Apologies first of all for the blog problems of recent days. Usually things work smoothly but just occasionally, Prof Gremlin meets Dr Glitch and they hang out for a while and hey presto... Thank you for your patience, hopefully things have been calmer today.

Yesterday was spent buying clothes with someone else's cheque book. I recommend it. It's very good therapy, when in a perpetual slobby mode. A tv role appears on the horizon (somewhat surprisingly) which will become known shortly but suffice to say, a few nice suits appear to be required. And shoes. Very nice shoes. These will not be on display today which is dress-down Tuesday.

This morning is a rush to chat to Viggo Mortenson who plays Sigmund Freud in 'A Dangerous Method', then a screening of 'Safe House' which is the new Denzil Washington movie (apologies for the luvvie nature of this blog, but today is a luvvie day essentially). Then, with a sigh of relief, back to Radio 2 for some lovely music and chat. Today we have live music from Raul Malo. And Raul Malo live is a thing to behold. He's in the UK as part of the 'Transatlantic Sessions' event and releasing a solo live album, recorded a few days before his last appearance on the show.

Now tunes today please on the theme of DEADLINES. It is deadline transfer day in football and (so Moira is telling us) tax self assessment deadline day. "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound as they go by" said the much missed Douglas Adams and we all have them in one form or another. They either focus the mind or drive you mad but our life is full of them. Deadline tunes please!

Have a stress free and yet punctual Tuesday. See you after 5

Well what a cheery Monday this is supposed to be! The happiest Monday of the year apparently! As the chill descends from the east (as ever) and a week of freezing temperatures beckons, the coaches, experts and PR gurus who spin this nonsense should be made to run naked around the Bullring being pelted with sherbet pips. Stop it now.

Friday night dinner party duties were successfully dispatched in the company of, amongst others, a PR guru and an esteemed BBC correspondent and a King Charles spaniel. I have this dog thing pretty badly now. Want one, need one. Can't have one. London not good. Allergy thing not good. And so I covet other people's dogs. Ideally I'd like to rent one for a while, just to see what happens. So while I should have been making polite conversation, I was talking to the hound. Fortunately he seemed to like my stories and banter, as long as I fed him crisps. It was an uncomplicated relationship.

Then on Saturday I cooked up a veggie feast for some veggie friends and managed to swap chicken for butternut squash without creating too much of a duvet raiser. Which is quite an achievement. And then it was gone and it was Monday all over again.

Today we welcome Lenny Henry back to Drivetime. He is starring in The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre in London and doing a darn fine job too. He is playing Antipholus of Syracuse and when I saw the show, he was on top form. It isn't the first time he's starred in Shakespeare - his Othello was very well received in 2009 but its the comedy that really works. The silly accents, the body language and the slapstick are all here and we all loved it. Welcome back Lenny and if Dawn gatecrashes the interview again, I'll be ready this time.

Actually ERRORS and MISTAKES might work for some oldies tonight. This doesn't have to be gloomy of course, on this happiest of Mondays, as we learn from our mistakes and become better people (I think that's right). So here we go! Keep smiling! Have a cheery and optimistic Monday, see you after 5

Yes well done everybody, we've made it to Friday. The estate is sunny and leafy (dead) and foxy (alive, unfortunately). A busy day beckons but first the fragrant Kirsty Young (not Wark) talking to Chris for a few moments peace. Enjoyed all the desert island tunes,a good selection I thought; we could have filled the whole show with them!

Congratulations to John Hurt by the way, who will be receiving a Bafta next month for a lifetime achievement to cinema. He'll be on Drivetime very soon too! What a voice the man has. And so many great films to discuss (and the odd turkey which we might gloss over). And on the subject of films...

Show 1 today at 2 on 5 Live with Felicity Jones as our guest. She is about to be very big news indeed. You might have seen her in Cemetery Junction, Chalet Girl or possibly the Helen Mirren version of The Tempest. No? Well read on...She's the star of Like Crazy, a new 'first-love-angst' movie and has an Audrey Hepburn look about her. Look out for this lady!

