Fred Dinenage

Frederick Edgar "Fred" Dinenage^[1] MBE (born 8 June 1942) is an English television presenter, broadcaster and author. Known for his affable persona, he has had a TV career spanning more than 50 years.

Early life and education

Dinenage was born in the Midlands city of Birmingham. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School,^[2] an independent school in the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire.

Career

Dinenage has appeared as presenter of many British television programmes (most of them produced by Southern Television and its successors TVS and Meridian Broadcasting), such as Tell The Truth, How and its successor How 2, as well as the BBC quiz show Pass The Buck and Gambit (produced by Anglia). He is also a newsreader, for many years presenting Meridian Tonight for ITV Meridian, alongside Debbie Thrower. He joined Meridian in 1993, though he was inherited as chief male news anchor of Meridian Tonight's predecessor programme Coast To Coast, on the TVS franchise which preceded Meridian. He co-hosted Coast To Coast alongside Fern Britton and Mai Davies, and Meridian Tonight alongside Natasha Kaplinsky, Debbie Thrower and Jane Wyatt.^[3]

Dinenage spent a brief period in the late 1970s covering regional sport for Yorkshire Television. He also appeared as a relief presenter of the networked ITV Saturday afternoon show, World of Sport, something which earned him an appearance on the children's Saturday show Tiswas. He also has his own weekly column featured on the magazine of the Southampton local newspaper Southern Daily Echo.

Alongside his television career, Dinenage has written several factual books, including ghosting on autobiographies My Story and Our Story for the Kray twins. He is a keen football follower and was on the board of directors at Portsmouth for a number of years. He was a team captain on the ITV game show Never Had It So Good, shown in 2002. He also narrated Driver's Eye Views for railway filming company "Video 125", including Wessex, Connex Express, the Uckfield Thumper, the Royal Scot (Parts 1 & 2) & the Flying Scotsman (Parts 1 & 2).

Dinenage became co-anchor of a new pan-regional edition of Meridian Tonight on Monday 9 February 2009, presenting alongside former South East anchor Sangeeta Bhabra. In February 2014 he celebrated his 50th anniversary as reporter/presenter with ITV, announcing to the television audience of ITV News Meridian that he hoped to continue broadcasting into the future. Fred Dinenage: Murder Casebook, a crime documentary series on 20th century murders was first broadcast on the Crime & Investigation Network in 2011.^[4]

Dinenage was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.^[5]

Family

Dinenage married his wife Beverley Summers in 1967 and brought up three children, Caroline (born 1971) and twins, Christopher and Sarah (born 1982). His eldest daughter is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Gosport, elected at the 2010 general election with a 14,413 majority.^[6] His great-uncle Jack was a first-class steward on the Titanic and died aged 47 when she sank in April 1912.^[7]

Videos narrated by Fred Dinenage

• Wessex Weymouth to London Waterloo station by South West Trains plus The Weymouth Quay Branch
• Flying Scotsman London Kings Cross to York & Edinburgh Waverley by GNER, East Coast and Virgin Trains East Coast
• The Royal Scot London Euston to Preston & Glasgow Central By Virgin Trains
• Connex Express-By Southern
• Uckfield Branch

Freds Withdrawal

• In 2016 Dinenage Was Supposed To Narrate Manchester Piccadilly To Cleethorpes On The Hope Valley Line Via Sheffield And Doncaster Filmed In A Class 185 Desiro By First Transpenine Express But Dinenages Role Went To Alan Hardwick Who Narrated The Virgin Trains Class 221 Super Voyager From Bristol Temple Meads To Derby Midland Via Birmingham New Street Plus The Golden Valley Line To Gloucester Aswell He Narrated Filmed In A Class 144 Pacer By First Great Western Liverpool & Manchester Railway From Manchester Airport To Liverpool Lime Street Via Heald Green And Manchester Piccadilly Filmed In A Northern Rail Class 156 Sprinter And Finally Narrating Merseyrail From Chester To Liverpool.
• In August Dinenage Was Supposed To Narrate The North Wales Coast Filmed In A Virgin Trains Class 221 Super Voyager From Crewe To Holyhead Via Chester Pass Harwarden Airport To Flint,Rhyl,Colwyn Bay,LLandudno Junction And Bangor Plus Passing LLanfairpwyl And Arriving At Holyhead But Dinenages Role Was Dropped And Was Withdrawn So Dinenages Role Went To Arfon Haines Davies.
• In November Dinenage Could Return To Narrate The Lines In Devon.

References

External links

• Fred Dinenage at the Internet Movie Database