Peter Woods

'Reading' the news.

• Category

  News & Politics

[Matt Poole]

OK! You are right am I am wrong!

[Matt Poole]

UKSazzy

This is a complete recording of the incident - possibly from a Kenny Everett show in 1983. I'm not sure Robin Day is the guy topping and tailing this.

The incident was on 14th May 1976 - this is from the Times, the next day -

Saturday 15th May 1976, headline "Newscaster taken ill": Mr Peter Woods, the BBC newscaster, was taken ill while reading the 7.30 pm news bulletin on BBC 2's 'Newsday' last night. An official said Mr Woods had been suffering from a sinus condition for some time.

[Amanda Christine Cox]

Oh he is drunk. Its not just medication. You can tell by the words he intersperses. But hey, that's not the worst BBC behaviour, right kids?

[Feisty1967]

Right, obviously he couldnt have been that bad, because the BBC let him carry on working for several years after that. He didnt actually retire until 1981.

[bagnez]

Sorry. Omitted to say that his claim to be on sinus medication was reported in his obituary in the 'Independent' newspaper.

[bagnez]

Correction. I see that the Independent reports that he actually 'retired' much later. However I never saw him read the news after this incident, so he presumably worked behind the scenes from then onwards. This is where his claim is in print that the 'sinus medication' was responsible.

[bagnez]

I have been searching for this for years.

I saw this live in 1976 and after the first few seconds realised that he was drunk. (Reaction to medication - poppycock!). He was fired from the BBC after this incident. Don't be in any doubt. He was drunk.

Later on he had a car accident while, er, impaired. The police found him slumped behind the wheel and the account of his response was hilarious.

[Jonathan Bridge]

Peter Woods was not drunk,it was apparently a reaction to mediaction he was taking for a sinus condition.

[Henry Page]

All I am saying is that it is difficult for anyone to know the precise cause of slurring or muddled words sometimes - unless - your acquaintance with the person is so close that you actually do know the reason. Many famous people have appeared p|s5ed on the screen but have in fact had an illness or medication that mimics insobriety.

[Splants]

he was drunk... he headed back to the bar afterwards..

[Henry Page]

There are other reasons why people slur their words and one of them is a 'mini-stroke' which can sound like drunkenness; other reasons include some medications. It is spiteful to claim that he was drunk when you cannot know what caused it.

[djh29971]

He's drunk, he's drunk, he's drunk.