Diana Edwards-Jones

Diana Elizabeth Edwards-Jones (13 December 1932 – 14 April 2024) was a Welsh television director. She joined the news production company Independent Television News (ITN) as a stage manager in 1955 and was promoted to the role of programme director in 1961 and later head of programme directors in the 1970s. Edwards-Jones was a director of the daily half-hour News at Ten bulletin when it was launched in 1967. She directed other programmes such as royal documentaries, general elections in the United Kingdom and the Budget of the United Kingdom. Edwards-Jones introduced the earpiece for newsreaders to permit direct communication between the control room and newscasters and the practice of interspersing a short headline with the hour chimes of Big Ben during News at Ten 's title sequence.

Early life and education Edwards-Jones was born on 13 December 1932, in Swansea, South Wales. She was an only child, and was raised in Morriston close to Swansea. Edwards-Jones's parents were the general practitioner John Edwards-Jones and his wife Nancy . After leaving school in August 1950 when she was 17, Edwards-Jones did not attend university, She took a typing course in Wales to justify the lie she told ITN. She typed scripts and arranged still photographs from agencies and newspapers. Edwards-Jones began working as a floor manager when ITN was launched on 22 September 1955. and House of Lords proceedings. She retired in 1989. She was known for her use of profanity amongst colleagues. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1987 New Year Honours.