BBC Career
Baxter joined the BBC in 1950. He provided radio commentary on the funerals of King George VI in 1952 and Sir Winston Churchill in 1965, the former commentary given while suspended from the ceiling of Westminster Abbey. He also reported at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, reporting from Trafalgar Square.
Baxter was an accomplished rally driver and competed in the Monte Carlo Rally twelve times, six of them as a member of the BMC Works Team. He also competed in numerous Alpine, Tulip and RAC Rallies, notably satirised in the character Roland Thraxter in Peter Ustinov's Grand Prix du Rock. He was a crew member in the New Zealand Air Race in 1953, in a BEA Vickers Viscount.
Having a distinctive voice, he frequently commentated on motoring and aviation events. He was the BBC's motoring correspondent from 1950 to 1966, including at least twenty Formula One races, the Le Mans 24-hour race, and the Monte Carlo Rally. To parody this, he was invited onto I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue to commentate on sessions of Mornington Crescent. From 1967 to 1968 he was briefly Director of Motoring Publicity for the British Motor Corporation, while still presenting for the BBC. Following BMC's takeover by Leyland Motors it was decided to dispense with Baxter's services in this post, and he returned to work full time for the BBC. He presented the BBC's coverage of Farnborough Airshows from 1950 to 1986. He reported on the first flight of Concorde and was the first reporter to broadcast from an aeroplane, ocean liner and underwater. For thirty years he was the regular commentator at the Royal British Legion's annual Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall and at the Royal Tournament. He presented the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in 1960, deputising for an indisposed Richard Dimbleby.
He presented the science series Eye on Research from 1959 to 1963, and was the first (and initially sole) host of the long-running popular science show Tomorrow's World for 12 years from July 1965, reaching an audience of up to 10 million viewers. He was the presenter of the first live transatlantic broadcast from the US via Telstar, the first live telecast from Australia in November 1966, and interviewed South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard by telephone in 1967, within hours of the completion of the world's first heart transplant operation. Baxter also undertook commercial commissions. He was the presenter for the launch of Gillette's G2 Razors held at the Heathrow Hotel, London, in 1973. He left the Tomorrow's World programme in 1977, after disagreements with its new editor, Michael Blakstad, who described Baxter as a "dinosaur".
He was invited to present the first Raymond Baxter Award for Science Communication in July 2000. He was surprised to find that he was the first recipient.
His death was announced on 15 September 2006, after he died at the age of 84 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, close to his home in Henley-on-Thames. In a statement his family said: "He had a love of innovation and challenge both professionally and personally."
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