and No.1 newscaster by Daily Mirror readers in 1979. He left the BBC in 1961, and from 1961 to 1969 was a freelance newsreader, working occasionally for ITN and presenting Southern Television's Day By Day. He appeared as himself in the Adam Adamant episode "The Doomsday Plan", in which he is kidnapped and impersonated. He also appeared in the Doctor Who serial The War Machines. He rejoined the BBC in 1969 and finally retired from newsreading on 23 December 1981. Kendall's retirement allowed him to work on the popular Channel 4 programme Treasure Hunt throughout its first run (1982–1989), which featured Anneka Rice as a "skyrunner". He also presented the television programme Songs of Praise. Later life Soon after retirement from news reading, Kendall lent his voice to the BBC Micro as part of Acorn Computers' hardware speech synthesis system. In 2010 he took part in BBC's series The Young Ones in which six well-known people in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s. Personal life Kendall lived in Cowes on the Isle of Wight with his partner Mark Fear, whom he had been with since 1989. Fear was the owner of a marine art gallery and a beekeeper. The couple entered into a civil partnership in 2006. Death Kendall died on 14 December 2012, following a stroke a few weeks previously. On 29 April 2013, his partner Mark Fear was found hanged aged 55. An inquest concluded that he had died by suicide because he was "overcome by grief". FilmographyThe Reckless Moment (1949) – Man (uncredited)Scotland Yard Evidence in Concrete (1961) TV news reader on Decca television screenThe Brain (1962) – TV Newscaster (uncredited)Doctor Who: The War Machines (1966) – Himself (Credited, TV cameo) They Came from Beyond Space (1967) – Commentator The Exorcism – from the Dead of Night BBC TV series. (1972) (Credited) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – BBC-12 Announcer (uncredited) References External links Interview with Kenneth Kendall in 2011 1924 births 2012 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists British Army personnel of World War II British game show hosts British male journalists Coldstream Guards officers British LGBT broadcasters British LGBT journalists People educated at Felsted School Television personalities from Cornwall Gay military personnel British people in colonial India