A FORMER council leader is set to broadcast his memory of meeting his wife to the nation after winning a movie channel’s competition.

Joe Morgan, 81, of Durrington Close, Basildon, was the former leader of Basildon Council, and has been picked as one of ten winners of Turner Classic Movies, movies and memories competition.

Mr Morgan’s tale of how he took his late German wife, Christina, to an Army cinema in Berlin in 1945 was picked out by judges, who were looking for movie memories which have remained an integral part of people’s lives.

Joe took Christina to see the Deanna Durbin film Harbour Lights on their first date.

The song Something in the Wind remained stuck in their heads and the couple made radio requests for it on every wedding anniversary until Christina’s death last year, at the age of 84.

Joe said: “I don’t normally enter these sort of competitions, but I saw the advert and that memory just jumped into my head.

“We used to request that song on every anniversary. They had to dig it out of the archives every time. It would have been our diamond anniversary this year.”

As a winner, Joe was put up in a Regent Street hotel for two nights and was filmed as he recalled meeting his wife.

The short films will be used throughout the TCM season this month.

For more information visit the channel’s website at http://www.tcmonline.co.uk