Monday 24 November 2014

A tribute to Paul Vaughan (by Dr Bernie Barnicoat)

Presenter blessed with a voice that became universally admired: Paul Vaughan (24 October 1925 - 16 November 2014) was a British journalist, radio presenter (of art and science programmes) throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a narrator of many BBC television science documentaries, among them Horizon.


“When God speaks, he uses Paul Vaughan’s voice,” was the memorable verdict of one commentator.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Vaughan’s was certainly the voice of the new secular god of science, a counterpart to David Attenborough in natural history. Like God, and unlike Attenborough, he was unseen, providing the voiceover for the BBC documentary series Horizon from 1968 to 1995, or working on radio programmes such as New WorldsScience in Action and Discovery

From 1968 until 1995 he was the main narrator of the BBC's main science documentary series Horizon. Science and technology were rapidly developing in these decades, notably in biology and electronics, and consequently there was much to report for the Horizon series. Horizon in the 1970s and 1980s was a heavyweight science documentary series, and these years were its heyday.
Paul Vaughan

On the BBC World Service he presented Science in Action, and Discovery, and on Radio 4 New Worlds.
He was the “voice of science” on British Television for over two decades.
It would be good to insert the Guardian obit when it is published. It has not appeared so far.
Here are some links to YouTube videos of complete episodes of Horizon:


All three were narrated by this man; His voice had a tone and a quality to it.  If ever a voice could be described as 'listenable' it was his.

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