He was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire and educated at the independent Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire. He was 6 ft 5 ins. His began his broadcasting career as a radio journalist in South Africa, and he was a reporter in Africa until his return to the UK in 1961.
He was notable for presenting the first transatlantic programme using the Telstar satellite and for commentating on state occasions such as royal weddings for ITV. After leaving ITN he became a regional news presenter on Thames Television, presenting Thames at 6 and later Thames News.
He is also notable for being the newscaster whose report was interrupted on 26 November 1977 by a hoax broadcast generally known as the Southern Television broadcast interruption. The hoaxer has never been identified.[citation needed]
At ten minutes past five, the TV picture wobbled slightly and the sound of Andrew Gardner's professional delivery was silenced, to be replaced by a distorted voice delivering a quite remarkable message for almost six minutes. It purported to be a communication from an individual identifying themselves as Vrillon, representing a body called the Ashtar Galactic Command. And the message was simple: we humans had to give up our warlike ways and embrace a more peaceful existence... before it was too late.[2]
He remained with Thames until it lost its franchise in 1992, when he subsequently took early retirement. While retired, he reported on such subjects as beer tasting and the wine regions of southwest Germany for a magazine for blind people.
He died from a heart attack on 2 April 1999, aged 66, while on a flight to Madeira.[1] At the time of his death, he lived in Benenden, Kent.[1]
References
^ abcVeteran newsman Gardner dies, BBC News, 4 April 1999, Retrieved 12 November 2019
^Barnett, David. "Vrillon: the alien voice hoax that became a legend". The Independent. No. 25 November 2017. from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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andrew, gardner, newsreader, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, andrew, gardner, newsreader, news, news. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Andrew Gardner newsreader news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Andrew Gardner 25 September 1932 2 April 1999 1 was a newsreader on Independent Television News in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1977 He was also one of the original presenters of News at Ten when it began in 1967 He was born in Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire and educated at the independent Dauntsey s School in Wiltshire He was 6 ft 5 ins His began his broadcasting career as a radio journalist in South Africa and he was a reporter in Africa until his return to the UK in 1961 He was notable for presenting the first transatlantic programme using the Telstar satellite and for commentating on state occasions such as royal weddings for ITV After leaving ITN he became a regional news presenter on Thames Television presenting Thames at 6 and later Thames News He is also notable for being the newscaster whose report was interrupted on 26 November 1977 by a hoax broadcast generally known as the Southern Television broadcast interruption The hoaxer has never been identified citation needed At ten minutes past five the TV picture wobbled slightly and the sound of Andrew Gardner s professional delivery was silenced to be replaced by a distorted voice delivering a quite remarkable message for almost six minutes It purported to be a communication from an individual identifying themselves as Vrillon representing a body called the Ashtar Galactic Command And the message was simple we humans had to give up our warlike ways and embrace a more peaceful existence before it was too late 2 He remained with Thames until it lost its franchise in 1992 when he subsequently took early retirement While retired he reported on such subjects as beer tasting and the wine regions of southwest Germany for a magazine for blind people He died from a heart attack on 2 April 1999 aged 66 while on a flight to Madeira 1 At the time of his death he lived in Benenden Kent 1 References Edit a b c Veteran newsman Gardner dies BBC News 4 April 1999 Retrieved 12 November 2019 Barnett David Vrillon the alien voice hoax that became a legend The Independent No 25 November 2017 Archived from the original on 30 November 2017 Retrieved 18 June 2019 This biographical article related to television journalism in the United Kingdom is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Andrew Gardner newsreader amp oldid 1095143504, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
