DAVID FITZGERALD 
David Fitzgerald started work in local radio in 1980 and based his early years in programme production and presentation. Devonair Radio was his first station, moving to County Sound in Guildford and then to Invicta Radio in Kent. In 1986 he made the move to television, joining T.S.W., the independent station for the South West. When the franchise expired in 1994, David at first worked on several series for Anglia Television, joined Sky News as an anchorman and started working for the corporate sector presenting and producing commercial videos. However Sky wanted exclusivity and in 1996 he joined the staff of this expanding news coverage service and still works for the group. From O.J. Simpson to Diana to Bosnia, David has been at the front of nearly ever disaster for the past nine years. This uncanny knack for being in the right place at the ‘wrong time’ even got him into Trivial Pursuit as a question in the 1995 edition. He formed a great friendship with the Trivial Pursuit question writer which inspired him to write just over thirteen thousand questions himself and supplies quizzes and programmes with a regular flow of useless trivia. He was a long running member of the presentation team of Westcountry Challenge on ITV 1 Westcountry and is The Lord Taverner Quiz Master for the South West. In between news, he has produced series for the Carlton Television network on such diverse topics as farming, The Red Arrows, Devon & Cornwall Police and supermarkets. His last Red Arrow series won The International Olympic Committee’s award of excellence. In the past he has written for Spitting Image and The Bill and has had three books published, two children’s books written with Falklands Veteran Simon Weston OBE. In 1999 he won the franchise for South Hams Radio and started writing for The Western Morning News, The Herald and Living Devon. He now works for BBC Radio Devon and occasionally appears on Spotlight the evening news programme. Channel 4 featured David and his wife Karen in a programme called First Cut. An in-depth look at how to have a happy marriage! BBC2 The Restaurant with Raymond Blanc also saw David, this time as a guest of the Earl and Countess of Arran in the final programme. Ever the diplomat, David was given Bean Risotto which had been burnt. His comment was left on the cutting room floor. ‘Yes, I know it’s Bean Risotto, but what the hell is it now? He now enjoys the after dinner circuit and works with the best of British stand up comedians. TALKS How Not to Broadcast. A trip from local radio days and the major mistakes he made and where his head of news suffered from spoonerism’s to the arrest of OJ Simpson which he covered for Sky. David will talk on his life with making documentaries, his brushed with the police, politicians and flying with the Red Arrows. How he guarded the Queen by accident and his relationship with business partner Simon Weston OBE.
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