Alan Whicker (CBE)

Out of the limelight, Alan Whicker (CBE) now lives on Jersey with his girlfriend of more than 30 years, after visiting Jersey on numerous occasions he fell in love with it enough to make it his home and to settle down. He enjoys a more tranquil life on Jersey where he can relax and undoubtedly deserves a well earned break from his travelling lifestyle which has made him one of the most famous travellers and reporters of all time. However as any Whicker fan will know, he will never retire and has travelling and journalism running through his heart, it is without a doubt that Alan will continue to keep us glued to out TV screens for plenty more years to come.

Broadcasting Career

After the Second World War, Whicker became a journalist and broadcaster, acting as a newspaper correspondent during the Korean War (during which time his death was mistakenly reported), and after joining the BBC in 1957, was a reporter for the famous Tonight programme. Whicker later went on to present a television programme for which he is best known, the long-running television series Whicker's World. Whicker continued to present this for more than 30 years (from 1959 until 1990) and was also instrumental in launching Yorkshire Television, producing television programmes for them from 1969 until 1992.

In the New Year's Honours list published 31 December 2004, Whicker was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to broadcasting.
Particularly whilst presenting Whicker's World, Whicker was well known for his subtle brand of satire, and social commentary. Whicker's World was lampooned in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch featuring a tropical island where all the inhabitants dress and act like Alan Whicker. Benny Hill, towards the end of his run with the BBC in 1968, impersonated Whicker in a parody called "Knicker's World."

Whicker is the man behind the popular advertising slogan "Hello World", for travelocity.co.uk. He narrated the 2007 and 2008 BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain.

In 2009, now in his mid 80s, Whicker returned to some of the locations and people who were originally featured in Whicker's World for the BBC series Alan Whicker's Journey Of A Lifetime. In this, he met with various people whom he had interviewed decades earlier to see how their lives had progressed since the intial programme.

Links

www.alanwhicker.co.uk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Whicker