4.30AM: 24 Hours in the Life of 5 live

0400: In the car on the way to work, listening to the headlines during Up All Night to see whether the news has changed substantially since I went to bed at about nine last night. I spoke to the team in the evening and agreed what we thought should lead the programme then. But a lot can change overnight - regimes fall, earthquakes hit, ministers make gaffes, Kings of Pop can die and so on - the 0400 headlines are the first I learn of any of this.

0430: I arrive at Television Centre, take the lift to the second floor (yes, I know, but it is half-four in the morning) and start the lengthy process of logging into my computer. While my particular PC denies any knowledge of me, I have a first look at the papers to see if they have anything that looks both interesting and true that should go into the show.

The shift I'm doing today is grandly called Desk Editor, but is more commonly known as The Interferer. It's my job to come in to an exhausted night shift of three people and tell them everything that I think they've done wrong, what they could have done better, what I don't like in the programme and what should be going in in its place. As you can no doubt imagine, this makes me extremely popular.

Also at this sort of time, Shelagh arrives and has her own battle with the computers. The first thing she has to do is find out if there are any pre-recorded interviews to be done immediately, normally from the Americas where we've asked someone to stay up to talk to us. As the name of the station suggests, we prefer to do things live, so there aren't usually many of these. We'll also chat about what's in the programme and whether there's anything she's picked up that we should include.

0500: By now I've got a pretty good idea of what's in the show - and what Breakfast TV and Today have planned. If they've got something fantastic we'll often give it our own unique treatment - as they do with our stuff too. So now it's a case of talking things through with Shelagh and the night editor, who is the person who actually sits in the studio and puts the programme on air. Given that this represents the last three hours of a twelve hour night shift for them, it is clearly recompense for sins in a past life. We'll discuss which interviews need to be given a big chunk of time and which are a case of a couple of questions and then moving on; where we'll get light and shade in the programme; whether we have the best possible guests for each story - and, up until recently, whether anyone saw Larkrise to Candleford (Shelagh takes the lead in that particular conversation).

Around now I'll also be rewriting cues to items if I think they need it and writing the openers - those bits at the start of each hour where the presenters say "coming up in the next hour...". A surprisingly time-consuming job - and one that's oddly easy to forget to do as well.

0550: A last chat with Shelagh and the night editor - who's now called the output editor, possibly in the hope that the change of name will lead to a new burst of energy. They then head into the studio and from now on we communicate via computer messages or a tannoy system between the studio and the desk. The two remaining members of the night shift will spend the rest of the time between now and 0900 fixing guests, writing cues and checking each other for a pulse at regular intervals.

0600: We're on air - and Nicky arrives - time for jokes of varying quality and an entirely fresh take on the content of the show. As with Shelagh, we talk through what's in the programme and the whys and wherefores of the various guests we're talking to. As Nicky gets his head round things, the Your Call team begin arriving.

0700: Nicky hits the air along with Shelagh. Scott Solder, the overall Breakfast Editor, also arrives and a whole new layer of interfering begins. He tells us everything that he thinks we've done wrong, what we could have done better, what he doesn't like in the programme and what should be going in in its place. As you can no doubt imagine, this makes him extremely popular. Scott is the last piece of the jigsaw for choosing the Your Call topic - along with Nicky, me and the Your Call editor of the day. Between us, we come up with suggestions for what might be the best question for the our listeners.

From now until 9am it's a case of writing and rewriting cues, finding out where that missing guest is, moving items around as "things happen" and fixing guests or correspondents on any news that breaks in our time - as well as sifting through texts and e-mails to find those that are relevant and fit to broadcast at breakfast time. Oh, and writing the openers for the next hour - mustn't forget that.

0900: The main body of the programme ends. Shelagh and the output editor leave the studio - Shelagh for a chat about how things have gone and what the rest of the day holds, the editor to collapse exhausted into the nearest hedge along with the two night-shift producers who also go at this point. Your Call takes to the air - an hour of the nation's conversation with Nicky as ringmaster.

1000: We're off air and Victoria Derbyshire is on - we go into the studio for a debrief and those of us who are left start looking around for things to put into tomorrow's show. We meet at midday to discuss tomorrow's show with a fresh team of day-producers, who are much like the night-shift but with less of the undead about them.

1300: After the meeting I'll deal with exciting admin issues and attend any other meetings that I have forgotten to avoid before leaving some time in the late afternoon. Once home, I remind myself what my wife and kids look like before logging into the computer system to see how tomorrow's programme looks. I'll call in just before heading to bed to have a chat with the editor and share my thoughts, such as they are. And finally - set the alarm clock for 3:20am and go to sleep.

Chris Hunter is an Assistant Editor with 5 live.