Artistes of the Month
Also featured: Martin Bayfield, Penny Smith
Ian
Robertson
For
the day job Ian Robertson is the BBC Rugby Correspondent covering both
Radio and TV. In the evening he is a very amusing, entertaining and highly
articulate after-dinner speaker,
His rugby career ended with a bad knee injury at the age of 25 but by
that time he had won "Blues" at both Aberdeen University and
Cambridge University, had played for London Scottish and the Barbarians
and had won 8 international caps for Scotland. he was vice-captain of
Scotland.
He joined the BBC as a rugby commentator in 1972 and has covered almost
all major matches all over the world for the past 20 years.
He was Rugby Correspondent of the Sunday Times for three years between '1980 and '1983 but then returned to the microphone to become BBC Rugby Correspondent in '1983. He has appeared regularly on television for the past 15 years as a member of the "Rugby Special" team on BBC 2 and he also presents the rugby previews and features on Grandstand on BBC 1 before all major internationals, and provided the highly acclaimed commentary for England's victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
A prolific writer he is author or co-author of over 20 books including several best sellers - with Gareth Edwards, Bill Beaumont and Andy Irvine and he helped to host the official biography of the actor Richard Burton with Burton's younger brother. This book was best seller in over a dozen countries,
Throughout the '1980's he worked on a Celebrity Road Show which covered
the length and breadth of Britain and in the course of nine years he appeared
regularly as compere or quizmaster with sporting celebrities like Denis
Law,Emlyn Hughes,Geoff Boycott and Willie Carson,
In the summer he masquerades as an expert on horse racing for the BBC
and he has had numerous shares in a succession of very slow horses lacking
any sort of ambition.
Over the last 20 years he has reported on most sports at one time or another and he appears 2 or 3 times a month on the after-dinner circuit with a fund of anecdotes covering a very wide range of sports.
Although happy to accept any challenge, he specialises in Sportsmen's
Dinners, golf days (a very competitive handicap of 16) dinners and conferences
for the business world. Enjoys entertaining mixed audiences.
Martin Bayfield
Ex
British Lion Martin Bayfield is an extremely entertaining former Rugby Football
Player of the Year with a wealth of rugby-related anecdotes.
He made his England debut in 1991 and played for the first team until 1998 when he was forced to retire from the game as a result of a serious neck injury.
He gained a creditable 31 international caps, playing in the 1992 and 1995 Grand Slam sides.
He was selected for the 1995 World Cup Squad to play against South Africa and was selected for five out of six tests.
He played in all three tests on the British Lions' tour to New Zealand.
Martin has also represented the Barbarians, Midlands and British Police sides and previous clubs include the Metropolitan Police RUFC and Bedford RUFC.
He is currently involved in coaching a RUFC youth development side.
He can also speak at corporate events on the importance of teamwork.
Standing at 6 feet 10 inches and weighing around 20 stones, he makes an impressive addition to any top table!
Now starring as the body double for Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid in the
hit film Harry Potter, Martin is also an accomplished after dinner speaker.
Penny Smith
Penny
Smith is one of Britain's most recognised Television Presenters, probably
best known as the main presenter for GMTV News. She regularly fronts GMTV
on the sofa and The Reuters News Hour, which is a hard news review of
the day ahead. She now has her own two hour weekly show on Classic FM
and had a weekly health and beauty column in the Daily Mail.
Last year she co-presented Celebrity! the daily showbiz programme on ITV,
acted as team captain for BBC1's Going for a Song and presented The Real
London's Burning and Fire, Rescue for Channel 5.
Since 1994 she has fronted LWT's Most Wanted and has presented their hugely successful Crime File, Crime Net, Crime Weekly and Crime Monthly series. She also hosted Carlton Food Network's Superchefs programmes, where Britain's top chefs competed before a live audience. For four years, Penny was the main anchor on BSkyB's Sky News Sunrise and latterly, a presenter and producer of her own series of Action Adventure news specials for Sky News.
Penny Smith started her broadcasting career at Border Television as the
co-Presenter of the station's 6 o'clock News, after a year she moved to
Thames Television to co-present London's 6 o'clock News with Andrew Gardner.
She later joined Sky News as one of the most high profile faces in the
channel's launch. In the early 80s Penny reported and presented for Radio
Television Hong Kong. She started her journalistic career as a reporter
and Features Writer for the Peterborough Evening Telegraph.
Penny is known for her sharp wit and has written for magazines and newspapers
including Cosmopolitan and Britannia Skyscene Magazine on women's issues
and travel. She is a popular guest on chat shows and game shows.
One of her favourite hobbies is going to the opera and she has become
very knowledgeable on the subject. Her other hobbies include tennis, yoga,
eating, drinking red wine, ambling around flea markets and buying shoes
all of which she practices regularly!
Further Information
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