Clive Myrie has paid an emotional tribute to his “mentor” George Alagiah while live on BBC News this afternoon.
Tributes have been pouring in from famous names and viewers in their thousands after it was announced earlier today that legendary BBC presenter George Alagiah had sadly passed away at the age of 67 following a long battle with illness after first being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer back in 2014.
The “much-loved” figure was well-known to TV audiences for having been one of the BBC News at Six’s main presenters for almost two decades.
He was appointed an OBE for services to journalism in 2008.
Alagiah had been bravely continuing with his broadcast career between cancer treatments since his initial diagnosis – but the BBC announced in a statement today that the “outstanding” journalist had sadly passed away.
BBC Director General Tim Davie remembered Alagiah as “one of the best and bravest journalists of his generation” in a tribute paid earlier today, adding that everyone across the BBC is “incredibly sad” to learn the news of his passing, as he reported “fearlessly” from across the world, as well as presenting the news “flawlessly”.
“He was more than just an outstanding journalist,” Mr Davie added, “audiences could sense his kindness, empathy and wonderful humanity”.
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It was the job of current BBC News presenter Clive Myrie to break the news of Alagiah’s passing live on air this afternoon – with the Bolton-born journalist then taking the time to pay his own emotional tribute fondly remembering his “mentor”.
Fighting back tears as he spoke, Myrie said in tribute to Alagiah: “On a personal note, George touched all of us here at in the BBC newsroom with his kindness and generosity, his warmth and his good humour.
“I loved him as mentor, colleague, and friend.”
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Viewers have dubbed Myrie’s tribute as a “very moving” moment of live TV.
Reacting to the live tribute, one viewer wrote on Twitter: “Sad to see Clive Myrie welling-up as he read the news about the death of his colleague and friend George Alagiah. Well done Clive for just getting through it, RIP George.”
Another wrote: “Poor Clive Myrie is doing an exceptional job holding it together while announcing George Alagiah’s death on BBC News. You can see how much it’s hurting him.”
“A first class tribute to George Alagiah from Clive Myrie this afternoon,” a third wrote.
Poor Clive Myrie is doing an exceptional job holding it together while announcing George Alagiah's death on BBC News at One.
It must be so difficult announcing the death of someone who was a beloved friend & colleague on national tv. Tom Bradby had the unimaginable difficult task with the passing of Emily Morgan, I was moved to tears then as I have just been at Clive Myrie remembering George Alagiah.
George Alagiah OBE was born in Sri Lanka before moving to Ghana and then England, joining the BBC as a foreign affairs correspondent in 1989.
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Over the course of his career, he won multiple accolades for his reports on the famine and war in Somalia in the early 1990s. He received a BAFTA nomination for covering Saddam Hussein’s genocidal campaign in 1994, which the same year he was named Amnesty International’s journalist of the year.
He had been one of the BBC News at Six’s main presenters for almost two decades.
Featured Image – BBC
TV & Showbiz
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
TV & Showbiz
Adored BBC show Peaky Blinders set for return to British for a ‘new generation’
Thomas Melia
The team behind beloved TV series Peaky Blinders have just announced it will be returning to our screens while welcoming some very new faces.
If there’s one thing us Brits love more than a cuppa, it’s a period TV drama, and when you throw generational heartthrob Cillian Murphy into the mix, you’re onto a winner.
This time, Peaky Blinders is gearing up to welcome a new era of Shelbys into the much-loved 20th-century programme that fans will definitely be looking forward to.
The latest announcement from the writer and creator of the show lets fans know they can expect to watch not one but two new series.
Each of the latest instalments will contain six brand new 60-minute episodes and is executive produced by Mr Thomas Shelby himself, Cillian Murphy, alongside a roster of notable industry talents.
An official press release from the BBC confirms these new segments of the show will be set in Britain, 1953, not long after WWII, and see the city of Birmingham undergoing a huge shift, turning to concrete and steel.
Throughout the course of the new seasons, this huge reconstruction becomes a battle, one of “unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart”.
The mastermind behind the cult classic British TV show, Steven Knight, reveals: “I’m Thrilled to be announcing this new chapter in the Peaky Blinders story.”
Peaky Blinders has gained a cult following, and this new chapter welcomes a whole new era of Shelbys (Credit: GoodFon)
Knight – who is also behind the upcoming Oasis reunion documentary – adds: “Once again it will be rooted in Birmingham and will tell the story of a city rising from the ashes of the Birmingham blitz. The new generation of Shelbys has now taken the wheel, and it will be one hell of a ride”.
The two new and highly anticipated series will be produced by Kudos, who are known for shows such as House of Guinness, Grantchester, as well as Garrison Drama, who have worked on Peaky Blinders series one to six AND the impending film.
It looks like we’ll be getting the feature-length movie before we get this series, and it remains to be seen how the two will knit together with the original show and exactly which characters will be involved on either front.
That being said, we’d be VERY surprised if you didn’t get to see a fair bit of the Peaky patriarch.
With the show having 12 years under its belt already, not to mention still amassing more fans, this very statement has definitely stood the test of time.
Tommy Shelby has become a staple on our screens over the last decade, thanks to the success of Peaky Blinders (Credit: BBC)
Emily Sergeant -
24th July 2023 
