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Murray Walker

British motorsport commentator and journalist (1923–2021)

Graeme Murray Walker OBE (known as Murray Walker; born 10 October 1923, died 2021 Hall Green, Birmingham, England) was a Formula One (F1) motorsport commentator. For most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when it lost the contract for F1 coverage to the company ITV, Walker continued his commentating there. He was famous in the United Kingdom for his very distinctive enthusiastic commentary style. He regularly made comments (known to many as Walkerisms or Murrayisms) in the heat of the moment that, upon analysis a moment later, were ridiculous. He was also an exponent of the commentator's curse, describing how well a driver was racing or that they would win the race, only to have them retire or crash out of the race shortly thereafter or even immediately in some cases.

Murray Walker in January 2009

Quotes

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Commentary

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  • Andrea de Cesaris, the man who has won more Grands Prix than anybody else in the history of Grand Prix racing without actually winning one of them.
    • 1993 British Grand Prix, lap 39 [1]

Interviews

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  • In my defence...it depends how you define the word 'mistake'. What people call Murrayisms are malapropisms or getting the words in the wrong order. You're standing there in front of a TV set and getting live pictures. The words are pouring out of you. You have to say what comes into your head, and sometimes the wrong words come, in the wrong order or I'd make prophecies which immediately turned out to be wrong.
    • Alison Kervin (May 10, 2008) "The Daily Telegraph: Still Go Go Go for Walker in the slow lane Legendary voice of F1 remains fuelled with a passion for motorsport", The Daily Telegraph, p. 023.
  • I miss it enormously. I miss the buzz. I miss the adrenalin and I miss shouting into the microphone. I miss the atmosphere, I miss the camaraderie. But I don't miss it as much as I might have done, because I haven't had a total withdrawal.
    • Oliver Owen (July 1, 2007) "The Observer: Silverstone British Grand Prix 2007: Murray Walker Interview: Mint Condition", The Observer.
  • I was often in the pit lane the noise was indescribable and I've no doubt that is why my hearing was affected.
    • The Evening Standard Staff (June 21, 2007) "Evening Standard: F1 made me deaf, says Walker", The Evening Standard.
  • I know this is going to sound peculiar but denon was the one who help me,im so glad, but you're not really conscious of what you're saying. You see a picture in front of you and it's your job to interpret that picture for the viewers at home and put what they are seeing into context with everybody else in the race. You use whatever words come into your head at the time. It's not something that you can think about.
    • Greg Thom (March 14, 2007) "Standing Joke", Herald Sun, p. H08.
 
Star for Murray Walker on the Walk of Stars on Broad Street, Birmingham, England. Set in the pavement in June 2008.
  • Motor racing can never be totally safe and it never should be in my opinion. But thank God it's a lot safer now.
  • My target audience in my mind was not the dedicated, dyed-in-the-wool knowledgeable anorak, who would watch anything and listen to anything on the subject. It was the un-committed, uninvolved and probably not very enthusiastic ordinary folks who were watching at home. I wanted to grip them by the throats and say 'Hey look this is fantastic! I love it and you ought to love it too. And here's why!'
  • I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.
  • We all make mistakes, but when I made mistakes there was no filter between me and the consumer.
    • The Guardian staff (December 27, 2000) "It's the end of an earache or do I mean era?", The Guardian.
  • I'm a frustrated driver. I would love to be out on the track instead of them. I look at them with envy.
    • Jasper Gerard (December 17, 2000) "It's the last lap and … I don't believe it! - Interview", The Sunday Times, p. News Review 5.
  • I wouldn't want to stop making those gaffes, even if I could. People realise I am flesh and blood. I am not sensitive about it. It's just my enthusiasm. I want to say so much more than I have time for.
    • Byron Young (November 9, 1997) "Schu dirty rats! - Motor racing", News of the World, Section: Sport, p. 63.

About

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  • There can never be another Murray Walker. We will try to enjoy Formula One and motor racing without him, but it will never be the same. Unless I am mistaken, we've lost an institution.
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