Career
Dickin used to present the 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot at weekends on Talk Radio United Kingdom from 1995 to 2001. He returned, filling in for James Whale during James"s battle with kidney cancer. He was given the morning show slot soon afterwards, and then moved to the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. show on weekends before his death.
Born in 1943 in Reading, Berkshire, he started out as a musician in the 1960s, Dickin was a bass player and singer who found he preferred playing records to making them when he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1970 as the first presenter on air at Radio Oxford.
In 1977, he competed in the London to Sydney Rally in a Mini 1275GT, co-driven by musician Simon Park. The same year, Dickin moved to Australia where he worked for Sydney"s biggest radio station, 2UE. Upon returning to England in the late "70s, he spent 17 years working for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4, LBC, and Capital Radio.
He started at Talksport (then Talk Radio United Kingdom) in 1995, taking over from Nick Miller. Dickin was on air in the United Kingdom overnight when news of the car crash which subsequently killed Diana, Princess of Wales was broken, and he was still on air to make the announcement of her death as a newsflash.
Audio of this broadcast can be heard from the external links section.
Although he had a reputation as an argumentative controversialist, he was no shock jock. Preferring the rapier over the sword, his put downs were withering and waspish enough without needing to raise his voice or resort to vulgarity. Tom Cruise and John Travolta - two of the great theologians of our age."
Dickin was famous for his strongly-held views.
His passion led to him being labeled "Britain"s angriest man" by talkSPORT listeners.
Typical discussions on his show included crime, cars, trains, taxis, the problems of young people, the downfall of Britain, the incompetence of people in the service industry, speed cameras, parking tickets, and call centres. He was also known for his catchphrases, such as "My health is not in question" when asked how he was.
Other catchphrases include: "If you were constipated, you"d be speechless", "I"ve had a gutful..", "You don"t have two brain cells to rub together", "You couldn"t make it up", "If your brains were made of dynamite, there wouldn"t be enough to blow your hat off" and "We"re going to hell in a handcart". He also played on his image as a ladies" manitoba
He liked motor racing, Nicole from the Renault Clio adverts (in the late 1990s), and Diana, Princess of Wales.
All his shows were broadcast from a studio in Bodmin, Cornwall, a few miles from his home. Mike Dickin was killed in a car crash while driving on the A30 near his home in Cornwall, on 18 December 2006, at the age of 63. Fellow talkSPORT presenter James Whale presented his tribute show.