A wee trip on the reliable Central Line (no snack purchase needed! I'm a winner!) for the revved-up ARF. Cute kids, ribald hen party attenders and service station shoppers all lined up and ready to go. Quo, Queen, Cyndi Lauper, Neil Diamond all confidently expected. Now as for that first tune...I await your post.

Have a friendly and smiley Friday, see you after 2&5.

Morning. It's a duvet day really. Pyjamas all day. Apart from it being Thursday and so work as normal. We'll perk up by lunchtime.

Today's oldies should be DESERT ISLAND tunes. It's the 70th anniversary of Desert Island Discs, the greatest radio format ever. The host, the magnificent Kirsty Young, will be on Breakfast tomorrow but we salute the show today. It was first broadcast in January 1942 and now in 2012 is better than ever (though obviously I can't really judge the early years). Kirsty is splendid; the perfect host with just the right balance and sensitivity. The podcasts and archive are a joy and who hasn't fantasised about their choices, luxury item and book? So I'm not after your all time favourites, but songs for a desert island for being CASTAWAY and ON YOUR OWN. And just 6 records, the Bible and Shakespeare for company (and a coffee machine and Terry Wogan's book too please Kirsty). Dream away.

Nige does a beef stroganoff for us tonight, apparently named after Count Pavel Stroganov. Beef cream and mustard I think but Mr B will explain further.

Have a surprising and informative Thursday, see you at 5.

Good morning. I was just about to whinge about waking up at 4am and writing a blog before 6, when I noticed James Naughtie was presenting on Radio 4 at 6. So he's on air while also, I can report, enjoying the fun and games at the Costa Book Awards last night. At least I can write this in my Ken Bruce pyjamas and not have to squeeze into the tux that the Today programme insists on.

And I can report that no one (as far as I know) recoiled in horror at my formal jacket atop formal jeans despite tough rules. The haughty air that I adopted obviously won the day. I mingled with the literati and hangers-on while we waited for the fragrant Penny Smith to take hold of proceedings and hand out the gongs. Congratulations to Andrew Miller for winning the overall award for his novel "Pure". It turned out he was standing next to me and I think I was the first to pat him on the back, though he might be unaware of this. Tim Rice was great company, as was Hugh Dennis who was one of the judges and Glamourous Natasha Kaplinsky was a head turner. When you leave, you get handed a goody bag with one of the winning books in it. An insider told me that if the bag was too heavy, swap it. The heaviest book was not a great read after all. So I left with the best children's book and Mrs M had the Andrew Miller. Reviews will follow by next year...

And still with books, Andrea Levy is on the show today. The writer of "Small Island" is in to talk about World Book Night which needs volunteers to hand out 25 special edition books on April 23rd , which is of course Shakespeare's birthday.

And to complete our literary edition of the blog, how about BURNS NIGHT oldies? Robert Burns was born in 1759 and his poetic popularity is toasted every year. Neeps, tatties (not fatties as my spell check wants) poetry and a wee dram seems to be the order of the day. Address to a Haggis, Tam O' Shanter and er, all the others

Have a well-preserved and flattery-filled Wednesday, see you after 5

Dismal and dank around the estate, foxes too miserable to emerge from their hole/lair/tax payer funded hostel. I shall have a good day just to annoy them.

Yesterday Matt mentioned some ridiculous dress code story. As I have mentioned before (bloggers sigh-'here he goes again') dress codes are usually pompous and unnecessary but tonight the Costa book awards do is 'formal'. Starts at 7. Problem: I can't do the show in a suit. It's just not possible. Solution. Smart jeans and a jacket. And a 'I chose the nonstop oldies on Steve Wright' badge. We'll see what happens. I'm sure they won't throw out a former judge...

To the show in hand! Hooray for Chris Isaak who's new album is chock full of his favourite old songs, paying tribute to the glory days of Memphis' Sun Studios. As you would expect, we have songs from Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chris will be singing live tonight. He's been quiet here since splashing with Wicked Game but his voice still sounds in great shape. Live Isaak strumming tonight from 6.

And we'll go for NORTHERN LIGHTS tunes tonight. I was tempted yesterday but the tantalising photos today are too much to ignore. To have this natural wonder being viewed from Alnwick, Dundee, Whitley Bay and The Pennines is worth a musical salute don't you think? There is, as you know, a peak of solar activity-electrically charged particles exciting the earth's magnetic fields. Even down in London we might get a glimpse. As I'm thrown out of the Costas, at least I'll have something to watch.

