Radio 4

I’m almost ashamed and most certainly reluctant to include Radio 4 on this list. Not least, because through a variety of means you can access the majority of it here in Australia.

However, it does have to be included for the simple reason that it sets the cultural tempo for a part of England that is dying out. It is the metronome for suburban homes, the very heartbeat of a generation, touched from birth by the clean clear tones that have echoed from Bush House to Portland Place since radio silence was first broken.

What do I miss about it? Well, it could be reasonably argued that life without The Archers, Desert Islands Discs, Punt & Dennis rehashing old sketches and random Jeremy Hardy lectures would be tolerable enough but I would argue, although not too vigorously, that with them it would be just a little bit better. Life without “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue” may well prove for different reasons to be a sad and distinct possibility, life with “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue” is/was a joy to behold – in fact “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue” certainly merits an entry all of it’s own (which in it’s own way is quite amusing).

So, the programming is all very well, when it’s written down it looks good, PIL did a fine elegiac piece on Metal Box called Radio 4 but what is it I really miss? The shipping forecast? – Undoubtedly. TMS? – A summer is incomplete without it but even they flit across channels and frequencies like a Tommy stuck behind enemy lines. What I miss is it’s totality, it’s unreasonableness and it’s faux authority, from Today to the sound of Big Ben on New years Eve you know exactly what to expect, nothing changes and everything moves on. Perfect!