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Mark Radcliffe (born 29 June 1958) is an English radio broadcaster, musician and writer. He is best known for his broadcasting work for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, for which he has worked in various roles since the 1980s. Radcliffe began his broadcasting career in local commercial radio in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
before a move to the national station BBC Radio 5, where he met and formed a partnership with Marc Riley, a former guitarist with the Fall. In 1991 he moved to
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
, closely followed by Riley with whom, under the moniker Mark and Lard, he worked for 11 years on the station. The pair's stint on Radio 1 included a brief and opinion-dividing spell on the flagship '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' and a subsequent afternoon slot show that garnered three prestigious Sony Radio Academy Awards. When the Mark and Lard duo left BBC Radio 1 in 2004, Radcliffe joined
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
and has also presented various TV shows for the BBC, including its coverage of the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
. He remains a presenter on BBC Radio 2, where he presents the weekly programme ''The Folk Show''. On
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...
, he co-hosts the weekend breakfast show with
Stuart Maconie Stuart John Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark Radc ...
; they previously co-presented the weekday afternoon show on the same channel, and before that the evening show on Radio 2.


Early life

His father Philip (1932–2018) joined the BBC in Manchester as a news assistant from 2 December 1963, aged 31. By 1967, his father was the producer of Look North in Manchester. His father later worked in the press office of the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
from 1970 until 1996. His father spoke Russian, and worked with the Great Britain–Russia Society, and later lived in Derbyshire. Radcliffe was born in
Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, and educated at Bolton School and the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, where he studied English, American Studies and Classical Civilisation. He stayed at the traditional all-male Woolton Hall, Manchester of the university at the
Fallowfield Campus The Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University of Manchester. It is located in Fallowfield, Manchester, 2 miles (3 km) south of the main university site, to which it is connected by Wilmslow Road and the A34 road (E ...
, where gowns and suits were worn at meal times, in the late 1970s; there were no exceptions. He took an interest in music from a young age, playing drums in numerous bands while at school and university and into his working life.


Personal life

He married Bella Sharp on Saturday 19 April 1997 in Cheshire; his 27 year old wife, from Hampshire, was an assistant at Granada TV. In 1995 he lived in
Heaton Mersey Heaton Mersey is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the north-western border of Stockport, adjacent to Didsbury and Burnage which are in the City of Manchester. The suburb is an affluent residential area and c ...
. As of 2007, he lived in
Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...
, Cheshire; with three daughters (one from his first marriage), and became a grandfather in October 2008. In July 2011, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the
University of Bolton The University of Greater Manchester (legally: The University of Bolton Higher Education Corporation) is a public university in Bolton, Greater Manchester in England. The university is commonly referred to as a 'post-92' institution, which is a ...
. On 3 October 2018, he announced on his BBC Radio 2 show that he had "cancerous tongue and lymph node issues" and he would take a break from his radio broadcasting for a while. Radcliffe returned to the show on 13 February 2019. In 2020, Radcliffe was presented with a Knutsford Civic Award by the Mayor of Knutsford for his work curating events as part of the town's music festival.


Radio and music

During his student years, Radcliffe was a member of a number of bands, including a short stint as the drummer for the band Skrewdriver which he left before their later transformation into a white power group. His first job was assistant producer at Piccadilly Radio in 1979, producing documentaries, classical music and drama. Radcliffe's radio presenting career began in late 1982 at
Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West En ...
, where he hosted a Friday night show called ''Cures For Insomnia''. He later hosted ''Transmission'', an eclectic show playing local and nationally recognised new wave and
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
bands as well as European
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
and
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
.


Radio 5 career

Radcliffe came to prominence as a DJ on BBC Radio 5's ''Hit the North'' from 28 August 1990, but also appeared on other shows such as ''Cult Radio''. Nearly twenty years later, in 2009, he briefly stood in as a presenter on
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
, the station that replaced it, to cover
Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...
's afternoon show.


