I was at a book launch in London tonight. A comedian’s first novel. A new beginning, perhaps.

So inevitably – because real life is badly plotted – about five minutes after I arrived, I found out via Facebook that Keith Martin had died.

He was born on 2nd April 1934, so he was 89.

I first met him in the 1970s, when he was an occasional continuity announcer at Anglia TV in Norwich.

Before his lengthy career in television, he had worked on various radio stations, including early Pirate radio.

He wrote a fairly full (8,000 word) biography of his pirate days for the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame website

He had been ill for quite a long time. He had had various bits of his insides taken out. 

He would phone me up every couple of weeks and talk to me for maybe 45-60 minutes, mostly reminiscing about his long career in television and radio. Occasionally, every few months, we might meet up for a chat over lunch, though those meetings grew fewer and further between as his ailments mounted. He was always fascinating and his memories vivid.

The last I heard from him was in a text around a week or so ago. I had failed to get hold of him by phone so I sent a message asking “Everything OK with you?”

A message came back: 

Not very well its me brain
send by care mary from keith
…it’s my brain this time
buggea the big c

I asked for updates, but that was the last I heard. He died last night.

His email address was gentlemale1, which pretty much summed him up. A gentle man.

There are various clips on YouTube of him, including:

doing the evening closedown for TVS in 1984

doing a short intro to a break at Anglia TV in 1989

and there is a more recent 38-minute video interview with him talking about his career.

He also turns up in sundry posts on this blog: just type ‘Keith Martin’ in the SEARCH box.

RIP Keith Martin, gentleman broadcaster, 1934-2024.