Mike Morris

Mike Morris (26 June 1947 – 22 October 2012) was a British television journalist and presenter, best known as a main anchor for TV-am's flagship breakfast television programme Good Morning Britain.

Born in Harrow, Middlesex, Morris attended St Paul's School in London and Manchester University where he gained a BA in American and English Literature.

His journalism career began in 1969 when he joined the Surrey Comet, a local weekly newspaper. He later moved to Sydney and became a bulletin editor for the Australian news agency AAP Reuters, before switching to sports journalism in 1974 when he joined United Newspapers as a reporter and later, sports editor.

Morris next switched to broadcasting in 1979 when he became a sub-editor and reporter for regional news programme Thames News. Four years later, he was part of the launch team at TV-am, initially as a sports correspondent before becoming presenter of Good Morning Britain's Saturday edition. He became a chief weekday anchor in 1987, presenting alongside Anne Diamond, Kathy Rochford, Kathryn Holloway, Kathy Tayler, Linda Mitchell, Maya Even and Lorraine Kelly.

He remained with TV-am until the station lost its ITV franchise in December 1992 - on the day of the franchise decision a year before, he famously told reporters that he was 'gutted'. He later joined GMTV to present its Sunday magazine show Sunday Best during 1994 and also presented on the now-defunct cable channel Wire TV.

Morris returned to regional television in 1996 when he became a main anchor for Yorkshire Television's flagship news programme Calendar, alongside Christa Ackroyd and Christine Talbot. He retired in March 2002.

Morris died on 22 October 2012, aged 65. He is survived by two daughters and three grandchildren.