 Murray was a talented linguist, he spoke many languages fluently including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Hungarian and some Russian.Before the Second World War he worked for the BBC as a journalist, having previously worked for a Bristol newspaper.In 1935 he reported the Saarland Plebiscite – and succeeded in broadcasting live during the 9 o'clock news holding a microphone out of the window to capture the chants of the mob – a major technical feat, and possibly the first time an international live outside broadcast had been undertaken.