Greg & Charlie Benefit Concert

[Radio Off]

Willie said:

'Quote Unquote' is even crapper, as is 'Midweek', but Nigel Rees and Libby Purves aren't sacked. Thinking about The Weather Clerk's postings, I've just checked and these two presenters both attended Oxford universities.

I'm not inclined to talk about radio at the moment. But as an aside to the thread, I recently discovered that I am acquainted with Libby Purves' brother. I don't know whether he went to Oxford, but he is a very kind, amusing and clever gentleman who goes to a great deal of trouble to provide high-quality, cheap entertainment for other people, including northern oiks. His forte is singing music-hall songs. This must surely be a product of his upbringing and therefore I cannot imagine that Ms Purves can be all bad.

[The Weather Clerk]

Radio said:

Willie said:

'Quote Unquote' is even crapper, as is 'Midweek', but Nigel Rees and Libby Purves aren't sacked. Thinking about The Weather Clerk's postings, I've just checked and these two presenters both attended Oxford universities.

I'm not inclined to talk about radio at the moment. But as an aside to the thread, I recently discovered that I am acquainted with Libby Purves' brother. I don't know whether he went to Oxford, but he is a very kind, amusing and clever gentleman who goes to a great deal of trouble to provide high-quality, cheap entertainment for other people, including northern oiks. His forte is singing music-hall songs. This must surely be a product of his upbringing and therefore I cannot imagine that Ms Purves can be all bad.

All my comments are made as a very serious radio listener, so personal issues are irrelevant to this discussion.

R4 is unique in that once presenters get their feet under the table, then they’re there for life and it’s this is what I find unhealthy. They become stale, irrespective of how well or badly the programme is produced. A perceptive programme controller should realise this and be constantly seeking ways of redeploying its presenters. Connie St. Louis was a good example where – some years ago anyway - it was clear that an effort was been made to vary the kinds of programme that she fronted. A similar story with Edie Stark (I enjoyed the programme she presented about long term marriage), but she appears to have become bogged down in rather dull health related programmes.

Two examples where it can be like a shot in the arm for the radio listener when a presenter is redeployed or new blood is introduced: Mark Radcliffe’s presentation of Saturday’s Archive Hour (about the life of Alfred Wainwright) couldn’t have been more interesting or listener friendly. Both the scripting and production were excellent. I dislike smoking intensely, but at least his story about Consulate fags suggested that he wasn’t a goodie goodie at school and did get stains on his blazer. I never get the impression that R4 girls got stains on their skirts at school or holes in their tights in adulthood. If they did, then they’d mention it on air!!!!!! I’ve always suspected that Mr. Radcliffe could make a useful contribution to R4 and this programme confirmed my suspicions. The second example concerned Martha Kearney. Her broadcasting style has never appealed and I’ve always regarded her as a rather insensitive presenter (1). However, I was beside myself with excitement when I heard her chairing the recent phone-in concerning the issue of living with long term illness (the one where a female caller detailed how her husband had smoked himself to death). I was driving somewhere and stopped my car in a lay by because the programme was so interesting and it revealed a previously hidden element to her broadcasting character that I’d never been able to detect. It was one of those programmes where it was acceptable for a presenter to show a degree of emotion and she got it just right – and I could tell that it was genuine.

No one questions the requirement for intellectual rigour within a radio station such as R4, but I believe that it’s a mistake to assume that the ability to form a bond with the listener is a necessary follow on. In most cases it’s not. R4 should be for everyone and I’m afraid the endless name dropping of former Oxbridge graduates on Sunday’s edition of DID – one of the dullest editions for a long time in my opinion – must have driven droves of listeners away!

There’s a lot to be learnt from the old stalwarts of broadcasting. The late John Timpson was a classic example of this and one could tell that he always knew what was on the listener’s mind. Jean Metcalfe was another example and I don’t think she went anywhere near a university – let alone Oxbridge. So You Think You’ve Got Problems is an R4 classic and ,again, she always seemed top be able to direct James Hemming and Wendy Greengross to respond in a manner that the listener could identify with.

Notes

(1) Her interview on Woman’s Hour with the very upset lady narrating the story of her daughter who committed suicide whilst on remand

(2) The manner in which she ended Weekend Woman’s Hour a few months ago. The programme had been discussing poshness and she ended by saying: ‘Of course we’re all lidies (i.e. she pronounced the word in the way posh women pronounce it) here at Woman’s Hour’.

