Simon Mayo Drivetime

Simon Mayo Drivetime

Other names	Drivetime From Radio 2
Genre	Music, Talk
Running time	2 hours
Country	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 2
Host(s)	Simon Mayo
Starring	Rebecca Pike Bobbie Pryor Matt Williams
Recording studio	Western House, London
Air dates	since 11 January 2010
Audio format	88–91 FM, DAB digital radio, TV and online
Opening theme	Enjoy Yourself by Prince Buster and Jools Holland
Ending theme	As opening
Website	Official BBC Website
Podcast	The Weekly Mayo Simon Mayo's Confessions

Simon Mayo Drivetime is the current incarnation of the drivetime show on BBC Radio 2, which airs on weekdays between 17:00 and 19:00 in the United Kingdom.^[1] It is presented by broadcaster Simon Mayo, who moved to drivetime from his weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live after Chris Evans moved to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.^[2]

Co-Presenting Team

Rebecca Pike

Rebecca Pike presents 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. On Fridays she interviews a guest with a new invention, known as the Innovation Slot.^[3] Pike is known as 'Sister Rebecca' when participating in the daily confession.

Matt Williams

Matt Williams is 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 interviews somebody who is involved in a sport that is not regularly reported in the general media, known as the Friday Fixture. He also announces the weekly rock tune on Wednesdays as "Doctor Mosh", ^[4] as well as participating in the daily confession as 'Brother Matt'.

Bobbie Pryor

Bobbie Pryor is the regular weekday afternoon travel reporter on Radio 2, and reads the travel news at 17:20, 17:55, 18:30 and 18:55 each day. Pryor was previously the Friday afternoon and weekend travel reporter but from 11th August 2014 became the regular weekday reporter, replacing Sally Boazman who moved to weekends.

Nigel Barden

Radio 2's resident chef, who cooks for the team every Thursday. He participates in Thursday's confession as 'Novice Nigel'.

Stand-in Presenters

Stand-in presenters on the show have included Patrick Kielty, Liza Tarbuck, Ryan Tubridy and Richard Allinson.

Former

Sally Boazman

Sally Boazman was the regular travel reporter on the show, but in August 2014 made the move to weekends on Radio 2. Due to holidays, her final show with Mayo was on 24th July 2014, but her last report was on 7th August 2014.

Alan Dedicoat

Alan Dedicoat was the regular weekday newsreader on Radio 2, who read the 17:00 news coming into the show. He also occasionally participated in the daily confession as 'The Dean of Deadly' (a reference to his long-standing nickname, coined by Sir Terry Wogan). Dedicoat retired from regular newsreading duties on Radio 2 on Friday 27th March 2015, but briefly returned on Monday 30th March 2015 for one final confession.

Show Features

The show's opening and closing theme tune is a 2003 recording by Jools Holland and Prince Buster of the 1948 song "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" by Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson. 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 from their 1980 album More Specials.

Monday-Thursday Regular Features

• Three Word-ers: Listeners send in a summary of their day in no more than three words, which are read out sporadically throughout the show. There is also a "talking text service" where listeners read out their three word-er live on air.

• The Oldies: A selection of five or six songs all related to a particular topic relevant to that day's events are played throughout the show, chosen by readers of the show's blog and followers of the show's official Twitter and Facebook accounts.

• "Subject" Guest: At around 5:20, a guest is introduced and they discuss an issue raised in the previous day's show, or in the news on that day. The guest is generally an expert in the subject area under discussion. The music used in this section is usually an instrumental version of Ray LaMontagne's "Repo Man" from his 2010 album God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, although occasionally the theme to children's sci-fi series Joe 90 is used.

• Homework Sucks: Listeners are invited to send in questions to see if other listeners can answer them.^[5] These can be any form of question, and two or three per day are 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 is Chicken Man by Alan Hawkshaw, best known in the UK as the theme tune to children's school-based drama Grange Hill.

• Confessions: Carried on from Mayo's previous radio shows on BBC Radio 1, listeners send in embarrassing or funny stories about them offending, injuring, or playing practical jokes on people, that they never owned up to at the time it happened.^[6] Mayo's co-presenters offer forgiveness (or not, as the case may be) before listeners being invited to text or email in their verdicts on the story, some of which are read out over the course of the rest of the show. The confessions from the week are compiled into a weekly podcast, released on Fridays.

• Facts of the Day: After the news at 6 o'clock, humorous "facts of the day" are read relating to the specialist subject area of each of Mayo, Williams and Pike. Each fact has its own title relating to the content of the fact.

• Celebrity Guests: On most days, the show invites a celebrity guest(s) on in the second hour of the show (when it is not taken up by Nigel Barden's food slot, or the Book Club), who are there to plug a newly released film, TV series or book.

