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Gameshow host Derek Batey passes away

Gameshow host Derek Batey passes away

THE death has taken place of Derek Batey who hosted the popular TV gameshow Mr. & Mrs. in the 1970s and 1980s. He was 84.

The show, which tested how much husbands and wives knew about each other, made Mr. Batey one of the best known faces on British television.

The gameshow had first been broadcast in the Border Television region and had then been taken-up nationally by the ITV network. Mr. Batey had joined the Border station soon after it was established and went on to work for the company for more than 25 years.

Indeed, he was so closely associated with the TV station that he earned the nickname Mr. Border.

Mr. & Mrs. ran nationally from 1977 until 1988 with Mr. Batey hosting all 500 episodes. He then went on to develop a version of the show which ran in theatres for a number of years.

After the gameshow ended, he presented a chat show, Look Who’s Talking. This show first ran in the Border region before being screened nationally by ITV.

Mr. Batey had retired to live in Lytham St. Annes. He passed away at a hospice there, following a short illness.

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