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Danny Baker
Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television.
Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class family and raised in Bermondsey. From 1977 he wrote for the punk zine Sniffin' Glue, and from there was hired by the New Musical Express, where he worked as a writer, reviewer, and interviewer. Moving into television in 1980, he began presenting London Weekend Television's Twentieth Century Box and reporting for The Six O'Clock Show. In 1989 he began radio presenting for BBC Radio London and in 1990 joined the newly established BBC Radio 5. In 1997 he was dismissed from the latter, accused of inciting threatening behaviour toward a football referee. That decade, he also began writing for television.
From 2002 to 2012 Baker presented the daily morning radio show on BBC Radio London and in 2007 also presented the channel's all-day podcast, the All Day Breakfast Show. Between 2012 and 2017 he published a three-volume autobiography, which was used as the basis for the 2015 BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave.
In 2019, the BBC dismissed Baker after he posted a tweet that featured a vintage photograph of a couple holding hands with a costumed chimpanzee. His accompanying text, "Royal baby leaves hospital," referred to the (at the time) recent announcement of the birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, but was interpreted by many as Baker mocking The Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage. Baker denied any racial motivation for the tweet.
Baker grew up in Bermondsey and attended Rotherhithe Primary School and then, instead of taking up a grammar school place, went to the nearby West Greenwich Secondary Boys' School, Deptford. After leaving school at 14, he worked in One Stop Records, a small record shop in the West End of London. The youngest of three children, he has an older sister, Sharon, and had an older brother, Michael, who died aged 29 when Danny was 24.
In 1977, Baker started writing for the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue which was founded by his old schoolfriend Mark Perry which in turn led to an offer from the New Musical Express, then edited by Nick Logan. Baker began working as the office receptionist, but was soon contributing regular articles and reviews before progressing to interviews. He often refers to these times during his radio shows, regularly citing examples of the ridiculous behaviour exhibited by his rock star interviewees.
In the later 1990s, Baker wrote a weekly sports column for The Times and was briefly a columnist for early issues of film magazine Empire.
Baker started his TV career in 1980 at London Weekend Television (LWT), as the presenter of Twentieth Century Box – a series of regional documentaries on elements of youth culture in London, produced by Janet Street-Porter. One edition in the first series documented the burgeoning new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) scene, including an early TV appearance of Iron Maiden performing at The Marquee Club and interviews with "air guitarists". Other editions also featured early appearances from the likes of Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode.
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Danny Baker
Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television.
Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class family and raised in Bermondsey. From 1977 he wrote for the punk zine Sniffin' Glue, and from there was hired by the New Musical Express, where he worked as a writer, reviewer, and interviewer. Moving into television in 1980, he began presenting London Weekend Television's Twentieth Century Box and reporting for The Six O'Clock Show. In 1989 he began radio presenting for BBC Radio London and in 1990 joined the newly established BBC Radio 5. In 1997 he was dismissed from the latter, accused of inciting threatening behaviour toward a football referee. That decade, he also began writing for television.
From 2002 to 2012 Baker presented the daily morning radio show on BBC Radio London and in 2007 also presented the channel's all-day podcast, the All Day Breakfast Show. Between 2012 and 2017 he published a three-volume autobiography, which was used as the basis for the 2015 BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave.
In 2019, the BBC dismissed Baker after he posted a tweet that featured a vintage photograph of a couple holding hands with a costumed chimpanzee. His accompanying text, "Royal baby leaves hospital," referred to the (at the time) recent announcement of the birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, but was interpreted by many as Baker mocking The Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage. Baker denied any racial motivation for the tweet.
Baker grew up in Bermondsey and attended Rotherhithe Primary School and then, instead of taking up a grammar school place, went to the nearby West Greenwich Secondary Boys' School, Deptford. After leaving school at 14, he worked in One Stop Records, a small record shop in the West End of London. The youngest of three children, he has an older sister, Sharon, and had an older brother, Michael, who died aged 29 when Danny was 24.
In 1977, Baker started writing for the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue which was founded by his old schoolfriend Mark Perry which in turn led to an offer from the New Musical Express, then edited by Nick Logan. Baker began working as the office receptionist, but was soon contributing regular articles and reviews before progressing to interviews. He often refers to these times during his radio shows, regularly citing examples of the ridiculous behaviour exhibited by his rock star interviewees.
In the later 1990s, Baker wrote a weekly sports column for The Times and was briefly a columnist for early issues of film magazine Empire.
Baker started his TV career in 1980 at London Weekend Television (LWT), as the presenter of Twentieth Century Box – a series of regional documentaries on elements of youth culture in London, produced by Janet Street-Porter. One edition in the first series documented the burgeoning new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) scene, including an early TV appearance of Iron Maiden performing at The Marquee Club and interviews with "air guitarists". Other editions also featured early appearances from the likes of Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode.
