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The Presenters: Graham Little
Presenter Graham Little’s taste for adventure makes him a perfect addition to Out of the Blue. Born in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, he studied for a degree in English and Sports Science at Loughborough University. Since then, he’s become a bit of a jack of all trades: he’s written his own travel book charting his efforts to become a world champion in any sport, and devised and presented his own show, Colin and Graham’s Excellent Adventures for BBC Northern Ireland. The series followed Graham and a friend on a globe-trot competing in a range of bizarre sporting events.
Graham cut his teeth as a journalist with his local paper in Enniskillen. He then indulged his passion for all things athletic when he progressed to working as a broadcast sports correspondent. He’s appeared on BBC Northern Ireland’s community affairs show In Your Corner and as a reporter on On Your Behalf . -
Joanne Salley
Out of the Blue presenter Joanne Salley has worked both in front of and behind the camera. Like her co-host Graham, she’s had her hand in many pots: she’s taught art, modelled, presented and also worked as a runner and researcher for the BBC.
A Cambridge-graduate and a former Miss Northern Ireland, Joanne studied for a foundation degree in Art and Design at the University of Ulster and then specialised in Jewellery and Silversmithing. Following this she pursued teaching and took a post at a school in North London. In her time out from teaching, she’s starred in television adverts and co-hosted a breakfast show.
Joanne was born and raised in Dungannon but currently lives in London. -
The Reporters
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Colin Bateman
Having penned novels, children’s books, film screenplays and a five series drama for BBC One, Out of the Blue’s reporter Colin Bateman knows a thing or two about writing. He’s also no literary elitist snob, open-mindedly claiming to be inspired by both “good and bad writing.”
Originally starting out as a journalist, Colin was born and raised in Bangor where he was a reporter for his local newspaper, The Spectator. In 1992, whilst at the paper, he wrote his debut novel Divorcing Jack, the story of an adulterous Belfast journalist who has yet to grow up. The manuscript found its way to HarperCollins’ desk and went on to win the 1994 Betty Trask prize for fiction. Colin then later adapted the novel for film, writing the screenplay. He also wrote Murphy’s Law, a BBC One five-series production starring James Nesbitt, which was nominated for numerous IFTA awards and a BAFTA for Best Drama Serial. Another of Colin’s novels, Wild about Harry was included in a list of Top 50 Crime Writers to read before you die.
Colin lives between Blanchardstown in Dublin, and Bangor, Co.Down with his wife Andrea and their son Matthew. -
Michael Bradley
Michael brings more musical expertise to Out of the Blue’s family of reporters. He’s a native of Londonderry and has an irrational fear of roller coasters, and a not so irrational fear of being blown off cliffs.
Michael was the bass guitarist in Derry punk band The Undertones whose hit single Teenage Kicks became an anthem for a generation. He was born out of a family of 11 and was not the only Bradley to be bestowed musical gifts; his father had played in a Ceilidh Band. He was only 15 when he began The Undertones with his friends.
Michael is now a radio producer for Radio Foyle and currently presents a one hour programme for BBC Radio Ulster After Midnight with Mickey. He lives in Derry, NI with his wife Elaine Duffy, a dress designer and their four children. -
Ralph McLean
Ralph McLean is a life-long film and music devotee. He currently hosts the evening show on BBC Radio Ulster covering all kinds of music hits from classic rock and blues to country and soul. The show has won four Phonographic Performance Ireland awards and he’s interviewed many of the biggest names in country music such as Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith.
In TV, Ralph was Christine Bleakley’s sofa buddy for a four series run of First Stop. His other work spans years of Festival Nights, the Belfast Festival programme, and also live shows such as The Blackstaff Sessions and Children In Need.
Not a man to limit himself, Ralph runs his own production company, writes film columns for newspapers, and is a music consultant, regular arts commentator and script writer. He's also presented many shows and produced numerous documentaries such as The Sinead O'Connor Story and The Loretta Lynn Story for BBC Radio Two.
Ralph does not like boats, loathes cookery programmes, and is also not too keen on very deep water. He harbours ambitions to tour Route 66 and interview the actor Christopher Lee (not necessarily at the same time) and is happiest at home with his wife and kids and his terrier Tarka, who eats everything in sight! -
Carrie Neely
Carrie Neely is Out of the Blue’s arts correspondent extraordinaire. As a professional art consultant, she’s right in the thick of Northern Ireland’s vibrant arts and culture scene. After completing her Visual Art degree here, she moved to London and split her time between there and New York, hob-knobbing with eminent art legends such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Charles Saatchi.
Carrie has owned and ran her own gallery in Bloomsbury, London and has 14 years experience in determining what’s hot and what’s not in the art world.
Carrie lives in NI with her husband Rob and has three children. -
Niamh Perry
The old red velvet curtains were opened to Niamh Perry at the age of 17 when she was selected out of thousands as a finalist on BBC One’s Saturday Night Show I’d Do Anything. She made her professional stage debut playing Belle in Only the Brave at the Edinburgh Festival in 2009. This set in motion a career in London’s West End including playing Sophie in the long-running musical Mamma Mia.
I’d Do Anything put Niamh on Andrew Lord Webber’s radar and he eventually cast her in his new sequel to Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, playing Fleck. She’s performed in BBC One Northern Ireland’s Proms in the Park in Belfast and BBC Three’s Frankenstein’s Wedding, playing a wedding singer.
For her next project Niamh will be performing for three months in The Little Prince at the newly renovated Lyric Theatre, Belfast.
Niamh was born and raised in Bangor but is based in London. -
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