James Redmond (broadcaster)

The son of an Irish railwayman and a Scottish miner's daughter[citation needed], Jim Redmond was born in Burnbridge Muiravonside near Linlithgow.

Tired of constant travel, he spent a brief spell with the Post Office Engineering Department and the BBC in Edinburgh before joining the new television service at Alexandra Palace, London in 1937 as a vision mixer under the direction of Thornton 'Tony' Bridgewater.

When the Second World War broke out he returned to the Merchant Navy as a wireless operator and spent two years on hazardous convoy duty with the Blue Funnel Line before transferring to a shore job in Birkenhead supervising the maintenance and repair of ships' radio and radar equipment.

Although Redmond was not an actor the Crown Film Unit director Pat Jackson cast him as a radio operator in the acclaimed Technicolor drama-documentary Western Approaches which was released in 1944.

He took part in the coverage of the Festival of Britain in 1951, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race.

Redmond was a natural supporter of the Open University as he had gained most of his engineering qualifications at night school and he put all the resources at his disposal into ensuring its success.

After his death, his family donated his large collection of technical papers to the Institution of Engineering and Technology archive.

They include many BBC Research Department papers and a copy of the "Black Book" – a tutorial with circuit diagrams of the original Alexandra Palace installation written by Douglas Birkinshaw.