Have an awe-inspiring and informally casual Tuesday. See you after 5

Warning! Contains football references!

Those last minute penalties do take it out of you don't you find? There I was, just innocently trying let child 3 do all my DIY for me, when the guy with the mohican ( who shouldn't have been there anyway) made me all glum. By scoring. Which wasn't supposed to be happening at all. As a result I slouched my way upstairs to find child 3 had put up my new desk and chair that had been awaiting my attention. This I could get used to. The dreaded words 'self assembly' are not lessened in any way by the addition of 'partial' at the beginning. Figure 1 made no sense. Figure 2 was badly photocopied and Fig 3 was anatomically impossible. But that was just my take on it. I have been put in my place and am quite happy with that. Now if he could fix sporting injustice, that really will be something.

Hooray for a new week (I'm talking to myself here) and all the possibilities it might have (I'm auditioning for Pause for Thought I think). We have a new book for you today with the Radio 2 Book Club at 6 and today it is Kate Williams and "The Pleasures of Men". Kate is a historian and Timewatch presenter as well as being a novelist. We have an extract available to download here so you can sample this haunting Victorian thriller. Which has a few gruesome moments let me warn you. It concerns the life of orphaned Catherine Sorgeuil and London's obsession with a series of murders committed by a man called Man of Crows. Our conversation will of course be delicate and appropriate for your communal listening requirements.

Now oldies please for the CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE DRAGON which is today of course. 'Good old St George eh major? He killed a hideous fire-breathing old dragon' (Basil Fawlty) was what sprung to mind but actually the DRAGON is a symbol of wealth and success. Cheery news indeed.

Have a rip-roaring and smile-filled Monday, see you after 5.

Well done to us all. Another week done and the weekend almost here. Even if the weekend promises little, it still has mythical powers to encourage and restore. I look forward to it, even if there's nothing to look forward to. Ridiculous. I fancy a pyjama weekend but will not get one I fear. I'll arrive at Sunday evening and look forward to the ordered world of work.

So here we go on another busy Friday. First stop 5Live and the movie show with Dr Mark. Our guest today is Andrea Riseborough who plays Wallis Simpson in Madonna's new movie W.E.. And here's the thing- she's great and in my opinion the movie stinks. To high heaven. It honks. Which raises an interesting question which Mark is detailing in his blog; great performances in bad films always get overlooked, as this one will. A new category needed...best performance in a turkey. But she is terrific and if you saw her as Margaret Thatcher in The Long Walk To Finchley you'll know how formidable she is.

Then we tootle to HOT ROCKIN' RADIO 2 for the mighty ALL REQUEST FRIDAY. The challenge; can you better last week's Deep Purple opener? Maybe you jolly well can and all you need to do is tell me what it jolly well is.

Have an invigorating and stimulating Friday, see you after 2&5.

Wow this is a wet one today and that was a tedious school run. All children exhausted and not talking much so left to me to jolly things along a bit. In the end had to resort to talking about the parents evening last night. Usually I miss these things as all schools arrange events around 5pm or 6pm thus discriminating against us late shift types. Not this time however, so the familiar round of 'remind me who the history teacher is again/shall we bother with the PE guy?' began (with respect to child 3's history and PE teachers who are beyond reproach).

Enjoyed yesterday's show with the highlights being Jack Bruce's reminiscenses and another chubby baby confession. I have no idea why this sets me off but clearly it has something to do with Matt's infectious laugh. As soon as he goes, it is usually just a matter of time before I do. This used to happen a lot when I did breakfast on R1 and then I blamed Jacki Brambles or my producer Ric who corpsed as readily as me. As evidenced by the fact we still love that Brian Johnson/Jonathan Agnew cricket clip from 1991, other people losing it is great fun for everyone, as long as you don't have to read the news anytime soon. We'll try again today.

Nige offers us a flavour of school dinners tonight with his very own rice pudding. Can't say it's an obvious hit to me but that'll be because it's filed alongside prunes and custard as something I don't care if i ever taste it again. 70's school dinners shaped so many tastes!