(3) The story about her mates renting a flat at Hampton Court.

[Crusoe]

The said:

Mark Radcliffe’s presentation of Saturday’s Archive Hour (about the life of Alfred Wainwright) couldn’t have been more interesting or listener friendly.

I really enjoyed this programme. I think I must have missed Wainright’s DID but the excerpts were very enjoyable – Ms Lawley doing a good job and Mr Wainwright being completely honest about his anti-social nature. Mr Radcliffe was superb, bringing the whole programme alive with his own character and interest in the subject.

[Crusoe]

not said:

They are getting sacked because their program is complete and utter crap…

…Greg and Charlie is DIRE…

… Their lucrative veggie biz will have them decked out in whatever designer naffness they fancy.

Goodness, not a fan, what vitriol.

What exactly is it you don’t like about the programme? On the occasions on which I’ve listened (which is, I’ll admit, not a particularly regular occurrence, since it’s normally on when I’m at work) it seems to me that Greg and Charlie are people who know their, ahem, onions but manage to present the programme in an informal style, unlike the rather more starchy “Food programme”.

[Crusoe]

rosalie said:

hmmm. Just reading up about Veg Talks axing, I see that R4 are also getting rid of Shop Talk too. This is pretty much the only programme that deals with business and technology in a commercial setting. A very interesting programme, that brings in some guests who operate in the real world, not just people who commentate for a living. Another sad loss .

Well ,I suppose “In business” covers a range of topics, including this sort of thing but I appreciate that it’s not quite the same as “Shop Talk”.

I’m not sure what to think about programmes directed to certain industries – it seems a bit unfair that other sectors don’t have their own programmes in the style of “The Message”, “Shop Talk”, or “The Learning Curve”. I know that the media, retailing and education have an effect on all of us but these are still quite specialist programmes with more interest for “insiders”. I sometime think it would be good to have a programme about construction: it could be called “The Craic”.

[The Weather Clerk]

webb said:

The said:

Mark Radcliffe’s presentation of Saturday’s Archive Hour (about the life of Alfred Wainwright) couldn’t have been more interesting or listener friendly.

I really enjoyed this programme. I think I must have missed Wainright’s DID but the excerpts were very enjoyable – Ms Lawley doing a good job and Mr Wainwright being completely honest about his anti-social nature. Mr Radcliffe was superb, bringing the whole programme alive with his own character and interest in the subject.

Crusoe one of the depressing aspects of the programme was the way one felt that he’d inherited certain characteristics of his father. The acts of violence perpetrated on his mother were truly dreadful and the story of hiding the razor suggested that he did care about her a great deal. So why was he so mean and unkind to his first wife? I felt that this went much further than simply being antisocial.

I do a lot of walking and it drives me up the wall when strangers simply walk past without a greeting or a smile, especially on a warm day when all is well with the world. Wainwright didn’t have any more right to ownership of the Lake District than the people who he so despised. Why shouldn’t the ordinary man and woman enjoy the delights of this area?

I recall his appearance on DID because there were instances during the interview when the listener got the impression that he was chatting Miss Lawley up. His comments about music, though, were so grim and gloomy. If he wasn’t interested in music, then why did he agree to appear on the programme? His choosiness in respect of friendships also seemed rather baffling. I wondered why he liked Eric Robson, because Mr. Robson has always struck me as a bit of an extrovert and I’d imagine that he’d smile and greet you if you passed him on a walk.

I liked the way Mr. Radcliffe made little references to his early morning Radio 1 show. I never regarded this as any kind of failure.

[Lily Duckling]

rosalie said:

hmmm. Just reading up about Veg Talks axing, I see that R4 are also getting rid of Shop Talk too. This is pretty much the only programme that deals with business and technology in a commercial setting. A very interesting programme, that brings in some guests who operate in the real world, not just people who commentate for a living. Another sad loss .

This is a major problem within R4. It reminds me of university courses where students are ‘taught’ how to run businesses. Of course the university lecturers have never run any businesses of their own and rarely possess any commercial awareness. Whilst I often find In Business interesting, it does on occasions, remind me of a university lecture. The recent edition about engineering was an example of this. I was a little concerned at the rather snide comparisons made between the numbers of students reading engineering and those reading media studies.

Incidentally R4 often has a school or university feel about it – one senses that cap doffing is encouraged! Boys who arrive at the station without caps are probably sent home with a note.

