''Breakaway'' was

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

's second regular consumer travel programme, the first being the short-lived "Away From It All", both run by producer Roger MacDonald. It was launched on 29 September 1979, when it ran from 9.05 to 9.50 on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

, where it continued to be broadcast live every Saturday morning in roughly the same time slot for almost two decades. Its longest-serving presenter was

Bernard Falk Bernard Michael Falk (16 February 1943 – 4 August 1990) was a British television reporter and interviewer perhaps best known for his contributions to the BBC current affairs and magazine programme '' Nationwide'' in the 1970s and the BBC Ra ...

, who fronted the programme from 1980 to 1990. ''Breakaway'' finally came to an end as part of the extensive schedule changes introduced by Radio 4 controller James Boyle in April 1998.

History and format

''Breakaway'' took the BBC into a new era, far removed from the idealised travel dreams of the ''Holiday'' programme, presenting a relatively impartial and realistic view of travel. MacDonald favoured reporters who were members of the Guild of Travel Writers who were hardened travel professionals, and schooled them in the art of radio journalism. A regular commentator was Nigel Coombs, then editor of ''

Travel Trade Gazette ''Travel Trade Gazette'' (UK & Ireland edition), known as ''TTG,'' is a weekly newspaper for the travel industry. ''TTG'' was launched in 1953 by Leslie Stone and Ted Kirkham and is the world's oldest travel trade newspaper. It includes news, d ...

'' who provided knowledgeable insights into the travel industry. The mix of 'warts and all' location features and comedic interviews with travel executives trying to defend the indefensible, found almost universal favour with the audience. The programme often discussed unsavoury topics; for example, it ran an interview with Dr.

Jane Wilson-Howarth Jane Wilson-Howarth CF, BSc (hons), MSc (Oxon), BM, DCH, DCCH, DFSRH, FRSTM&H, FFTM RCPS (Glasg) (born 1954) is a British physician, lecturer and author. She has written three travel health guides, two travel narratives, a novel and a series o ...

on diarrhoea while travelling. The programme was occasionally broadcast from overseas, including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and famously on one occasion live from

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

on the weekend when the Townsend Thoresen ferry "

Herald of Free Enterprise MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was ow ...

" ran aground.

Theme music

The distinctive theme music was "Breakaway" written by

Con Conrad Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer. Biography Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad p ...

Archie Gottler Archie Gottler (May 14, 1896 – June 24, 1959) was an American composer, screenwriter, actor, and film director.Sidney D. Mitchell Sidney D. Mitchell (June 15, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland – February 25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) was a Hollywood film industry lyricist and composer. Mitchell is best known for his collaborations with Lew Pollack on movie scores ...

for the film ''

Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 ''Fox Movietone Follies of 1929'', also known as ''Movietone Follies of 1929'' and ''The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929'', is an American black-and-white and color pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation. Plot George Shelb ...

'' and performed by

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz" ...

and his Orchestra.

References

BBC Radio 4 programmes 1979 radio programme debuts {{UK-radio-show-stub