BBC Radio 1

Radcliffe's
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
career began in 1983 when he produced sessions at
Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...
for
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
's show, and was the head of live music. He moved back to Piccadilly Radio in 1985 as head of music. He moved back to the BBC, producing arts shows for Radio 2, and Radio 5's '5 A Side'; as a producer he was the first to put
Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise ...
on national radio as Mrs Merton. Radio 1 had heard his programme on the former Radio 5, and offered him two weeks when Mark Goodier was off, and afterwards Radio 1 offered him a weekly one-hour show on Mondays. In 1991, he started presenting the one-hour Monday evening show '' Out on Blue Six''. In early 1993 he hosted the arts programme ''The Guest List'' on Thursdays. Also in 1993, Radcliffe presented ''Skyman'', an odd show that he presented in character as a visiting alien, and all the records played were space-related. This half-hour show aired immediately before ''Out on Blue Six'' on Monday evenings. His most famous work was when he took over from Nicky Campbell on 28 October 1993. This was part of the act Mark and Lard (with Marc "The Boy Lard" Riley) on Radio 1. The duo began in a 10 pm – midnight slot, the graveyard shift, on Mondays to Thursdays. Mark and Lard hosted a show of unprecedented variety, incorporating poetry readings from regular guest Ian McMillan, off the wall, irreverent comedy, bizarre quizzes 'Fish or Fowl', 'Bird or Bloke', 'Bard or Blake' (amongst others), and a playlist that rivalled
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
in eclecticism. The show also held some of the best sessions from up and coming and alternative bands of the time, including
Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was original ...
,
Moloko Moloko () were an English-Irish electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and music producer, producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their ...
,
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
, Pulp,
Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One ...
,
The Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fift ...
,
Babybird Babybird are an English rock band formed by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first use ...
,
The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...
,
Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
and
Mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
. Radcliffe is also credited with the success of
White Town Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and record producer, producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song "Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was ...
's " Your Woman" in January 1997. Following Chris Evans' sudden departure from Radio 1 in early 1997, Radcliffe and Riley were moved to a brief and unsuccessful position on the breakfast show. Their style of music and broadcasting was not a success in this slot, which catered for a more mainstream audience, and they were soon moved into the early afternoon slot where they resided for the next seven years. This show was a success and saw them win three Sony Gold awards for Best Daily Music Show.


BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music

Radcliffe left Radio 1 in March 2004 and moved to
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
in June of the same year, with Riley moving to
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...
. The new show was reminiscent of the graveyard slot he had previously occupied on BBC Radio 1; with live music and studio guests and ran between 10:30 pm and midnight. The respect Radcliffe had garnered as a broadcaster was cemented when he scooped a major interview with
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
in late 2005, her first in several years. For many months prior to this, he had been running his own 'Bush-O-Meter' on his show, questioning the possible whereabouts and activities of the elusive singer-songwriter and adding a photo of the day's guest or the 'Blessed Kate' to the chart until she appeared on the show. Radcliffe also won a Sony award for this show. Starting on 16 April 2007, Radcliffe joined forces with
Stuart Maconie Stuart John Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark Radc ...
to present a new show on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
on Mondays to Thursdays from 8 pm to 10 pm to much critical acclaim, including winning the prestigious Sony award for best Radio show of 2009. From April 2010, the show was reduced to three nights a week, Mondays to Wednesdays. For a time, he was a frequent stand-in in partnership with Emma Forbes or
Liza Tarbuck Liza Tarbuck ( ; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter. Early life Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck an ...
during the 2–5 pm slot when Steve Wright was away on holiday, thus taking him back to afternoon radio, and also stood in for
Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...
on
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
on a few occasions. In 2009, Radcliffe reunited with Marc Riley to make a series of radio adverts for
Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...
that were broadcast in
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
. In spring 2011, his show with Maconie moved to BBC Radio 6 Music, in the weekday afternoon slot. Radcliffe also presented his own weekly solo show on BBC Radio 2, called ''Mark Radcliffe's Music Club'', and in 2013 he took over the presentation of BBC Radio 2's weekly folk programme from
Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, broadcaster and musician. Early life and education Harding's father, Louis Arthur "Curly" Harding, a navigator in the RAF, was killed in the Second Worl ...
. His weekday afternoon show with Maconie was moved on 21 December 2018 to the weekends while he was undergoing treatment for cancer. Maconie had broadcast solo while Radcliffe was away for treatment, but Radcliffe joined Maconie for the last hour of the weekday show. He rang in at home on the first weekend breakfast show on 12 January 2019, and then he rejoined Maconie on a permanent basis from 2 February 2019 and Radcliffe also rejoined to
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
on 13 February 2019.


Band member

Radcliffe experienced brief commercial success with Shirehorses, a parody band (its name based on the short-lived band The Seahorses) spawned from his Mark and Lard antics. Earlier in his career, he had played in other bands, including the band Skrewdriver (briefly, before their reincarnation as a
white power skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, music of white skin head white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white natio ...
band, in which he played no part). Radcliffe has written about his part in this band in his book ''Showbusiness''. As of 2007, Radcliffe was a member of the more
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
-orientated The Family Mahone which evolved into the group Mark Radcliffe & Foes. He also fronted the Dr. Feelgood tribute band Mark Radcliffe & the Big Figures and the pirate-themed band Galleon Blast. Radcliffe is also co-writer and performer in an avant-garde electronic duo UNE with Paul Langley and performs percussion and backing vocals with the band Fine Lines, who supported Kiefer Sutherland on his 2022 UK tour. Since 2023 Mark has also been performing in a duo with singer/songwriter David Boardman.Their debut album 'First Light' was released in February 2024.


