James Boyce

Relive the cultured wit of the popular roving reporter

James Boyce remains an enduringly popular reporter from the early days of local television in Northern Ireland. Having worked for both BBC NI and Ulster Television, his legacy is able to spread out across two separate online archives, keeping alive his unique style with fresh audiences able to delve back in time and sample his work.

Originally a French teacher deemed to have eccentric but successful teaching methods, Boyce was involved in the world of dramatics in Belfast, as were some of his contemporaries at UTV such as Charlie Witherspoon and Jimmy Greene. He helped set up the Ulster Group Theatre in 1940 and was a regular voice on the radio participating in Round Britain Quiz and Brain of Britain as well as reading his stories and presenting.

However, it was in front of the cameras that he is most fondly remembered, going out and about the countryside of Northern Ireland in Our Roving Reporter for the BBC, specialising in stories that were offbeat and fanciful.

He made the switch to UTV when independent television came to Northern Ireland and continued to present in his own distinctive way, searching out the unusual or bringing his intelligent wit to reports which would have risked being mundane in the hands of lesser talents.

Errudite, sharp and cultured, Boyce’s reports sparkle with a sense of humour and a knack for finding insights where none appear obvious. Introducing the viewers of UTV to the delights of the Greek dish moussaka – something which would have been unknown to nearly all in 1966 – he described it as being like “a transcendental shepherd’s pie”. That probably sums his presenting up better than any words of ours.

Boyce passed away very suddenly on the way to work in 1966 at the young age of 57. However, his work for both the BBC and UTV continues to live on and be enjoyed decades after it was made.