Willy Cave 1927- 2022
Willy Cave was a broadcaster, rally car navigator and pilot who pioneered outdoor broadcasting at the BBC and was a veteran of more than 60 Monte Carlo, Alpine and RAC rallies.
Cave joined the BBC in 1948 and was given a two-month stint of work experience at the Corporation that summer, which included operating an Emitron camera in Wembley Stadium at the Summer Olympics, and he was eventually taken on full-time.
During a 26-year career at the BBC he rose through the ranks to become studio director of the Tonight programme with Cliff Michelmore , working on outdoor broadcasts with Alan Whicker and becoming a founding member of the Tomorrow’s World and Horizon teams. He produced coverage of the Coronation, a live climb of the Matterhorn, the first television satellite link-ups with Australia and Japan, and the maiden Concorde flights. He won two BAFTA’S together with the Tonight and Tomorrow’s World teams. He also introduced coloured lane indicators in swimming competitions to enable the viewer to tell who was in the lead no matter what the camera angle. He was quoted as saying this was his proudest achievement.
Alongside his broadcasting career, his lifelong love of rally lasted more than seventy years and included amongst his many trophies winning the Best of British category in the Monte Carol rally in 1969. He competed in the 2018 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique aged 91.
After he left the BBC he spent 10 years at Scotland Yard as the Metropolitan Police’s first broadcasting adviser, as well as working as Director of Studies at the National Broadcasting School until its closure in 1985. He is survived by his two daughters from his marriage to Yvette Palmer.
Don Smith 1933-2022
Don Smith was the first and only staff photographer at the Radio Times. He joined in 1955 and retired in 1992. During this time he took over a million pictures during his career. Click this link to read the tribute from the Radio Times and see some of his outstanding work. www.radiotimes.com/tv/radio-times-photographer-don-smith-dies-tribute/