• The Drivetime Live Sessions: Occasionally, an artist or band will perform a number of their tracks live in the studio. In between songs, they are interviewed by Mayo.

• The Radio 2 Book Club: (fortnightly, Mondays) An author is interviewed about a recently published book that they have written, and the team review and discuss the book. Listeners also send in their reviews, and a preview chapter is usually uploaded onto the show's webpage.^[7]

• Tunesday: (occasional, Tuesdays) In lieu of a guest, occasionally the half hour between 18:00 and 18:30 is given over to songs over 5 minutes long that aren't usually played on the radio in their full length versions. Listeners send in suggestions for tracks and 3 or 4 are played.

• Nigel Barden's Recipes: (weekly, Thursdays) The show's resident chef, Nigel Barden, cooks the team some (sometimes unusual) dishes.

• The Quiz: At around 6:30 Mayo, Pike and Williams quiz each other on their respective specialist subjects, and a score is kept throughout the week. The music used in this feature is a 1970 cha-cha-chá rendition of The Doors' "Light My Fire" by Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra.

• Matt's Middle-Aged Midweek Mosh: (weekly, Wednesdays) Sports reporter (and rock fan) Matt Williams announces a weekly classic rock record, played at around 18:45, and encourages everyone listening to act as if they are in a mosh pit, and "rock out".^[8]

• The Showstopper: Listeners are invited to email in their suggestions for the last song to be played on the show, which is in the same musical genre as the specialist music show following Drivetime on any particular day.^[9] Previously, a listener vote decided the choice but this was replaced in September 2012 with the current system. At present the different genres are:
  • Monday - Rhythm and blues (preceding Paul Jones)
  • Tuesday - Jazz (preceding Jamie Cullum)
  • Wednesday - Folk (preceding Mark Radcliffe)
  • Thursday - Country (preceding Bob Harris)

Former features

• Brucie Bonus: For the first three months of 2015, every show featured at least one track by Bruce Springsteen. The name is a reference to one of British TV host Bruce Forsyth's many catchphrases from Play Your Cards Right.

All-Request Friday

To allow Mayo time to continue to present Kermode and Mayo's Film Review on 5Live and following on from Chris Evans' Drivetime show, on Fridays all records played are chosen by the listeners - hence the name. The regular features from Mondays-Thursdays do not appear. Regular background music used on Fridays includes "On the Rebound" by Floyd Cramer, "Tom Hark" by The Piranhas, "A Swingin' Safari" by Bert Kaempfert and "House of the King" by Focus, as well as other stock instrumentals in different musical styles.

• Mah Nà Mah Nà: A regular song on All Request Friday is the 1976 Muppets version of Piero Umiliani's Mah Nà Mah Nà (although the version played is the remastered version from the soundtrack to the 2011 film The Muppets). Introduced as "that song", it is usually the second track played on the show.

• Innovation Slot: In her 6:40 bulletin, Pike interviews an inventor who has created an obscure - but helpful - product. Information about featured inventions can be found by accessing the individual webpages for each Friday's show on the BBC website.

• Friday Fixture: In a similar vein to the Innovation Slot, Williams has the Friday Fixture where a participant in an "obscure" sport (i.e. one which is not widely reported in the media) is interviewed.

Special shows

Occasionally there is a special edition of the show, covering special events in the UK. Such events have included pre-show coverage of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, a fortnight of special shows for the London 2012 Olympics and a special programme from the Science Museum in London to commemorate the BBC's 90th anniversary on 14 November 2012.

Other media

Podcasts

As with several other shows on Radio 2, highlights from the show are released as a podcast, which can be downloaded from the BBC's website and from other sources (such as iTunes). Two weekly podcasts are produced, both released on Fridays. The Weekly Mayo features highlights the of interviews from the preceding week,^[10] whilst Simon Mayo's Confessions is a collection of the confessions.^[11]

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,^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

Track Listing

CD 1
No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Ho Hey"	The Lumineers	2:44
2.	"Counting Stars"	OneRepublic	4:16
3.	"Candy"	Robbie Williams	3:20
4.	"Home Again"	Elton John	4:59
5.	"Red"	Taylor Swift	3:40
6.	"Never Tear Us Apart"	Paloma Faith	3:04
7.	"Beneath Your Beautiful"	Labrinth feat. Emeli Sandé	3:57
8.	"Tangled Up"	Caro Emerald	3:16
9.	"Forever Autumn"	Jeff Wayne feat. Liam Neeson and Gary Barlow	7:55
10.	"Home"	Gabrielle Aplin	4:06
11.	"L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N."	Noah & The Whale	3:46
12.	"Broken"	Jake Bugg	4:07
13.	"Only Love"	Ben Howard	3:48
14.	"Payphone"	Maroon 5	3:43
15.	"Shout"	Tears for Fears	4:04
16.	"Fill My Little World"	The Feeling	3:39
17.	"The Love Cats"	The Cure	3:39
18.	"Somewhere Only We Know [note 1]"	Keane	3:47
19.	"Feel [note 1]"	Robbie Williams	4:01
20.	"Wild Wood [note 1]"	Paul Weller	3:57
Total length:			72:51

