''Simon Mayo Drivetime'', is the incarnation of the drivetime 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 ...

between 11 January 2010 and 4 May 2018, being revived briefly for Mayo's final show with the station on 21 December that year, and then fully from 15 March 2021 on Greatest Hits Radio. It is broadcast on weekdays from 16:00 to 19:00 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is presented by broadcaster

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 ...

, who originally moved to

's drivetime from his weekday afternoon show 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 ...

after Chris Evans moved to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. On 10 January 2018, the BBC announced that Jo Whiley would become Mayo's co-host from 14 May. The drivetime show would also be extended to 8pm (being cut back an hour to make room for

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and television presenter, whose career spans over 60 years. Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio Londo ...

's Golden Hour every Friday from 7pm.) The final regular show was broadcast on Thursday 3 May 2018, with the show officially ending with All Request Friday the following day. The new show was not a success, with Mayo announcing his departure from the station on 22 October that year. They presented their last show together on 20 December, with Mayo hosting solo the following day, marking the end of his 17-year stint at the station. He revived the theme music and jingles used in this incarnation of the programme. In February 2021, it was announced that Mayo would be reviving the show on the Bauer-owned Greatest Hits Radio from 15 March 2021, with several of the original production staff and Mayo's co-presenters Matt Williams and Nigel Barden also returning.

Co-Presenting Team

Matt Williams

Matt Williams was the sports reporter on the show, presenting Matt's World of Sport at 17:50 and 18:50 each day. On Fridays, in the second report he interviewed somebody who is involved in a sport that is not regularly reported in the general media, known as the Friday Fixture. He also announced the weekly rock tune on Wednesdays as "Doctor Mosh", as well as participating in the daily confessions as 'Brother Matt'. He returned for the revived show in 2021.

Bobbie Pryor

Bobbie Pryor is the regular weekday afternoon travel reporter on

, and read the travel news at 17:15, 17:55, 18:30 and 18:55 each day. Pryor was previously the weekend travel reporter but from 11 August 2014 became the regular weekday afternoon travel reporter, replacing Sally Boazman who moved to weekends. She participated in the daily confessions as 'Sister Bobbie'.

Nigel Barden

Radio 2's resident chef, who cooked for the team every Thursday. He participated in Thursday's confessions as 'Novice Nigel'. He returned on the revived show in 2021.

Sally Boazman

Sally Boazman was the regular travel reporter on the show, Boazman was known as 'Mother Superior' in the daily confessions. but in August 2014 made the move to weekends on

. Due to holidays, her final show with Mayo was on 24 July 2014, but her last report for weekdays was on 8 August 2014.

Alan Dedicoat

Alan Dedicoat was the regular newsreader and continuity announcer on

, who read the 17:00 news occasionally, coming into the show. He also occasionally participated in the daily confession, Dedicoat retired from newsreading and continuity announcing duties on

on Friday 27 March 2015, but briefly returned on Monday 30 March 2015 for one final confession.

Rebecca Pike

Rebecca Pike presented the business news at 17:30 and 18:40 every day, and at the end of the 17:30 bulletin also reports on the FTSE market data and

exchange rates In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

. On Fridays she interviewed a guest with a new invention, known as the Innovation Slot. Pike was known as 'Sister Rebecca' when participating in the daily confessions, She left the programme and the station on 17 December 2015.

Suzi Purdie

Current producer Suzi Purdie joins in with the show every day, joining in with the Drivetime Drama and taking part in the daily Confessions as 'Sister Suzi'

Holly Carnegie

Assistant Producer Holly Carnegie joins in with the show every day, joining in with the Drivetime Drama and taking part in the daily Confessions as 'Sister Holly'

Stand-in Presenters

Stand-in presenters on the Radio 2 incarnation of the show included

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...

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 ...

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-morning programme ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' on Virgin Radio UK, as well as a weekend programme on Sundays. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned ...

, Richard Allinson, Richard Bacon, Mark Goodier,

Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer ( born 13 December 1974), better known as Sara Cox, is an English broadcaster and author. A presenter on BBC Radio 2, she has been hosting the station's drivetime show since January 2019. She previously presented BBC Radio 1's ...

and Amol Rajan, stand-in hosts on the Greatest Hits Radio version of the show are Richard Allinson, Jackie Brambles,

Kate Thornton Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including '' Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (2 ...

, Andy Crane, Alex Lester, and Mark Goodier.

Show Features

The show's opening and closing theme tune is a 2003 recording by

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

and

Prince Buster Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...

of the 1948 song " Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" by Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson. Before the theme plays, a re-written, a cappella version of "

Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view ...

