He became a prominent external critic of the BBC’s decision to accept the growing scientific consensus on the severity of the climate crisis, writing that the “BBC never at any stage gave equal space to the opponents of the consensus”. He was wounded by gunfire whilst covering the Biafran War in 1968, sustaining severe nerve damage in his left leg. Question Time host Bruce said that he was "one of the loveliest men in broadcasting". Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow also praised Sissons — who hosted the first edition of Channel 4 News in 1982 and fronted it for seven years — for setting "the tone and high journalistic standards that the programme seeks to emulate to this day". He worked for ITN, Channel 4 News and BBC News, where he hosted the BBC Nine O’Clock News and the Ten O’Clock News.


Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. He argued that the organisation had a left-wing mindset “in its very DNA” and that the BBC News had a bias towards New Labour, the United Nations, the European Union, environmental groups, Islam, ethnic minorities and women. He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues, and our thoughts are with his family.”, Available for everyone, funded by readers. He was married to his wife Sylvia Bennett since 1965 to his death on October 1 ,2019. We provide you with the latest breaking news and videos straight from the entertainment industry. Following his retirement,he published his autobiography in 2011 known as When One Door Closes in which he was highly critical of his former employer, the BBC. “We were in the same year and stayed in touch as time went by and we both followed our separate careers. "Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and erstwhile colleagues. Sissons left ITN in 1989 to join the BBC. We pay for videos too. I will miss him but always have fond memories of the time we spent together. PM to give dramatic Covid statement on Monday to set out new restrictions, Harry faces telling off from Queen as staff prepare for his return, Marcus Rashford gets MBE after winning historic free school meals fight, This Primark jacket is so popular it’s going for 3 TIMES the price on eBay, Inside Brooklyn's wedding with Romeo & Cruz as best men & Posh doing the dress, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Both McCartney and Sissons went to Liverpool Institute for Boys in the late 1950s, where he met another Beatle, George Harrison, whom he also befriended. He found himself at the centre of one the BBC’s more bizarre crises when he faced tabloid hostility for wearing a burgundy rather than black tie when he announced the death of the Queen Mother to the nation. He was shot in both legs while in Biafra reporting on the Nigerian civil war. All rights reserved. The sons of Merchant Navy officer George Robert Percival Sissons and his wife Elsie.
“He was a talented news presenter with a great sense of humour. BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil tweeted that Sissons "excelled at everything he did and was a first-class broadcaster and journalist to his fingertips".