CD 2
No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Pride (In the Name of Love)"	U2	3:49
2.	"Let Me Go"	Gary Barlow	3:40
3.	"Called Out in the Dark"	Snow Patrol	3:28
4.	"Indian Summer"	Stereophonics	4:26
5.	"All I Wanna Do"	Sheryl Crow	4:33
6.	"Just Give Me a Reason"	P!nk feat. Nate Ruess	4:03
7.	"Army of Two"	Olly Murs	3:45
8.	"Video Games"	Lana Del Rey	4:02
9.	"Alive and Kicking"	Simple Minds	4:46
10.	"Human"	The Killers	4:06
11.	"Turn Back the Hands of Time"	Mick Hucknall	2:37
12.	"Suddenly I See"	KT Tunstall	3:12
13.	"Love is the Drug"	Roxy Music	4:07
14.	"Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"	Travis	4:25
15.	"Dignity"	Deacon Blue	3:59
16.	"Weather with You"	Crowded House	3:46
17.	"Life in a Northern Town [note 1]"	Sugarland	3:52
18.	"Babies [note 1]"	Noah & The Whale	4:01
19.	"Knockin' on Heaven's Door [note 1]"	The Pierces	3:31
20.	"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together [note 1]"	Taylor Swift	3:21
Total length:			77:29

CD 3
No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"The Man Who Can't Be Moved"	The Script	4:01
2.	"Greatest Day"	Take That	3:57
3.	"Silenced By the Night"	Keane	3:16
4.	"If I Die Young"	The Band Perry	3:43
5.	"Drops of Jupiter"	Train	4:20
6.	"That Don't Impress Me Much"	Shania Twain	4:01
7.	"Say What You Want"	Texas	3:50
8.	"Don't Stop the Dance"	Bryan Ferry	3:58
9.	"Call Me"	Blondie	3:32
10.	"It Must Be Love"	Madness	3:21
11.	"Secret Smile"	Semisonic	3:45
12.	"Johnny Got a Boom Boom"	Imelda May	2:58
13.	"Some Nights"	Fun.	4:00
14.	"When You Really Loved Someone"	Agnetha Fältskog	3:31
15.	"Edge of Something"	Jamie Cullum	4:41
16.	"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)"	Jools Holland and Prince Buster	3:03
17.	"It's My Life [note 1]"	Bon Jovi	3:47
18.	"Labelled With Love [note 1]"	Squeeze	4:28
19.	"Give It All Up [note 1]"	Amy Macdonald	3:31
20.	"Shame [note 1]"	Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams	3:48
Total length:			75:33

Awards

The show won the title of Best Music Programme in the 2011 Sony Radio Academy Awards.^[15]

See also

• Chris Evans Drivetime

References

External links

• Simon Mayo Drivetime at BBC Programmes

BBC Radio 2 Current presenters Clare Balding Michael Ball Don Black Tony Blackburn Ken Bruce Desmond Carrington Sara Cox Jamie Cullum Russell Davies Chris Evans Vanessa Feltz Paul Gambaccini Bob Harris Jools Holland Paul Jones Diane-Louise Jordan Alex Lester Janice Long Brian Matthew Simon Mayo Huey Morgan Trevor Nelson Graham Norton Nigel Ogden Paul O'Grady Dermot O'Leary Elaine Paige Dave Pearce Mark Radcliffe Frank Renton Anneka Rice David Rodigan Liza Tarbuck Clare Teal Jeremy Vine Johnnie Walker Jo Whiley Claudia Winkleman Terry Wogan Steve Wright, Janey Lee Grace Tim Smith Newsreaders and reporters Vassos Alexander Sally Boazman Lynn Bowles Alan Dedicoat Charles Nove Andrew Peach Rebecca Pike Bobbie Pryor Ricky Salmon Tom Sandars Selina Scott Moira Stuart Matt Williams Controllers Robin Scott Douglas Muggeridge Charles McLelland David Hatch Bryant Marriott Frances Line James Moir Lesley Douglas Bob Shennan Notable programmes The Chris Evans Breakfast Show Elaine Paige on Sunday Friday Night is Music Night The Organist Entertains Paul O'Grady on the Wireless Pick of the Pops Simon Mayo Drivetime Sounds of the 60s Steve Wright in the Afternoon The Sunday Hour Weekend Wogan Seasonal programming It's Been a Bad Week The Day the Music Died Jammin' PopMaster BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards BBC Radio New Comedy Awards External links BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 Podcasts