Peter's
current interest in golf is in stark contrast to most of the sports he
has been involved with in his career.
In
the late 70's and early 80's Peter was the lead presenter in five
series of the children's sports programme, Stopwatch
where amongst his co-presenters were Daley Thompson, Suzanne Dando, and
Nigel Starmer-Smith.
In
the 80's he became BBC's original 'Voice of Darts' when the sport first
established itself on television, presenting five series of Bullseye
(no, not that one!) and an incredible
195 programmes covering the major darts championships, including World Darts.
Kickstart
was the first and most popular of the
Motorcycle Trials shows on TV. Audiences were astonished to see riders
riding their bikes over VW beetles and so on. Very soon that was
regarded as passe and with the continental riders showing off their
indoor arena skills (something that the UK didn't have at that time)
the sport developed using some awesome obstacles. Peter remembers
riders having to go over the arms of a fully extended JCB. Fearsome,
but no one fell and no-one was hurt.
Junior Kickstart
was spawned by the adult
version with youngsters up to the age of fourteen competing over
similarly difficult courses. One favourite obstacle was 'Zebedee' a
sprung plank, named after the character in the Magic Roundabout. If the
riders hit it wrong, they were sprung off the side of it! Junior Junior Kickstart saw the emergence
of the 6 x World Arena Trials
Champion, Dougie Lampkin, though he never won the Junior title.
That honour went to Steven Colley
And Graham Jarvis, who also
went on to be in the World Top half-dozen.
Driver of the Year
was a great show - a
regional competition to find the best driver in the country. The
competitors had to drive a variety of vehicles from Double-decker
buses, Fork-lift trucks, Karts, Articulated lorries, Saloon cars towing
Caravans, Rally cars and Racing Minis. Peter did three series between
1979 and 1981,two series with Dave Lee Travis and one with Noel
Edmunds, but it was an inordinately expensive event to run and the
money just wasn't there.
Granada Men and Motors Channel
tried unsuccessfully to recreate the success of Junior Kickstart with Teen Trials that I presented with
Gladiator and serious biker Jane
Omorogbe. It was a good attempt, but didn’t manage to get the
atmosphere, or the difficulty right.
Peter's
Favourite Moment
"In
Junior
Kickstart I'll never forget
the young lad who fell on the
'pole-over-the-hole'. He hurt his pride and almost destroyed his
manhood, but the ensuing rush of St John's Ambulance men into the pit,
where they all fell over, was a piece of television hysteria! (and
history!).
And
in Driver
of
the Year, one driver
desperate for points in the Caravan event,
was towing through the slalom at great speed when the caravan started
to break up. He never slowed down, and at the end towed the equivalent
of a matchstick, all that remained of the caravan, over the finishing
line.
Had
great fun with my co-commentators
on the Kickstart
series' - Jack Stites
from Florida, Mick Andrews (former British and European trials
Champion)
from Matlock and Big John Lampkin, another British World Champion.
(John is Dougie Lampkin's uncle and one of the sponsors of a number of
young riders now taking part in Teen Trials)."