Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Broadcaster who became the face of BBC sports coverage.
On the island
Eight records
In Party MoodFavourite
The first record is the theme from Housewives' Choice and it evokes memories of my boyhood living in a little house in Brighton when we first moved from Ireland with my mum and dad who were wonderful people.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
it's the train journeys I always remember at the time, sitting in those little carriages... and this particular piece reminds me of that time. Of course it was it the railway's very involved in the story in the film Brief Encounter and it's Rachmaninoff.
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
I was always a Sinatra man. I always loved Sinatra from from the age of about fourteen or fifteen, and this is one of his tr finest records, I think.
I suppose this was a song that I got to know and and and like and and and used to feel it was a about me really, was in those days before I found my feet a little bit.
Introducing Tobacco to Civilization
Well, this isn't a song, this is a talking record. I hope that's okay on the show. It's Bob Newhart introducing tobacco to civilization.
Well, it's it goes back to that nineteen ninety World Cup and the theme music, Ness and Dormer, of course. And I was somewhat involved in picking it as the theme tune.
it comes from Chicago, the show Chicago, which is wonderful. You know, if you can perform it, if you can dance to it and sing with it, it's just magnificent.
this is really from from my partner Rose with whom I've lived for sixteen years... This song absolutely sums up our relationship, really.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:31When you left [the BBC], it was amazing. Epic proportions. You were top of the news, weren't you?
I'm only just recovering from it, and it's well, a year and a half ago now. I was front page news on every newspaper. I led, I think, the nine o'clock news and certainly the six o'clock news. … It was a quiet it was August. And I it was extraordinary. I mean, I still don't really fully understand it, but it di it caused uh a big kerfuffle at the time.
Presenter asks
1:43Are you homesick [for the BBC]?
I'm not homesick. I miss some of the people. Obviously, I work with some terrific people at the BBC and um. I missed doing the Olympics up to a point, uh although I'd worked on every Olympic since'seventy two, so I'd been there, so to speak.
Presenter asks
6:30So you didn't know your father at first, then?
No, Dad came back from the army. He was in the medical corps. I don't know quite what year it was, but I was certainly cognisant of the fact that I hadn't seen this guy before, and I can distinctly remember, it's almost one of my first memories, him coming into the house and picking me up in his arms. I thought, What is he doing this for? Who is this? People don't do this without my permission. And uh I uh he he showed me a great deal of affection, which was not returned. It took me some time to get used to this man.
The keepsakes
The book
The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine
Michael T. Murray and Joseph Pizzorno
I've picked uh the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine because I think that um I I probably have to cure myself from time to time, or at least I'd like to read through the the various diseases that I think I've probably got anyway.
The luxury
I'd like a drum kit because, well, there are no neighbours to bother are there, so I could really have a go at it and perhaps learn to do it.
Presenter asks
8:08Did [the move to England] make you a bit withdrawn then? Did you feel out of place?
I I I think I was an extrovert child until I came to England, and I think the accent and the and the change did make me somewhat withdrawn. But then I came into my own a little bit because I found I was moderately bright, or certainly compared to some of the ones I went to school with.
Presenter asks
16:31Did your religion help at that time [when your parents died and your marriage broke up]?
Took a bit of a bashing round about the time of my father's death. Um th these various blows were happening around me, and there I was still going to mass on a Sunday, like a good Catholic Irish boy. And round about that time I did lose I lost my faith. And um I haven't really recovered from it.
Presenter asks
24:53Greg Dyke said publicly as you went that you might have made a big mistake. Do you think he was a bit right?
No. I think he might have made a big mistake. Becoming Director General is is a totally poisoned chalice. No, that's quite flippant. No, I d I haven't made a big mistake because I'm perfectly happy doing what I'm doing. I don't look back. I like the people I'm working with and the product's great. And I'm not working day in, day out. I like that too. I told you I was quite lazy.
“I think the reason for it would be that that's what I am, really. I'm a viewer. I haven't been in international football. I haven't played tennis at Wimbledon... So what what can I do? I can take the point of view of the fan.”
“I don't know about power. I just know that I'm getting to the because I'm thinking of one person all the time. If I thought of the millions, I I'd be so frightened I'd never do it.”
“I got married young at at the age of twenty three. And so I was, you know, I was secure in a way, and I thought, gimme some of that insecurity.”
“I did say once in an interview that I said working for the BBs is not a job, it's a cause. And I always felt that to an extent and still do.”