And oldies today. Let's try DIARIES. Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special edition of the angst-ridden 13 and 3/4 year old. I kept a 5 year one from 75-80 and cringe whenever I look back at the utter rubbish I used to go on about (so much has changed, dear blogger). In fact BLOGGING could be included here really as it seems to fulfil a similar if not identical, function. Let's see what you make of all that.

Have a quietly successful and modest Thursday (let's not aim too high) see you after 5.

Greetings through a sneezy haze. Probably just a dust thing, or a dust mite thing. Certainly not a a cat thing (evil) but could conceivably be a fox thing (mangey). Can you be allergic to shabby, moulting fox hair? If so, I'll have it in some form. Today's show brought to you courtesy of a healthy dose of anti-histamine.

Last night I winged it to the National Theatre to catch Lenny Henry in a new production of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" - Lenny will be on the show soon. Fortunately a technical fault delayed the start, so there wasn't any embarrassing climbing-over-irritated-people's-legs-and-aplogising-breathlessly stuff. And for the first 20 minutes it all washed over me and I didn't have a clue what was happening. Then (as normal) I started to tune in to what was happening and the pattern and rhythm of the speech and it all came good. It is very funny and Lenny is really top notch. He got great revues for his Othello and I imagine he'll get much the same for TCOE (as we call it). Looking forward to Lenny coming back on the show and I imagine there won't be a Dawn French invasion this time.

Tonight (after more teenage bedrooms of the day) we welcome rock and blues legend Jack Bruce. He formed Cream with Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton in 1966, selling over 35 million records. Last year he became only the third recipient of the International Bassist Award and he's off on tour with his Big Blues Band in March.

So. How about BASS songs. Songs with BOTTOM. I love bass. I love the deep rumble you get when your sound system is good enough to pick up the bass guitar and the bass drum. Songs about, with or featuring bassness (and not baseness as the spellcheck is suggesting).

Have a really rather refreshing and stimulating Wednesday.See you after 5.

Tuesday lovely Tuesday (being positive). Lovely sunrise (still being positive). Got a good show lined up (convinced yet?). Still Tuesday though. And I have to write a thousand words before lunch or I'm toast. This is the discipline. I was supposed to manage that yesterday and it turned out to be 38. Now that's poor you have to say. So as soon as I finish on this here blog, I shall disappear into this strange loneliness and world that exists only in my head. Please don't call round for a while, I'm out of biscuits anyway.

So we found a way of keeping Sally's attention during the confession anyway- she just has to appear in it. Sorted. So if any bloggers have a story in which the Mother Superior appears, however tangentially, that would be a good thing.

On the show today, the great Barry Cryer and the wonderful Ian Lavender. They are both involved in the Slapstick festival in Bristol which celebrates silent and visual comedy and this year marking the genius of Buster Keaton. Ian is hosting "An Evening With Private Pike' which only goes to prove yet again that the genius of Dad's Army never fades. In fact I always think they are still making them; there always seems to be one on that I haven't seen. So how about doing SLAPSTICK oldies then? Defined in my dictionary as 'knockabout low comedy or farce' it always seem to involve falls, tumbles, pies in the face, chases, slipping on bananas etc. Visual comedy is back of course with the wonderful 'The Artist' nominated for 12 BAFTAS today but still mainly associated with Tom and Jerry, the Keystone Kops, Hal Roach, Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. And others. SLAPSTICK should work I think.

Have a coherent and measured Tuesday, see you after 5.

And here we are again. Cold and v frosty around the estate-the mangey fox will have lost all it's remaining fur and left a poo on the table like normal. It's a cheery start anyway.

I hope the weekend was a fine one. I managed 400 odd miles taking child 1 back to university and back-got it sussed now. Leave before 7, coffee and croissants at the first services and we'll be there by lunchtime. Then the briefest of time possible at the student house (2 mins max) and a fine pub lunch before turning round and tootling back home. Pick of the Pops is always a bitter sweet accompaniment here as you're feeling pretty creaky anyway by this time. I tweeted that I was hoping it wasn't going to be 1985 and fortunately it was 1981. 1985 was one of those years (88 another offender) that sounds poor whichever month you get but 1981 sounded great (apart from the Nolans which I never really understood). Child 1 asked me to text him to let me know I was safely home; my how the world has turned.

