Desmond Carrington

Desmond Carrington (born 23 May 1926) is a UK-based actor and broadcaster, currently best known for his weekly show on BBC Radio 2. His show went out on Sundays for 23 years from 1981 to 2004, when it moved to Tuesdays - then to Fridays. He currently lives in Perthshire, Scotland.

Carrington's first professional stage appearance was in 1942, when he played Cockney schoolboy Roberts in James Hilton's play Goodbye, Mr. Chips at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, opposite Noel Johnson, as Mr Chips - Johnston was the radio voice of Dick Barton. Carrington was conscripted into the army a year later. At the end of World War II he joined a British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) radio station in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He returned to the UK a few years later and worked as a radio producer as well as acting in a couple of films and on TV, where he became well known as Dr Anderson in Emergency-Ward 10. He also starred in two of the thirteen A Case For Dr. Morelle radio shows, in 1957, with Cecil Parker as the lead.

His radio shows generally have a specific theme expanded on in the second half-hour, although occasionally Carrington will do a 'composer special', where every song has been written by a specific composer or lyricist. He introduces every show with the greeting "Evening all, from home in Perthshire," and then ends the show by saying "All right, Sam, you can go out in a minute!" He finally signs off before the news with "Bye just now!" His usual sign-off is "And, of course, thank you for having us at your place - and us always includes Sam, a pussy cat . . ." Desmond Carrington will always be linked with Spencer Hale. They used to present Movie-go-round on the BBC Light Programme (now Radio Two) on Sunday afternoons in the 1950s.

From 7 January 2011 Carrington began to broadcast from his new home and studio in Perthshire.