Susan Rae

Susan Scott Rae (born 2 June 1956)[1] is a retired Scottish newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Rae was born and raised in Dundee, Scotland, and read English at Edinburgh University.[1] She left the university before her finals, and began work with D. C. Thomson newspapers in Dundee, before taking up work on BBC Radio Aberdeen. After three years there, she left to work in London in the early 1980s as a continuity announcer and newsreader on BBC Radio 4.[2] The response to her voice on Radio 4 at this time was negative; some listeners believed the BBC's commitment to accurate pronunciation was in decline.[3][4][5]

Later in the 1980s she moved to daytime television, co-presenting Open Air, and continued with voiceover work when the show ended. Rae began working on the BBC World Service around 2000, returning to BBC Radio 4 in 2003.

She has done voiceovers for many Discovery Channel shows (including some episodes of Forensic Detectives and The FBI Files), and for Bravo's series Street Crime UK. In 2007, she presented Eastern Skies for Anglia Television.

In March 2022, she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. On a JustGiving page appealing for funds to help with her care, the family said "After over 30 years on air, the condition has left her unable to work." In June 2022, she was moved to a retirement community where she could live independently.[6]

  1. ^ a b Jonathan Rhys-Evans "The Accent's on Success", Glasgow Herald, 18 April 1984
  2. ^ Rhys-Evans, Jonathan (18 April 1984). "The accent's on success". The Glasgow Herald. p. 10. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  3. ^ David Crystal in Clive Upton, Bethan Davies (eds.) "Voices: a Case Study in the evolution of a linguistic climate at the BBC" Analysing 21st Century British English: Conceptual and Methodological Aspects of the 'Voices' Project, Routledge, 2013, p. 13
  4. ^ Lynda Mugglestone (ed.) The Oxford History of English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008 [2006], p.479
  5. ^ David Crystal "Language Developments ijn British English" in Michael Higgins, Clarissa Smith, John Storey (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.27-8
  6. ^ "Help raise £45000 to fund ongoing care for Susan Rae". JustGiving. Retrieved 29 March 2023.