Patricia Hughes, ‘voice of Radio 3’, dies at 90

ONE of the BBC’s most distinctive radio announcers, Patricia Hughes, has died at the age of 90, the corporation said yesterday.

Hughes started at the BBC as a secretary in 1944, before becoming an announcer with a famed elegant voice.

She appeared on the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme, now known as Radio 3.

In 1969, following a career break, she returned to Radio 3 until she retired in 1983.

For many years, she was the only female announcer on Radio 3.

In addition to her radio work, Hughes recorded a number of audiobooks, including an autobiography of Margaret Thatcher, the BBC said.

She died on Friday at a nursing home in Winchester, Hampshire, and leaves a daughter, Emma, and two grand-daughters.

Michael Berkeley, the presenter of Private Passions on Radio 3, said Hughes had been an “utterly idiosyncratic voice of ­Radio 3 for many years”.

Roger Wright, the controller of BBC Radio 3, said: “I was saddened to hear about the death of Patricia Hughes, one of BBC Radio 3’s best-loved voices.

“Her contribution to radio in general and the station in particular was significant – not least her memorable introductions to lunch-time concerts.

“She was much loved by our listeners and her death marks the passing of an era.”