DWIGHT WHYLIE'S appointment as the BBC's first black radio presenter made national headlines in 1965 but his part in a Dr Who episode, The War Machines, sealed his celebrity.
He was already presenting the Sunday night programme Night Ride on Radios 1 and 2, and Dr Who's producers, having chosen Kenneth Kendall to play the part of a TV announcer, decided the opportunity for young viewers to put a face to Dwight Whylie's authoritative and friendly voice could only underline his achievement and help make British society more tolerant of its ethnic minorities.
He was to make history again in 1977 when he moved to Canada to become its national radio's first black full-time announcer and later the first duty editor of the country's national radio news.
He always involved himself in campaigns to further the rights and opportunities of fellow West Indians and was once arrested after campaigning outside the Jamaican High Commission about the victimisation of a Kingston lecturer.
He returned to the West Indies towards the end of his career hoping to use his expertise for the benefit of the region's media. He worked for Unesco and last February became president of the Jamaica Broadcasting Commission. When he died, he was in Barbados to judge the Caribbean broadcasting awards.
Dwight Whylie, born Jamaica, June 7, 1936. Died Barbados, September 15, 2002, aged 66.
Caption: AUTHORITATIVE: Dwight Whylie
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