Ex-BBC man Mike Briscoe dies at 65
Mike Briscoe, a former programme controller at Piccadilly Radio and managing editor of BBC GMR, has died.
Briscoe, who retired to live in Spain, was 65. According to his family he suffered a fatal heart attack following an asthma attack.
After gaining first class honours in politics at Reading University, Briscoe landed a reporting job at the Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds. A year later he arrived in Fleet Street working for the Daily Mail which sent him to Belfast in 1972 to cover The Troubles.
He stayed in the city throughout the 1970s before returning to Manchester where he continued as a Mail reporter before joining Piccadilly in 1983 where he worked as a programme controller and head of news.
In 1992 he left and was later recruited by Radio Lancashire’s then editor Steve Taylor and worked in Blackburn for several years as programme organiser before returning to Manchester.
He held a variety of roles at Oxford Road, from newsgathering editor of North West Tonight to managing editor of GMR.
He went on to mastermind the BBC’s Commonwealth Games coverage in 2002 which included setting up The Games, a temporary FM radio station.
Michelle Mayman, editor of BBC North West Tonight, told How-Do: “Mike was a lovely man. He was funny, witty and had great political nouse. I spent a few happy evenings with him and some of the other hacks in the Lass O‘Gowrie putting the world and the BBC to rights.
“He seemed to be having such a happy and sunny retirement in Spain and we all enviously followed his updates on facebook. He will be missed.”
John Clayton, managing editor of BBC Radio Lancashire, said: “I worked with Mike both here and at Piccadilly Radio. He was a great friend and a thoroughly decent bloke who will be very much missed. It’s such a terrible shame that he’d only had a relatively short time in the Spanish sunshine and my thoughts are very much with [his partner] Laura.
“Everyone here remembers Mike with great affection. It’s maybe a measure of the man that, years after he had taken up the newsgathering post in the TV newsroom in Manchester, his room off the newsroom here was still referred to as ‘Mike Briscoe’s office’. In fact we are now thinking of officially giving it that name as a tribute to our old pal.
“I’m sure people will have lots of tales about Mike, he was that sort of bloke. He was a bloody good journalist but I will remember him most for his humanity; he cared about people.”
Joanna Hartley, who worked with Briscoe at Piccadilly, said: “He was a very astute operator. He coached many a reporting talent who went on to gain national profile.”
Briscoe is survived by his partner Laura, two children Patrick and Jayne, mother Elsie and sister Lynda. His funeral will be held near his home in Granada, Spain on January 9.
via How-Do.
