News

The Off Air podcast, hosted by broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, has exceeded 10 million listens since it was launched by The Times in October 2022. The award-winning journalists Jane and Fi joined Times Radio in an exclusive deal to present their first daily live news show last year. Their podcast follows the radio show, so they can say what they really think, without the restrictions of being on air.

The Off Air podcast, presented by leading broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, has exceeded 10 million listens since it was launched by The Times in October 2022.

The award-winning journalists Jane and Fi joined Times Radio in an exclusive deal to present their first daily live news show last year. Fresh from their radio show the duo keep the mics on for their podcast, to say what they really think - unencumbered and off air. They are joined by a wide-range of guests, who have included Jamie Oliver, Eddie Izzard, Lorraine Kelly, Clare Balding and more. They also launched their Book Club this year, with special bonus episodes reviewing books hand picked by listeners.

Jane Garvey said; “Thanks for being there! It’s always such a pleasure to read your emails and know that we’re all part of something daft, meandering, but supportive. It’s a global podcast community!”

Fi...

You’re watching the BBC News at 10, and everything’s gone bloody bats*** mental,” newsreaders may have wanted to say, but have not. For months now – years, even – broadcasters have been heroically reporting on the unfolding chaos of our political world without giving any hint of their own thoughts or feelings. They must tell us the unprofessional things the government has been doing while always remaining consummately professional. But levels of dysfunction within the Tory party have recently reached a high watermark, and some of the on-screen poker faces have slipped. And, frankly, who could blame them?

How, for example, could BBC newsreader Martine Croxall not get the giggles, late on Sunday night, when telling us that Boris Johnson wouldn’t stand in the leadership contest? His David Brent-esque return from the Dominican Republic to try and reclaim his old job had flopped beautifully, and the human response was to find that deeply funny.

Leading broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover are joining Times Radio in an exclusive deal.

The award-winning journalists will present a new live daily afternoon show together on Times Radio, joining a schedule which includes Aasmah Mir, Stig Abell, Matt Chorley, Mariella Frostrup, John Pienaar, Ruth Davidson and Cathy Newman.

Jane and Fi will also be launching a new regular podcast together.

The pair are two of Britain’s most admired broadcasters, having spent their careers at the BBC, and together have hosted the hit BBC podcast Fortunately since 2017 - but this is the first time they will broadcast a live news programme together.

Jane Garvey co-presented first Breakfast and then Drive on BBC Radio 5 Live, and was the first voice when the station launched in 1994, before moving to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, which she presented from 2007 to 2020.

Fi Glover hosted the late-night programme on BBC Radio 5 Live...

The BBC will say farewell to two more high-profile presenters with the departure of Fi Glover and Jane Garvey.

The pair, who have presented the popular BBC Sounds podcast Fortunately podcast since 2017 will host a new live afternoon show four times a week as well as a podcast for Times Radio.

Glover and Garvey are the latest of a string of high-profile star presenters to leave the BBC. Vanessa Feltz recently joined TalkTV, while news presenters Emily Maitlis and Andrew Marr were recruited by Global.

Glover and Garvey’s show will launch on October 10, with details of the podcast to be released soon. Their BBC podcast will continue until the end of the year.

In a statement, Garvey said: “I’ve had a brilliant time working for the BBC. Now I’m delighted to be joining the award-winning team at Times Radio. We can’t wait to get started on...

Ann Widdecombe and Zoe Lucker have been confirmed for BBC One's 24 Hours in the Past.

The living history series follows a group of six celebrities, as they attempt to authentically live the working lives of everyday people in 19th century Britain.

Alistair McGowan, Colin Jackson, Miquita Oliver and Tyger Drew-Honey are also joining the programme.

The stars must immerse themselves in the trials of a Victorian worker, having no contact with the modern world for four full days and nights.

They will be expected to carry out tasks such as stone breaking, oakum picking and sorting through rubbish looking for items to sell.

Presenter and broadcaster Fi Glover will be present at each workplace to provide viewers with an insight into everything that unfolds.

BBC One controller Charlotte Moore said: "24 Hours in the Past will bring living history to BBC One in a hardcore way.

"Viewers will get up...

If you can't beat 'em, cook 'em dinner? That's the route Meryl Streep recently took with a group of prominent female journalists from England, following a screening for her latest film, "The Iron Lady." Although Streep has been praised for her performance as Margaret Thatcher, some across the Atlantic have expressed consternation over the way the film portrays the former UK prime minister. That hubbub may have led to the decision to host a personal screening and dinner party (with food cooked by Streep herself) on Nov. 12, 2011. Unfortunately, the evening seemed more awkward than auspicious. As the New Yorker's Lauren Collins stated, after the screening: "Streep plied the journalists with chicken curry and an American apple pie; she smoked in the garden, gossiped about face-lifts, did the dishes ... But the evening had its awkward moments. 'Somebody with massive, detailed knowledge of the events in Thatcher's time would sort of sniffily say,...

Four-letter Gill

"Wonky cock documentary" is AA Gill's term for Channel 4 shows like Embarrassing Bodies, Monkey discovered during the Sunday Times TV critic's interview with BBC's Storyville editor Nick Fraser at the Sheffield Doc/Fest. But when media journalist (and Guardian contributor) Kate Bulkley tried to defend the broadcaster for what she believed was legitimate public service broadcasting he proved a more-than-succinct debater. "Fuck off," was his only response. Monkey wasn't quite sure how Bulkley felt about this. Or indeed how this tallied with Gill's later assertion that television "at the moment is in the process of being very abusive to its audience. It used to be quizshows where people were respectable and say thank you and give them a cuddly toy. Now it's much more abusive." Unlike, say ... conference sessions chaired by Gill.

Not digging Giles

Gill wasn't a big fan of his friend Giles Coren's BBC...