Dickie Davies: Much-loved broadcaster who took fringe sports to the masses

Davies died on Sunday at the age of 94. 

Dickie Davies was best known for presenting ITV’s ‘World of Sport’ (Tim Ockenden/PA)

Subject of a Benny Hill skit and immortalised in the song ‘Dickie Davies’ Eyes’ by the satirical rock band ‘Half Man Half Biscuit’, Dickie Davies transcended his role as anchorman of ITV’s ‘World of Sport’ to become one of the most enduringly popular faces on 1980s television in the UK.

Davies’ deadpan introductions of fringe sports from tenpin bowling to stock car racing played a major part in helping the programme rise from its inauspicious beginnings to become a genuine challenger to the Saturday afternoon dominance of the BBC’s rival ‘Grandstand’.