[The Weather Clerk]

rosalie said:

Might've heard that. Was it about speed dating?

WH often discusses Speed Dating, but you could well be right. He kept going on about his beard! It would have been nice to have heard a girl on the programme who wasn't posh and admitted that she lacked confidence. I recall the day becasue nothing special was broadcast which struck me as a poor show for a bank holiday. Was Just Plain Gardening also on? I couldn't get the intro. song out of my mind!!!!


Concerning Mr. Robinson, I used to like it when the Stop The Week Team were taking the micky out of him and you could imagine the kind of face he was pulling! Hee-hee-hee=hee!!!!!!!!

I like the way he says Willy-nilly and also etc. etc

[Crusoe]

Yes, there was a certain amount of “like father, like son” about Mr Wainright. But perhaps the change in his behaviour over the years was similar to that that many of us experience – swearing, as youngsters, that we will not become like our parents before doing just that.

I certainly got the impression that Mr Wainright was a distinctly selfish person and that his behaviour towards his first wife reflected the fact that he was only interested in promotion and that he felt her social station was too “low”. Very sad, indeed. I think that it was probably selfishness and misanthropy that made him so unpleasant toward fellow walkers. He thought the Lake District was beautiful and didn’t want to share it with anyone.

The said:

I do a lot of walking and it drives me up the wall when strangers simply walk past without a greeting or a smile, especially on a warm day when all is well with the world.

I understand this, Weather Clerk. The friendliness (as a rule) of other walkers is one of the joys of walking, I’ve always thought and helps with that feeling that all is well with the world.

The said:

His choosiness in respect of friendships also seemed rather baffling. I wondered why he liked Eric Robson, because Mr. Robson has always struck me as a bit of an extrovert and I’d imagine that he’d smile and greet you if you passed him on a walk.

Often, it is said that opposites get on well: perhaps a lot of Mr Wainright’s friends were extroverts?

The said:

I liked the way Mr. Radcliffe made little references to his early morning Radio 1 show. I never regarded this as any kind of failure.

Me neither. I was quite disappointed when his show was cancelled, although, as it happens, his style of broadcasting probably does better suit an evening programme when there is more opportunity to express himself.

[rosalie]

Lily said:

rosalie said:

hmmm. Just reading up about Veg Talks axing, I see that R4 are also getting rid of Shop Talk too. This is pretty much the only programme that deals with business and technology in a commercial setting. A very interesting programme, that brings in some guests who operate in the real world, not just people who commentate for a living. Another sad loss .

This is a major problem within R4. It reminds me of university courses where students are ‘taught’ how to run businesses. Of course the university lecturers have never run any businesses of their own and rarely possess any commercial awareness. Whilst I often find In Business interesting, it does on occasions, remind me of a university lecture. The recent edition about engineering was an example of this. I was a little concerned at the rather snide comparisons made between the numbers of students reading engineering and those reading media studies.

Incidentally R4 often has a school or university feel about it – one senses that cap doffing is encouraged! Boys who arrive at the station without caps are probably sent home with a note.

exactly! it reminds me of my eldest son who confuzzled the careers teacher at school by pointing out that he'd had no jobs in the outside world, and that son had had more jobs in industry than he had.

I'm in favour of teachers experiencing at least some non academic work, specially those who're supposed to be giving our kids advice. At school my kids were never given the opportunity of even thinking about anything other than university. It's only when the youngest rebelled against academic work that he found out that apprenticeships were available.

[not a fan]

webb said:

not said:

They are getting sacked because their program is complete and utter crap…

…Greg and Charlie is DIRE…

… Their lucrative veggie biz will have them decked out in whatever designer naffness they fancy.

Goodness, not a fan, what vitriol.

What exactly is it you don’t like about the programme? On the occasions on which I’ve listened (which is, I’ll admit, not a particularly regular occurrence, since it’s normally on when I’m at work) it seems to me that Greg and Charlie are people who know their, ahem, onions but manage to present the programme in an informal style, unlike the rather more starchy “Food programme”.

Not vitriol. More hyperbole, for the purpose of encouraging debate!

[Crusoe]

not said:

webb said:

Goodness, not a fan, what vitriol.

Not vitriol. More hyperbole, for the purpose of encouraging debate!

OK, fair point.

You still haven’t told us why you think it’s crap, though.