From Brexit to Brahms, Humphrys is transformed
Idon’t know about you, but my idea of a relaxing retirement doesn’t include appearing live on national radio at six in the morning. Especially not if that had been my job for 32 years. But that’s exactly what John Humphrys, who “retired” from the Today programme last month, is doing this week. He’s filling in for Classic FM’S More Music Breakfast presenter, Tim Lihoreau, who is on holiday.
More Music Breakfast listeners, however, may not be easily charmed by Humphrys. Lihoreau has a loyal and deserved following. His breakfast show is calm, well-informed, good fun and, usually, simply a lovely place to start the morning. Where Humphrys has a reputation as grumpy and difficult, Lihoreau seems warm and positive. He has posted on Twitter about using his holiday time to arrange flowers and watch the cosy American drama series Gilmore Girls. Earlier this month he pulled a piano across London to raise £75,000 for charity.
Perhaps clocking this, Humphrys has so far brought his own cuddly side to the fore. Opening his first broadcast at 6am on Monday, he said “I’m hugely looking forward to it. Imagine: Beethoven and Brahms instead of Brexit.” And then he sighed with happiness and played some Dvořák.
He was outrageously flirtatious with his old colleague Moira Stewart, a fellow BBC defector, who reads the news. Humphrys lavished her with admiration and told her she hadn’t aged a day since he’d last worked with her 35 years ago. “You are a silvertongued Lothario,” she teasingly replied, in an exchange that would probably have sent BBC HR bods into a cold sweat, but is all fine in the wilds of commercial radio.
Towards the end of Monday’s show, Humphrys introduced Elgar’s Cello Concerto as the first piece that his son, the cellist Christopher Humphrys, had ever played in a solo performance. The recording was by Julian Lloyd Webber, “who played it almost as well as my son Christopher”, said Humphrys, his voice filling with pride.
And actually, with the political attack removed from it, Humphrys’s voice is transformed. Now he’s not angry or impatient, his voice is sometimes pleasingly rumbly like a timpani, and sometimes rich and piquant, like spiced hot chocolate.
By Tuesday, however, I got the sense that the novelty of introducing beautiful records was slightly wearing off. In the manner of a champion sheepdog redeployed to fetching slippers, Humphrys occasionally gave the sense that he was thinking,
“Really? Is this all you want me to do?”
If he does find a home on Classic FM, though, maybe he’ll bring back a bit of his old pugnacious spirit. After all, there are plenty of composers who need to be held to account. People listening at home will be asking, why only seven planets, Mr Holst? And why couldn’t Schubert just get a move on and complete that symphony? The public deserves to know.
This week has been a big one for Classic FM’S owner, Global Radio, the major commercial broadcaster and Europe’s largest radio company, which also owns a raft of other networks including LBC, Capital and Heart. Last week’s Rajar ratings show that Global stations reach 25.4m people every week, and account for 24 per cent of all UK listening. They’re also now the UK’S second-biggest news broadcaster after the BBC.
But clearly they want more. On Monday, Global launched a new station, LBC News, which it claims is the first national live rolling news radio station in this country.
Cannily, Global has imported some of its most reliable news broadcasters from LBC, making the station feel smooth and professional. Lisa Aziz is worthy of mention as the pacy and businesslike breakfast presenter, before giving way to the measured voice of Martin Stanford at lunchtime.
I was reluctant. There are lots of places to get radio news, and rolling news always feels tense and mildly apocalyptic. However, these days there is plenty of news to fill the hours. “Where the news never stops” is LBC News’ slightly menacing tag-line.
But to be able to tune in to a station for 20 minutes and be sure you’ll get a full round-up of the headlines sounds good, doesn’t it? And LBC News is good: informative, no-nonsense and dependable. I can’t believe such a service hasn’t been provided before. The BBC should be asking why they let a commercial broadcaster get there first. With Global setting its sights firmly on public service broadcasting, what will the BBC’S next move be?
For our verdict of the final of The Great British Bake Off, visit: telegraph.co.uk/great-britishbake-off