A one-time bank clerk, Wogan joined the BBC in the 1960s and was one of Radio 1‘s original team of presenters in 1967. His Radio 2 breakfast show in the 1970s and early 1980s gained him a cult following and established his distinctively witty, self-effacing presentational style.
Items like “Fighting the Flab” and “Wogan’s Winner” characterised the show, and his constant digs at Dallas ensured that the soap became a hit in the UK.
His TV career took off in 1979 when he began five years at the helm of Blankety Blank, and in 1980 he turned his hand to chat shows with What’s On Wogan?, a live Saturday tea-time programme.
Two years later the show metamorphosed into Wogan and was transmitted late on Saturday nights, before being promoted in 1985 to being a thrice-weekly early evening live event.
Terry quickly became the television personality of the 1980s and was seldom off British screens.
He was given a knighthood in 2005. He collected the title at Buckingham Palace accompanied by his wife, Lady Helen.
Sir Terry Wogan passed away on 31 January 2016 after a brief cancer-related illness.