" by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

played, with "Day-O, me say Day-O" replaced with "Mayo, Simon Mayo". Previously, some editions of the show also used the 1950 hit version by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, or occasionally the version by

The Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

from their 1980 album '' More Specials''. The instrumental "Garden Party" by Mezzoforte was used as a backing track during one of the show's features.

Monday-Thursday Regular Features

* Three Word-ers: Listeners sent in a summary of their day in no more than three words, which were read out sporadically throughout the show. There was also a "talking text service" where listeners read out their three word-er live on air. This feature continues on Scala Radio and later Greatest Hits Radio * The Oldies: A selection of five or six songs all related to a particular topic relevant to that day's events were played throughout the show, chosen by readers of the show's blog and followers of the show's official

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

accounts. * "Subject" Guest: At around 17:20, a guest was introduced and they discuss an issue raised in the previous day's show, or in the news on that day. The guest was generally an expert in the subject area under discussion. The music used in this section was usually an instrumental version of

Ray LaMontagne Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne (; born June 18, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released nine studio albums: '' Trouble'', ''Till the Sun Turns Black'', '' Gossip in the Grain'', '' God Willin' & the Creek Don ...

's "Repo Man" from his 2010 album '' God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise'', although occasionally the theme to children's

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of nine-year-old schoolboy Joe McClaine, who ...

'' was used. * Homework Sucks: Listeners were invited to send in questions to see if other listeners could answer them. These could be any form of question, and two or three per day were selected to be answered (to varying degrees of success) by the general public. Previously, only one question was selected per show with a definitive answer provided by an academic or other expert in whatever subject area the question relates to. The original premise of the feature was that it was only open to children wanting help with their homework (hence the title) but was soon expanded to general questions from anyone. The music used in this section was Chicken Man by Alan Hawkshaw, best known in the UK as the theme tune to children's school-based drama ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''. Latterly the interview with an expert was dropped and three potential answers from listeners were read out. During this time the feature was also known as The Radio 2 Search Engine or Twoogle. * Confessions: Carried on from Mayo's previous radio shows on

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 ...

. listeners sent in embarrassing or funny stories about their injuring, or playing practical jokes on people, that they never owned up to at the time they happened, but which Mayo still broadcasts to the nation over Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's ''Adagio'' for Organ and Strings in G minor. Mayo's co-presenters offered forgiveness (or not, as the case may be) before listeners were invited to text or email in their verdicts on the story, some of which were read out over the course of the rest of the show. The confessions from the week were compiled into a weekly podcast, released on Fridays. This feature continues on Scala Radio and later Greatest Hits Radio. * Celebrity Guests: On most days, the show invited a celebrity guests during the second hour of the show (when it was not taken up by Nigel Barden's food slot, or the Book Club), often to plug a newly released film, TV series or book. * The Drivetime Live Sessions: Occasionally, an artist or band would perform a number of their tracks live in the studio. In between songs, they were interviewed by Mayo. * The Radio 2 Book Club: (fortnightly, Mondays) An author was interviewed about a recently published book that they had written, and the team reviewed and discussed the book. Listeners also sent in their reviews, and a preview chapter was usually uploaded onto the show's webpage. * Tunesday: (fortnightly, Tuesdays) In lieu of a guest, the half-hour between 18:00 and 18:30 was given over to songs over 5 minutes long that aren't usually played on the radio in their full length versions. Listeners sent in suggestions for tracks and 3 or 4 are played. This feature continues on Greatest Hits Radio. * Foodie Thursday: (weekly, Thursdays) The show's resident chef, Nigel Barden, cooked the team some (sometimes unusual) dishes. This feature continues on Greatest Hits Radio. * Matt's Middle-Aged Midweek Mosh: (weekly, Wednesdays) Sports reporter (and rock fan) Matt Williams announced a weekly classic rock record, played at around 18:45, and encouraged everyone listening to act as if they were in a

mosh pit Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (or simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive s ...

, and "rock out". * The Showstopper: Listeners were invited to email in their suggestions for the last song to be played on the show, which was in the same musical genre as the specialist music show following Drivetime on any particular day. Previously, a listener vote decided the choice but this was replaced in September 2012 with the later system. The different genres were: ** Monday –

Rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

(preceding Paul Jones, later Cerys Matthews) ** Tuesday –

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

(preceding

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

) ** Wednesday –

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 ...

(preceding

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 ...

