The week in radio
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Your support makes all the difference.THE BIG interview on Woman's Hour this week was with Charles Spencer, there to discuss his family (Radio 4, Wed). Ooo, yippee! Surely this most arrogant of aristocrats would be fine fodder for Ms Murray. She would reveal him in his true colours and extract some juicy morsels of gossip to boot. I rubbed my hands with glee.
It transpired that the Earl was there not to discuss the current family, but his ancestors, about whom he has just written a book. Not only did he know his stuff, he also came across as being rather charming. Even, dare I say it, likeable. Crumbs.
The only time he blotted his copybook was when Ms Murray asked him about that speech at his sister's funeral: "What drove you to make that extraordinary oration?"
"I don't know, Jenny. I think the most important thing in life is honesty really. That's been my guiding principle throughout life. It sounds pompous but it's something I've tried to be."
Too right it sounds pompous. Maybe it was his honesty about his affairs that drove his poor wife to a breakdown. She, of course, who stood meekly by while he lay in the bath and informed her that the marriage was all over. Frankly, I feel that deft use of the shower attachment and the business end of a rubber duck would have been justified at this point.
Radio 2 hit the jackpot with The Queen Story (Saturday 6 November 7pm). Queen were there to plug their new album, but while Paul McCartney plugged his on his World Service series with all the subtlety of the German invasion of Poland, Queen did it with delicacy.
It opened with the rousing We Are The Champions and went on to an account of how they chose the band's name. "We just had a long, long list and the one that made everybody sit up, either in approbation or horror was Queen," said Brian May. "It had a sort of regal sound, a strength to it."
I remember at school how amazed we were that any band (and I think we called them groups in those days) would want to call themselves after a middle-aged woman with a twinset and corgis.
Andy Kershaw is on holiday
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