Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies at 87

The presenter and reporter, best known for his Whicker’s World documentary series, died at his home in Jersey.

Whicker’s World, which was on BBC and ITV, gave British television viewers a glimpse of the exotic jetset lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Whicker’s distinctive voice and demeanour led to him being regularly parodied by, among others, the Monty Python team, and a rap song delivered Whicker-style, called Wikka Wrap, even made the top 20 in 1981.

He once entered a Whicker soundalike contest and managed to finish in third place.

Whicker was born in Egypt and moved to Britain as a child. He went on to become a captain in the Devonshire Regiment and saw action during the second word war.

Mussolini

In the 2004 television series, Whicker’s War, he revealed that he was one of the first allied forces to enter Milan and that he took into custody an SS general and troopers who were looking after the SS money vault. He also shot footage of the body of Mussolini.

He worked as a newspaper journalist during the Korean war and was once mistakenly reported to have been killed, but in a telegraph to reassure people he was still alive he wrote: “Unkilled. Uninjured. Onpressing.”

A reporter’s job at the BBC followed, leading to the launch in 1955 of Whicker’s World, a big ratings winner that continued until 1990.

His interviewees included Joan Collins, Peter Sellers, the Sultan of Brunei and the Haitian president Papa Doc Duvalier.

In 2005, he was awarded a CBE for his services to broadcasting in 2005. He is survived by his long-standing partner Valerie Kleeman.