Gordon Honeycombe obituary

Television newscaster who also succeeded as an actor and writer for the stage

Although best known as a television newsreader, Gordon Honeycombe, who has died aged 79, was also an actor, narrator and writer. Behind the mask appropriate to the authoritative imparting of information lay a restless and inquiring mind.

At one point in 1965 his acting work was going nowhere, and he was thinking of emigrating to Australia. However, when he saw a student contemporary from Oxford reading the news on television, Honeycombe decided that he could do it better. Within a fortnight of an audition, he was reading the national news. It was his first “real” job, and in staying for 12 years he became one of ITN’s longest-serving newscasters, presenting mainly early evening and weekend bulletins.