Danny From Debtford

Danny Baker was born in Deptford; and his intellect, knowledge of his subject and forthright opinions, are vocalised in a strong east end accent, which endeared him to many. Danny was working as a journalist at NME, when in 1980, London Weekend TV (LWT) asked him to present Twentieth Century Box; a series of regional docs produced by Janet Street Porter, on elements of youth culture in London. The show highlighted new talent bands, beginning to emerge from the London scene. Including Iron Maiden performing at The Marquee Club and interviews with “air guitarists”. Other editions featured early footage from Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode.

Danny Baker Reporter

Danny followed this with his first mainstream show, as roving reporter / presenter; on the Michael Aspel’s LWT regional magazine The Six O’Clock Show. He went on to appear often on LWT’s regional output during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Working on such shows as Six O’Clock Live, Danny Baker’s Londonders, and in 1991, The Game; a six part series, which featured coverage of teams involved in the fourth division of the East London Sunday Football League.

A Writing Start

Danny Baker began writing for TV shows in 1992, after being asked to write a piece for one of the first clip shows; TV Hell, which was a collection of the worst TV ever. Since then he has presented TV shows such as ‘Win, Lose, or Draw’, ‘Pets Win Prizes’ and ‘TV Heroes’.

Danny Baker on BBC

Danny also began a BBC Saturday night chat show, called Danny Baker After All; which borrowed its style from Late Night with David Letterman. But his style and guests (Rick Wakeman of prog rock band Yes was a regular), did not attract the mainstream audience the slot demanded. Later he fronted TV ads for Daz washing powder and Mars bar. Baker parodied his Daz ads, by appearing as himself on the sitcom Me, You and Him.

Danny’s broadcasting career has often reflected his two loves, Music and Football. He presented BBC Radio5’s 6-0-6 football related phone in show, as well as the job of presenting Match of the Eighties; a six part BBC series of football during the 1980/81 and 1985/86 seasons.

TFI Danny Baker

Danny Baker also was a writer on Chris Evans’ TFI Friday show, as well as contributing material for presenters such as Angus Deayton and Jonathan Ross. During the late 1990’s he made guest appearances on comedy shows including; Have I Got News for You, Shooting Stars and Room 101. He hosted a doc on Paul Gascoigne, after the 1990 World Cup; the two becoming good friends and some of their late nights out with Chris Evans were reported in the press. Gascoigne was particularly under media scrutiny, for drinking and socialising while preparing for tournaments. He also appeared on The Terry and Gaby Show, ‘End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones’; providing an audio commentary.

In 2013, Danny Baker started working and co-presenting with Danny Kelly; hosting a Friday evening football show as part of the new BT channel.