(Spoiler alert. Re Sherlock. Just how are they going to explain that away? You know, that small tumble? Brilliant end of series 'leave-them-wanting-more' moment) Meantime there's work to be done! Drivetime offers John Torode tonight to mark the return of Masterchef tomorrow. While Lloyd Grossman was in charge, the series worked fine but stayed in its ghetto slot really. Now with John and Gregg Wallace it has become a national talking point. With 3 versions to choose from, I think the amateurs usually win over the celebs and pros. There seems to be so much more at stake for these guys and the drama that much more heightened. So let's do MASTERCHEF oldies too. It's an area we have done before of course but FOOD + COMPETITION = a decent selection of tunes I hope. It's all up to you now!

We will also have a one week feature, to try to find the worst teenage bedroom in the UK. Never mind the Masterchef folk, this is the real stuff. There will be many nominations.

Have an observant and insightful Monday, see you after 5.

(Today's blog music Blood on the Tracks/Bob Dylan).

Hooray for Friday. Thursday was pretty good but Friday should be better. Full steam ahead for the calmer waters of the week end (as if).

Good National Trust conversation yesterday, particularly the free car parking comments- I remember my late father making exactly the same point! We could have played so many good choices but enjoyed the ones we selected. Even Shaky. We were hoping to get to "Ramble On" for a little Led Zep but sadly ran out of time (a familiar story).

And thanks to Gilly for her "Itch" comments-a blogger with a proof copy and a word of encouragement. A potent mix.

A 2 show day of course and it is Steven Spielberg day first on 5 Live. The world's most successful director talks "Warhorse", films that make children cry and whether Jaws is about a shark or adultery. You might be surprised. Warhorse may well be more divisive than people expect. You may well cry buckets but you might not be moved at all. It is very episodic and with Richard Curtis writing the screenplay, 'War Actually' did occur to me more than once. But it is a must see film with some terrific performances, both equine and human.

Then to some wonderful tunes as selected by folk with more exciting weekends than me, but you go first! ARF needs YOU! Select at will, post below.

Have a tune-filled, toe-tapping, melody-humming Friday, see you after 2&5.

Hi there bloggers, a happy Thursday to you. A merry school run finished in under an hour through the sparkling and pristine streets of old London town. Happy children who hadn't argued once all journey or forgotten their kit or maths books thanked me profusely as they leapt from the car, eager for another day of academic and sporting stimulation. Cheery bus drivers waved as they behaved courteously and charmingly to all and prosperous shop keepers offered generous terms of credit to all who passed.

Well I think that's what happened but I might have blocked it all from my mind. A day of promise on the way but will need to tell Rebecca, who was continuing her grumbling about the first monarch of England all night (on Twitter you understand, we don't all live together in a Drivetime house-that would be too weird) to move on. Offa of Mercia. Get over it. Even if it wasn't.

Meantime book 2 writing continues albeit in a haphazard way. "Itch" is out in March but the second one needs to be in by the summer and ITS ONLY SLIGHTLY STRESSFUL. I'm only 16,000 words in and most of the heavy loading is yet to happen. Too many distractions. Like this blog for example. Need to switch everything off and live in the shed.

Now Nigel promises a flaming Pecorino today. I have no idea what this will involve but assume it ill be that hard cheese made from ewe's milk and a flame of some sort. And a visit from health and safety. Don't miss it!

And oldies today please for THE NATIONAL TRUST. It is their birthday today (b1895) so let us salute the fine work they do by your tune selection. Their motto 'For Ever, For Everyone' is pretty unbeatable really.

Have a well preserved and enchanting Thursday, see you after 5.

