Career
He is known as a television presenter on Children"s British Broadcasting Corporation, as a radio presenter on BFBS, and British Broadcasting Corporation local radio, a television and radio comedy writer contributing to programmes including Have I Got News Foreign You?, and is the author of the humorous travel book The Long and Whining Road. Courtie left school in 1986, aged 16, and became a City & Guilds qualified mechanical and electrical engineer, completing a 4-year apprenticeship at Timsons, a printing press manufacturer in Kettering. During this time he joined the local hospital radio station KHBA, and started volunteering at British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Northampton.
In 1990 he began a full-time broadcasting career as a radio-car reporter, then as a presenter at British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Northampton.
After an unsuccessful audition at Children"s British Broadcasting Corporation in 1993 he was offered a job on British Broadcasting Corporation Two popular show The O-Zone, made by the same department. His first film, and television debut, was an interview with Judy Cheeks directed by Andi Peters.
Other popular stars he interviewed included Tom Jones, Blur and boy band World"s Apart. At the beginning of 1995 Courtie became a full-time presenter for Children"s British Broadcasting Corporation hosting their new sequence on British Broadcasting Corporation Prime, before moving to British Broadcasting Corporation One where he hosted the live afternoon continuity links with the comedic puppet, Otis the Aardvark.
Courtie"s sense of humour combined with that of puppeteer Dave Chapman led to them gaining a cult following with older viewers, and alongside pictures drawn by children they would often show fanzines featuring them both, created by students.
Between 1996 and 2000 Courtie hosted several television shows on Independent Television including the live Saturday morning show Wow! and You"ll Never Believe lieutenant, both produced by The Media Merchants, and Get Wet produced by Scottish Television. He presented several British Broadcasting Corporation Education series, including Working in.. which gave advice to school leavers pursuing careers in various industries including engineering, construction and Information Technology, and the Revise Wise series on Key Stage 2 English. Between 2000 and 2005 he wrote television quiz and game show formats, which were distributed by Ludus Entertainment.
He created the Channel Five show Education Support Professionals and the S4C game show Risg, produced by Mentorn and presented by Siân Lloyd.
He was a regular presenter for the television and radio station BFBS from 1997 to 2013, broadcasting to British Forces and their families around the world. Between 2008 and 2010 he contributed as a team writer to the satirical television comedy Have I Got News Foreign You? where he wrote with Mark Burton, Colin Swash and Ged Parsons.
In 2010 he spent a year driving around the world with his family in a Volkswagen T25 camper van. They busked Beatles songs in every country from Strawberry Field in Liverpool to Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, all the money from which was donated to United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. In November 2013 Simeon became a regular presenter on British Broadcasting Corporation Wiltshire, presenting the daily 9-12 morning show until December 2015.
His final show for the station was a live outside broadcast from the Science Museum in London at the British Broadcasting Corporation Stargazing event to watch the launch of British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake to the International Space Station.
