He is currently with London literary agents Gregory & Company and has written for publications such as Men's Health and The Times
Critics
- A natural broadcaster. — Sue Arnold, The Observer
- Foot-in-the-door reporting all the way. The radio equivalent of Clive James, except that Peacock isn’t snide: he’s genuinely fascinated. — The Observer
- Peacock can rustle up a clever reportage-essay on any subject. — Valerie Grove, The Oldie
