On behalf of me, I’d like to say thanks so much for listening in to my debut live radio show.
I’d especially like to thank those who spent the time texting in to wish me good luck, and offer words of encouragement.
I’d like to, but since none of you did…
Come on! I mean, I give you so much stuff, almost every day. Some of it is even useful!
The least I deserve is a ruddy text, surely. I mean, it’s not every day you have to ‘drive a desk’ (barely got out of second gear, stalled a couple of times, a ghostly jingle emanated from somewhere before pumping itself down the pipes and into your ears) and talk coherently.
The first segment with the big guy from Mersey Fire and Rescue Service was fraught with tension, frankly. The ghost jingle didn’t help kick things off smoothly, but it was a little stilted on the oral front, too. I guess this is a bit like wedding day jitters, but without the confetti and there was definitely no free bar (although bottles of water were on the house: that studio should be rented out as an off-peak sauna).
All the stresses of hosting a show floated away after that. I’d go so far as to say it might have even been bearable for the listeners.
A few things:
- I’m not so sure the text service is a particularly good one. I mean, the texts literally came in on a mobile phone. I didn’t really get to the bottom of that. Halfway through the show the phone went walkies and I got a text written out, which was lovely, but what about the other 9,000 people who obviously texted in and didn’t have their messages read out live on air? I felt so sorry for them. I promise, I’ll do better next time. So TEXT IN AGAIN!
- Despite us being a two-strong team of presenters, we didn’t have sufficient interaction until right at the end when we had to riff for 10 minutes after our last guest buggered off early. We must have been aces by that point because we blathered on like proper pros. I don’t think the two Marks on Radio 2 have much to worry about at this point, however.
- Gordon Brown didn’t show up. Roger Moore got stuck on the East Lancs Road. But our other guests really did pull it out of the air for us.
The fire service should be proud of its exceptional team. The one takeaway I had apart from profound fatigue (a server failure and radio show on the same day do not a happy newbie make) was just how incredibly diverse and valuable the service of Mersey Fire and Rescue is to its community. Cage Football to Inspire Marks, free safety equipment to Romeo and Juliet – these guys are a shining example of what can be achieved by other outfits across the country.
Great show, great laughs, great expectations for our next one on Bank Holiday Monday from10am BST. Tune in.