And now let's go...Nationwide!

It's something I have wanted to do since I was a young reporter and knee high to a film editing machine. During all my days in broadcast journalism, and particularly presenting breakfast TV, Nationwide was held up as the benchmark for the best in popular factual entertainment.

I even worked on it for almost a year - its last year ever - 1982/1983. By then, it was losing its way badly and the BBC made what was, in my view and many others, a disastrous decision to make it "serious". It died shortly afterwards, but by then I had gone off to EggCup Towers and breakfast TV.

Michael is taking part in a stage show entitled "Laurie Holloway goes Nationwide with Michael Barratt" at the Norden Farm in Maidenhead next Thursday. Should be good!