Product Description

Who is Radio 4's 'fourteen-stone budgie'? How did Phyllis Willis and Mavis Davis make announcer Charlotte Green lose her cool? What does 'Ruth' really think about The Archers? When did Today stop having a keep-fit spot? And who was the Spam Fritter Man, and what became of him? This wonderful history-cum-guide answers these and many other questions about the irreplaceable world of Radio 4. It is an essential reading for every devotee.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10502 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

The Times, 29 September 2007
`cosy, celebratory ... It is a happy book, celebrating Radio 4 as above all a friend and companion.'

The Independent, 28 September 2007
'congenial - chatty, a little bit personal ... it's hard to imagine what more a Radio 4 fan could want.'

The Guardian, September 2007
'insiderish'

Customer Reviews

Primarily for Radio 4 Aficionados
As a lifelong Radio 4 listener I rather enjoyed this jaunt through the history and methodology of my favourite listening post. Each chapter deals with a segment of the Radio 4 programming day, starting at dawn and working through to 'Sailing By', with lots of interesting asides, mini-biographies, and juicy titbits about famous and infamous management decisions.

Within each chapter are 'boxes' giving additional outlines about well-know or well-loved personalities and so on. The idea is a good one, but I found the endless asides impaired thr general flow of my reading so eventually resorted to reading them only when I had finished whole chapters.

If you are keen Radio 4 listener you are bound to find something interesting in this (I loved details about sound effects in 'The Archers', for example). But Radio 4 is also a kind of strange freemasonry with its own rules which regulars love and others probably hate. If you are not already intimate with its routines this book may be best avoided.

Only for those in the know.
I'm a regular listener to Radio Four, so was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I rapidly became very frustrated, and after about a hundred pages abandoned it altogether. Too often, familarity with incidents was assumed and insufficient background provided to make them understandable to anybody but those with either an excellent memory or already extensive knowledge of the history of Radio Four. Equally, whilst the idea of working through the day as a framework for telling the story is initially attractive, the result was an incoherent mish-mash, with sequencing of events difficult, and bits and pieces scattered all over the place.
All in all, a potentially fascinating book, that assumed too much - as my partner commented (having also abandoned in spite of being an avid Radio Four fan), the target readership seemed to be other radio producers or very long term listeners. I was tempted to give one star, but give two as for those, it will almost certainly be a worthwhile read.

A comfort blanket for the soul of middle England
If, like me, you have Radio Four within your DNA; if you still miss Fritz Spiegl's evocative UK theme in the morning and can only sleep to the gently intoned litany of Viking Faroes Dogger et al; if truth sounds like Sue Mcgregor, wisdom like Jenny Murray and you are still sitting comfortably, ready to begin then coming across the book is like finding a never-before seen family photo album and scrapbook, and appreciating those around you to day, buy getting to know their roots and what came before. A hot water bottle for those whose mornings start with the courtesy of Lionel Blue returning us to Jim and John and whose afternoons perk up with PM at 5 PM and whose ears yearn for the sounds that are forever Ambridge.