Veteran broadcaster Fred Talbot, best know for his animated weather reports from the floating map during ITV’s This Morning, visited Edge Hill University yesterday.
As a guest of the media department, Fred was given a tour of the University’s Ormskirk campus where he was impressed with the new health and business and law buildings.
Fred spent time with media students, offering valuable advice to third year film and TV students on how best to present their work or how to pitch ideas for documentaries or programme content. He said: “The first 20 seconds of any show reel is by far the most important. Think about whether or not to use music. Is it going to add to your idea, or is it just going to irritate the very person you are trying to impress?”
Fred Talbot started his media career in 1979, while he was still a full-time biology teacher at a boys’ school in Altrincham. His first television appearance was on Granada Reports, a regional ITV news programme in the North West.
He was still a regular presenter on Granada Reports when he started presenting the weather from the Albert Dock, Liverpool, on This Morning, hosted by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
Fred presented the weather from a floating map in the Albert Dock. Each morning he would make the jump from the UK mainland to Ireland, much to the amusement of onlookers and viewers.
On one occasion, a diver swam near the map to distract Fred, and in a memorable incident, a streaker swam naked up to the map and jumped on during his weather report.
When asked about his time presenting the weather from the Dock, Fred said: “It is amazing the number of people who think I fell into the water, but I actually never did, even though I certainly did come close to it on several occasions.”
Fred will return to the University during the next academic year to deliver a series of master classes with students from across all media subject areas.
Senior lecturer Peter Berry, a former Granada colleague of Fred’s said: “There is no substitute for experience in any discipline, and Fred has more than 25 years experience of live television, both regional and network, which he can bring to our students. They after all are the future of the media industries.”
