Francis Desmond Torley MNZM (28 February 1941 – 27 March 2016) was a New Zealand television reporter and producer, best known for his work on Country Calendar spanning almost 50 years.
Born in Dunedin on 28 February 1941, Torley was raised there and in Timaru and Auckland,[1][2] where he was educated at Sacred Heart College.
Following the restructuring of the NZBC in 1975, Torley spent 18 months as a newsreader on television in Christchurch, and then became a reporter and director for Country Calendar, based in Wellington.
[1] For a number of years in the 1980s, Torley was stood down from Country Calendar after he appeared in an advertisement for Wrightsons, which TVNZ deemed to be a conflict of interest.
[1] Torley died of cancer in Wellington on 27 March 2016, shortly after Country Calendar celebrated its 50th anniversary on air.