, later Mark Radcliffe) ** Thursday –

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

(preceding Bob Harris) * All-Request Rollover: From Monday-Thursday the show featured a listener who didn't manage to get on the Friday All-Request show with their chosen song as a 'rollover' from Friday's show. * Secret Santana: Every year, in the run up to Christmas the team played a round of 'Secret Santana' in which Mayo got one of the presenters or guests to pick a name out of the 'Secret Santana Fez' to randomly choose a track to play by

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

. * Brucie Bonus: For the first three months of 2015, every show featured at least one track by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. The name is a reference to one of British TV host

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

's many catchphrases from ''

Play Your Cards Right ''Play Your Cards Right'' (or ''Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right'') is a British television game show based on, and played similarly to, the American show ''Card Sharks''. History ''Play Your Cards Right'' broadcast on ITV from 1 Februar ...

''. This feature continues on Greatest Hits Radio. * Facts of the Day: After the news at 6 o'clock, humorous "facts of the day" were read relating to the specialist subject area of each of Mayo, Williams and Pike. Each fact had its own title relating to the content of the fact. This feature was dropped in spring 2015. * The Quiz: At around 18:35 Mayo, Pike and Williams quizzed each other on their respective specialist subjects, and a score was kept throughout the week. The music used in this feature is a 1970 cha-cha-chá rendition of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

' " Light My Fire" by Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra. This feature was dropped during the summer of 2015. *Drivetime Drama: At about 16:45, a 20-30 second long clip of recordings of Simon, Matt and Suzi's voices is played - usually playing various characters, and a song title is enciphered within the aforementioned clip. At 17:10, three callers are selected at random to try and decipher the song title within the clip, and if they guess correctly they win the 'glorious' (according to Mayo) prize of a given number of people to give a shoutout to, doubled every day. The song title is usually a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

. *Simon's Big 45: A song is played that is not on the regular Greatest Hits Radio playlist. *Three Steps to Seven: The final three songs of the show are the official UK or US Billboard top three from any given day within the 70s, 80s or 90s, owing to GHR's remit. *Album Of The Week: A song per day is played from a given popular album released in the month the show is broadcast in history. *6:24/34 Dance Floor: One or two upbeat disco or dance songs are played at either 6:24 or :34 (give or take a couple of minutes).

All-Request Friday

To allow Mayo time to continue to present ''

Kermode and Mayo's Film Review ''Kermode and Mayo's Film Review'' was a radio programme with Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday afternoons. The show was self-described as the BBC's "flagship film programme" and featured film reviews from Ker ...

'' on 5Live and following on from Chris Evans' Drivetime show, on Fridays all records played were chosen by the listeners – hence the name. The regular features from Mondays-Thursdays did not appear. Regular background music used on Fridays included " On the Rebound" by

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

, "Tom Hark" by The Piranhas, " A Swingin' Safari" by

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

, " Giorgio by Moroder" by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

, "House of the King" by

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

, and “ Never Going Back Again” by

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

as well as other

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

instrumentals in different musical styles. * Mah Nà Mah Nà: A regular song on All Request Friday was the 1976 Muppets version of Piero Umiliani's " Mah Nà Mah Nà" (although the version played was the remastered version from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 2011 film ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

''). Introduced as "that song", it was usually the second track played on the show. This feature continues on Greatest Hits Radio. * Friday Fixture: In his 18:50 bulletin, sports reporter Matt Williams had the Friday Fixture where a participant in an "obscure" sport (i.e. one which is not widely reported in the media) was interviewed.

Special shows

Occasionally there was a special edition of the show, covering special events in the UK. Such events included pre-show coverage of the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...

, a fortnight of special shows for the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and a special programme from the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

in London to commemorate the BBC's 90th anniversary on 14 November 2012.

Other media

Podcasts

As with several other shows across BBC Radio, highlights from the show were released as a podcast, which could be downloaded from the BBC's website and from other sources (such as

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

). Two weekly podcasts were produced, both released on Fridays. ''The Weekly Mayo'' featured highlights of the interviews from the preceding week, whilst ''Simon Mayo's Confessions'' was a collection of the confessions.

Books

Two books have been released by Bantam Press, both based on features from the show. The first, ''Confessions'', was released on 13 October 2011 featuring a collection of the best confessions featured on the programme, and the second, entitled ''Homework Sucks!'', was released a year later on 11 October 2012 featuring a selection of the "Homework Sucks" questions and answers.

Album

An album featuring a selection of live tracks performed on the show, alongside other tracks picked by Mayo was released on 24 February 2014.

Track listing

Awards

The show won the title of Best Music Programme in the 2011

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official show website
BBC Radio 2 programmes 2010 radio programme debuts British music radio programmes