
Born in May 1945, Peter Jefferson is a former BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer. He was educated at the independent Halliford School in Shepperton, Middlesex. He joined the BBC in 1964 and became a Studio Manager in 1968. During this period, he worked for Radio 1, and read the news during the DJ Kenny Everett's programme. Jefferson retired in 2001, though he continued to work as a freelancer until 2009. In May 2005 he stood in as a newsreader during strike action by other staff. He is often dubbed "Voice of the Shipping Forecast". He has also read the quotations in the Radio 4 quiz game Quote, Unquote. Jefferson lives in Weybridge, Surrey.
Never mind that few people could point to Viking on a map or make much sense of ‘Fitzroy: north east five or six', the nightly Shipping Forecast has ‘permeated the British psyche in a most extraordinary way’. Peter Jefferson, who read the Forecast on BBC Radio for over 40 years, enlightens us on all aspects of its genesis and how it gets broadcast, plus related maritime matters including shipping