''Folk at the Theatre''

Since 2018, Radcliffe has curated ''Folk at the Theatre'' as part of the
Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...
Music Festival bringing internationally acclaimed musicians including many of those he has featured on the Folk Show, to the Cheshire town. The events were named for being hosted at the town's Little Theatre and later expanded to be hosted in the larger local church as well.


Television

Radcliffe presented a live music TV programme, ''The White Room'', for four series on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
from 11 June 1994 to 23 August 1996, and has regularly appeared in both
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
and the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's coverage of the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
, as well as the latter's broadcasts from the
Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix ...
. He made a guest appearance as himself in
CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...
show ''
Children's Ward ''Children's Ward'' (retitled ''The Ward'' from 1995 to 1998) is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its '' Children's ITV'' strand on weekday afternoons. It ai ...
'' in 1997. On Thursday 10 July 1997, he presented a 15-week series entitled 'Schools Challenge' on Granada, for schools in the Manchester area, with a set like ''
University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...
''. He was a huge fan of ''University Challenge'' in the 1970s. Along with Marc Riley, he presented a music-based quiz programme, ''Pop Upstairs Downstairs'', for the BBC/ Flextech digital TV channel UK Play in 1999 and 2000. He also presented the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
retrospective show ''Match of the Nineties'', which aired in summer 1999. In 2006, he won the ITV singing competition ''
Stars in Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format '' Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 Ju ...
'' with an appearance portraying
The Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish phrase :wikt:póg mo thóin, ''p� ...
front-man
Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 195730 November 2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, whic ...
singing " The Irish Rover". In 2009, he took over from Steve Wright as the presenter of ''
Top of the Pops 2 ''Top of the Pops 2'' (also known as ''TOTP2'') is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two showing archive footage from the long-running ''Top of the Pops'' show, some dating back to the 1960s when the programme first aired on Briti ...
''. He presented the
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
documentary ''The Richest Songs in the World'', which counted down the 10 most successful songs of all time in terms of money earned. The Shirehorses were due to appear in an episode of the sitcom ''
Phoenix Nights '' Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights'', sometimes shortened to ''Phoenix Nights'', is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In th ...
'' as the folk band Half a Shilling, but had concerns about the potentially racist content of the part they were to play. They were replaced at the last minute by Tim Healy. In 2014, Radcliffe was the narrator of
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
's ''Call the Council''. In 2021, he presented ''Live from the Edge'', a 13-part music series shown on Showcase TV (Sky channel 191) from Edge Recording Studio, with performances by bands like The Sherlocks, Sea Fever and The Lottery Winners. Radcliffe was also one of a number of music experts hired by Viacom International Studios UK, to comment on the best selling chart hits of the 1980s and 1990s, for a number of Friday night music countdowns on Channel 5 (with the shows being known under various titles such as ''Greatest Hits of the 80s'', or ''Britain's Biggest 90s Hits'').


Writing

Radcliffe wrote the autobiographical ''Showbusiness: The Diary of a Rock 'N' Roll Nobody'' (1999); a critically acclaimed history of his attempts at a career as a musician, including his exploits with Shirehorses. His novel ''Northern Sky'', based around a
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
club in an imaginary Northern English city, was published in 2005. A book of anecdotes about his life and career, ''Thank You For the Days'' was published in 2009. Another memoir, ''Reelin' in the Years'', was published in 2011. ''Crossroads: In Search of the Moments that Changed Music'', a "personal journey" through music history, was published in September 2019.


Producing

Radcliffe started his BBC Radio career in 1983, where he worked as a producer, producing sessions for
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
featuring artists such as
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...
. Radcliffe was a producer of '' Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!'' for
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
from series 1 to series 6.Cast & Crew
''British Comedy Guide''. Retrieved 16 July 2021.


References


External links

*
''Radcliffe and Maconie''
(BBC Radio 6 Music)
''The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe''
(BBC Radio 2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe, Mark 1958 births Living people 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century English memoirists 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English male musicians BBC Radio 2 presenters BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 6 Music presenters English radio DJs English radio personalities People educated at Bolton School Mass media people from Bolton People from Knutsford