Peter's current interest in golf is in stark contrast to most of the sports he has been involved with in his career.
In the late 70's and early 80's Peter was the lead presenter in five series of the children's sports programme, Stopwatch where amongst his co-presenters were Daley Thompson, Suzanne Dando, and Nigel Starmer-Smith.
In the 80's he became BBC's original 'Voice of Darts' when the sport first established itself on television, presenting five series of Bullseye (no, not that one!) and an incredible 195 programmes covering the major darts championships, including World Darts.
Kickstart was the first and most popular of the Motorcycle Trials shows on TV. Audiences were astonished to see riders riding their bikes over VW beetles and so on. Very soon that was regarded as passe and with the continental riders showing off their indoor arena skills (something that the UK didn't have at that time) the sport developed using some awesome obstacles. Peter remembers riders having to go over the arms of a fully extended JCM. Fearsome, but no one fell and no-one was hurt.
Junior Kickstart was spawned by the adult version with youngsters up to the age of fourteen competing over similarly difficult courses. One favourite obstacle was 'Zebedee' a sprung plank, named after the character in the Magic Roundabout. If the riders hit it wrong, they were sprung off the side of it! Junior Kickstart saw the emergence of the current World Outdoor Trials Champion, Dougie Lampkin, though he never won. That honour went to Steve Colley and Graham Jarvis, both also in the world top half dozen.
Driver of the Year was a great show - a regional competition to find the best driver in the country. The competitors had to drive a variety of vehicles from Double-decker buses, Fork-lift trucks, Karts, Articulated lorries, Saloon cars towing Caravans, Rally cars and Racing Minis. Peter did three series between 1979 and 1981,two series with Dave Lee Travis and one with Noel Edmunds, but it was an inordinately expensive event to run and the money just wasn't there.
The Teen Trials series is currently showing on Granada's Men and Motors channel, successfully recreating the excitement of Junior Kickstart. Peter presents the show with former Gladiator and serious biker, Jane Omorogbe.
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