Jane Garvey joins Radio Times magazine as new weekly columnist
Broadcaster Jane Garvey has joined Radio Times, the UK’s leading authority on television and radio, as their new weekly columnist.
Former Woman’s Hour presenter and the first voice on BBC Radio 5 live when it launched in 1994, Jane Garvey will be casting her critical eye over the best, and worst, on television every week, replacing Alison Graham, who retired last week after 26 years on Radio Times.
On taking up her role, Jane says: “I think I know what’s going through your mind – who is this upstart daring to step into the generally warm but occasionally acerbic shoes of our good friend Alison Graham? I get it, I really do. I am a mere radio presenter who watches a fair bit of telly. Though I do have a Blue Peter badge, if that helps. Still, I’m an expert on nothing, except my own opinion. And even that’s debatable. I hereby reserve the right to be fairly inconsistent. I hope that’s all right with you.”
Radio Times Joint-Editor, Tom Loxley, adds: “We’re delighted to welcome a broadcaster of Jane’s stature to Radio Times. She brings a wealth of experience from a lifetime spent behind the mic, but it’s her views on television our readers will want to hear. She is a viewer who has a formidable appetite for television - and a lifelong love of it - to go with robust views as to what makes a television programme good or bad, irresistible or indifferent. But most importantly she is wonderful writer with warmth and wit who we know our readers will enjoy.”
Jane started her broadcasting career on Radio Wyvern before joining the BBC in 1988, she was the launch presenter on BBC Radio 5 live where she stayed for 13 years as presenter of various programmes, including 5 live Breakfast and 5 live Drive, with Peter Allen. In 2007 Jane joined BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour until she stepped down in December 2020. Since 2017, Jane has also presented the hugely successful podcast Fortunately... with Fi and Jane, a frank look behind the scenes with broadcasters Jane and Fi with as guests from radio, TV and podcasting sharing stories they probably shouldn't.
Jane’s first column for Radio Times is in the new issue on sale from Tuesday 29th June. Read it below.
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Jane Garvey: I think I know what’s going through your mind – who is this upstart daring to step into the generally warm but occasionally acerbic shoes of our good friend Alison Graham? I get it, I really do. I am a mere radio presenter who watches a fair bit of telly. Though I do have a Blue Peter badge, if that helps. Still, I’m an expert on nothing, except my own opinion. And even that’s debatable. I hereby reserve the right to be fairly inconsistent. I hope that’s all right with you.
Like Alison, I’m a slightly spiky Northern woman, and very much a television viewer, not a critic – but I suppose I like to think of myself as the sort of discerning individual who always watches Channel 4 News. And I do watch it. But sometimes I find myself still entranced by The One Show at 27 minutes past seven, probably because I was reeled in by a short film about hedgehogs and stayed for the slightly awkward chat with the A-list celebrity who can’t quite understand why they’re there, but is so polished they just get on with it, dutifully feigning interest in a man from Daventry who collects bus timetables.
If you’ve had a long day (and lately, who hasn’t?), it’s simply a lot easier on the brain – and the eyes – than one of Jon Snow’s Day-Glo ties as he gives another hapless politician a going-over. I’m still in denial about his imminent departure, by the way. Although I suspect my dismay may not be shared by some of the great man’s on-air colleagues who’ve had to be, shall we say, very patient. Indeed.
What am I suggesting here? Television presenters with egos? Yes, I most certainly am. But that’s not really a criticism. To excel in that role, you need a lot more than an ego the size of a smallish planet. I tried daytime telly myself, back in the 1990s, and I was absolutely rubbish. Couldn’t do it to save my life. So I doff my sunhat to anyone who can make live television seem effortless and welcoming. That skill set has never been more useful than in the last 18 months, when many of us clung to our Old Normal like never before. Thanks, then, to those familiar faces who kept it all coming. And to their producer colleagues who probably did a little more fluffing than normal. It can’t have been easy. I bet the WhatsApp groups were lively.
I promise to use this space responsibly. I’m not that easily influenced, so I won’t wang on about the bleak appeal of a subtitled show on the life and times of a Slovak taxidermist or an epic drama set entirely in a drawer. I’ll tell you what I liked, and you can tell me what you’re enjoying, too. I think enjoyment is the key, here.
I found a lot to admire in the recent Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy drama Together, about a brittle couple picking their way through lockdown. Taut script, great performances. It was clearly very, very good. I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. Would I recommend it to a friend? No, not after the year we’ve had. We’re not quite ready for all this yet. Cue another One Show small mammal item, please.
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