Jeremy Vine

The Jeremy Vine show is a lovely way to start the day. Screened each weekday morning on Channel 5 between 9:15 and 11:15 it brings together a panel of three guests who discuss the day's news and engage in light banter with genial host Jeremy Vine and his delightful co-host, Storm Huntley.

It seldom fails to raise a few laughs and gives the viewer food for thought. Some of the panel members can be too opinionated, rude and aggressive (but enough about Yasmin Alibhai-Brown - she seems to be on every week!) Generally, the group gets on and it makes for excellent entertainment while you have breakfast and ease into the day.

On the downside, the music is too intrusive and the ad-breaks too many and too long! I always record the show and start watching half an hour into it to avoid the dire adverts which tell me how to plan my funeral, the plight of donkeys and how I can get an over 50s plan to help others after I die. One suspects the ad-men and women know their audience.

After watching the show for about a year I began to notice that very often the panel consisted of three women. Nothing wrong with that and why not. But I then found that they never had a line up of three men. I wrote to Channel 5 asking them if this was a policy of the show or the channel. I received a slightly curt response telling me, "We should point out that we have previously had all-male panels." Naturally I trawled back through all the shows since it started (which were recorded on my Sky Box and found out that there had NEVER been an all-male show.

Again, I asked why. No response. I phoned Channel 5 (I was too curious to let the matter drop) and was told my comments had been passed on to the producers for a reply. To cut a long story short I never did get a reply. The Customer Services rep I spoke to on several occasions was just the right side of dismissive.

The Jeremy Vine show remains great viewing with truly entertaining hosts and some marvellous guests. The only burning question is why can't men be trusted to appear in all three guest seats. We will never know but I suspect the producers feel a bit of positive discrimination is fine these days. After all it is Channel 5! Right on...

By the way, the audience is virtually the same every day. It has a sturdy company of die-hard "extras" who sit expressionless and don't dare look into the camera. I dare say they are not allowed to move or say anything unless prompted. Don't think Jeremy would like it if they did. And he can be short sometimes, especially with callers if they don't LOVE cyclists!! But that's another story!

One last comment. Every so often Anne Diamond fills in for Jeremy. When she does the show is sublime to watch. She is truly wonderful. She comes across as a lovely, warm, person. Harmony prevails as does good humour and genuine laughs. No angst, no ego. A class act...

Recommended. Enjoy...

Update 16 December 2020: I have just added a photo of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown aggressively making defamatory comments about Laurence Fox in October. I am delighted to report that she has not been on the show since!

This show followed on from The Wright Stuff, hosted by Matthew Wright and had, by far, a more balanced view regarding current events.

Now, it's just heavily biased waffle with guests who are on the extreme left of the political spectrum, hosted by a divisive figure who thinks he's correct about everything and likes to stir things up on twitter by manipulating a pile-on from all the minions who follow him.

The three-star rating is for Storm Huntley, the co-host, who is far more neutral whilst reporting on whatever the subject may be.

I've actively been avoiding this show since Jeremy Vine took over hosting duties, but will catch up on it time to time whenever a guest host takes part in his stead.

Show steady declined.now we have same callers, nigel rings weekly, same pannelists, with extra special right wing guests to give a 'balanced' pro tory view. Such as boris johnsons dad and matt hancocks pals and my embarrassment of an mp...

Topics are, waaa protests, waaa strikes, waaa meghan, waaa migrants, and yay boris, torys and royals, ignoring dire state many in uk are in as a result of continued tory gov.

Over and over Pannelists lie, carole malone in particular. Storm had to apologise for her anti union drivel at one point.

And one recently lied about migrants being illegal, not first time. And irs never corrected.

Some trult nasty guests in past, including conspiracy theorists... Truly toxic.

I miss tge wright stuff, which was at least balanced.

A show which swings from quite entertaining, to wanting to throw a brick through your tv screen - but of course that is the express intent of the producers. Many of the panelists are rampantly left wing and all but a few have careers which precludes them from saying what they really feel about a topic. Before Wuhan it used to have a small live audience which appeared to be made up of homeless or 'care in the community' people.

There is a saying which goes 'It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good' and this most certainly applies to the sanctimonious, holier than thou Sarah Jarvis, a GP who was originally brought in to offer pandemic advice but has since become a permanent feature. She has managed to forge a completely new TV career, appearing on all channels. In addition to her long running radio job, book and blog writing, and also her position with Patient UK, it' a mystery to me how she finds time to do the job for which she was trained at huge public expense.

I wholly concur with another contributors comments on Jasmine Brown and Anne Diamond.

Jeremy Vine is a better host for his live Channel 5, his successor Matthew Wright being quite rude and ill-tempered most of the time.

Sometimes, some of the debates can be mildly interesting but some of the panellists really get on my nerves!! That arrogant "I'm think I'm so wonderful" Nicole Mclane is one of the worst. Apart from keeping her nose permanently up the @#$% of those attention-seeking, hypocrites Harry and Meghan, I find Mclane comes across as unpleasant, pompous possessing zero intelligence. Yasmin Brown makes a habit of constantly interrupting the other panellists whilst they are talking, especially if someone is disagreeing with her opinions. I laughed out loud when she caused herself some grief, courtesy of her making those potentially libellous comments! The idiot!

Most of the time, the programme provides entertainment value for all the wrong reasons.