Harry Gration: Long-serving BBC Look North presenter dies aged 71

Tributes played to broadcaster who was ‘loved everywhere, but especially in Yorkshire’

The broadcaster became a Yorkshire institution after fronting the BBC’s Look North programme between 1982 and 2020 (PA)

Former BBC Look North presenter and Yorkshire institution Harry Gration has died suddently at the age of 71.

Gration fronted the regional programme from 1982 during a broadcasting career spanning more than 40 years. He presented his last show in 2020.

He has been described by BBC director-general Tim Davie as having been “loved everywhere, but especially in Yorkshire”.

“Harry Gration MBE was an outstanding broadcaster and commentator,” he continued.

“He had a real connection with the public who saw him as one of their own.

“He will be hugely missed by his many fans and friends. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

Reacting to the news of the broadcaster’s death, acting director of BBC England, Jason Horton, dubbed Gration as “one of the true broadcasting greats”.

“He was a natural on the television and on radio, adored by our audiences, especially as the trusted face of Look North and South Today,” he added.

Former Yorkshire player and cricket umpire Dickie Bird and Harry Gration arrive at York Minster for a service to mark the 150th Anniversary of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (PA)

“He loved news, sport, his colleagues and fundraising for Children in Need and Comic Relief. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and everyone across the BBC who he worked with.”

Gration, who was born in Bradford, joined the BBC in 1978, writing match reports while working as a history teacher. He joined Look North in 1982, although he left for a spell working on BBC South Today in the 1990s.

His broadcasting highlights include covering nine Olympic Games for the BBC and winning two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for his sports documentaries: White Rose In Africa (1992) and Dickie Bird: A Rare Species (1997).

Gration also won the RTS Best Presenter award twice and was made an MBE for services to broadcasting in 2013.

Speaking after it was announced he was leaving the BBC in 2020, Gration said: “I’ve interviewed every prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, covered every major Look North story even at the expense of my holidays, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

“I’ve always lived the story. Horrendous events such as the devastating news of Jo Cox’s death, the disastrous floods of recent times, the Bradford riots, Hillsborough, have always affected me. They were always an assault on my county.

“Stand-out moments include raising over £800,000 on a tandem, pushing a sofa and being tied to Paul: three challenges my body will never forget.”

In 2019, Gration became a father again at the age of 68, when his wife, Helen, gave birth to his sixth child.

With additional reporting by PA