The thing about waking at 4.40 is that you have so much time to enjoy those early morning delights: Alex Lester, the odd bird or two, a throbbing head, that kind of thing (I am not equating Alex with a headache, it's just that these things coincided today). Then it'll be lunch at 11, tea at 3 and late night drivetime at 5. Then bed by 7.30. I'll call it jet lag and pretend it's exotic. I had spent the evening seeking advice from a top author about the world of publishing, just a few hours after some student radio enthusiasts had been asking me for some wisdom to help them on their way. Receiving and dispensing careers advice is a strange thing- it always reminds me of our careers teacher at school. He was spectacularly terrible. He had a little box full of file cards and he would rifle through them and tell you that maybe you could be a civil servant, teacher or fruit seller. Whatever dreams you might have had going into the room, you certainly lost them before you left. I assume that's all changed now. Anyone get good career advice? That worked or was inspirational? Tell us all...

Today we go all regal with Jenny Bond on the show. She was the BBC's Royal Correspondent 1989-2003 and is hosting 'A Celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee' concert tour across the UK. It's an evening of 'much loved music from across Britain'. Well I think we should join in. And do ROYALTY tunes. KINGS, QUEENS, PRINCES and PRINCESSES. And flunkys, ladies in waiting, crowns, palaces and thrones. You get the picture.

Oh, happy birthday to us. As Chris had just pointed out, his show and therefore Drivetime (and this blog!) in their present incarnations are now 2 years old. Well that's gone all right then. Well done all!

Have a successful and accomplished Wednesday, see you after 5.

First coffee shop blog of the year and everyone is looking really fed up. Utterly miserable in fact. Ok so it's dark wet and gloomy outside but there are many reasons to be vaguely cheerful. Longer days (as noted), many a merry blogger to send you on your way with a spring in your step, lovely mild weather, T. Henry esq proving that 34 is NOT OLD (ok I have mixed feelings there admittedly) and no one has stolen anything from me for a week. There. Not the most impressive list and certainly nothing to rival Ian Dury's but it's a start. Feel free to carry it on...

Yesterday Steven Spielberg was, you'll be reassured to know, a gentleman and a delight. The most successful movie director in the world showed them all how to do it, and spoke with warmth and humour about his latest film "Warhorse" and some of his extensive back catalogue. You can hear that on Friday's film show on 5L.

Today we welcome Michael Brunson, former political editor of ITN to talk "The Iron Lady". He turns up in the movie briefly and features in a documentary DVD of the same name. I worked with Michael on Prime Ministers Questions a few years back now and his insights are always worth listening out for.

And for oldies today I think the start of the final series of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is worth your efforts. I was tempted by the new high speed train link but that might wait a while. Especially as no one is going anywhere till 2026. So DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES it is and that not-so-quiet suburban lifestyle can come under your musical microscope (I know that doesn't quite work but it'll do for now).

Have a cheery and smile-filled Tuesday. See you after 5.

What ho! And a lovely week beckons (optimism lingers) and the Robins are singing. What a great start to the day when they are tootling away to mark the dawn. The spring dawn chorus has to be the most stunning noise in nature and I can't wait for the blackbirds to get going. A sign that the lighter days are here (even if it doesn't feel like it just yet). And on top of that, Chris is back at breakfast which is a very good thing indeed. Indeed as a politician spun his/her web of double speak on another channel, how lovely to shut the door on it and get some tunes going. It's the only way to be. Bird song and rock'n'roll is a life enhancing start to the day, particularly as insomnia has struck again and a certain bleariness can be expected.

Yesterday I got to see Warhorse, the new Steven Spielberg movie and epic is the word. It is everything you want it to be and you relax, knowing that with Mr Spielberg at the helm, all will be well. And I'm talking to him today for the movie show which is very exciting.

Today (as well as seeing the return of Rebecca) is the return of the Radio 2 Book Club and a top tale with first time novelist Chad Harbach's "The Art of Fielding". It is a baseball story, telling the story of one Henry Skrimshander (yes really) and how he lives with the repercussions of an inexplicably wayward aim. The lives of 5 people change for ever. Read a chapter here and then hear Chad from 6. And FIELDING should work for the oldies too. Essentially thats THROWING and CATCHING isn't it? And a bit of BOUNCING. In fact everything to do with BALLS (steady Prime Minister). You know what you have to do.

Have a clear-sighted and perceptive Monday. See you after 5.

Yo bloggers. Greetings from the estate. More to the point, greetings from a warm and lovely kitchen in a warm and lovely house. A top heating engineer paid us a home visit and she was brilliant. All appears to be well- until the next time. Thank you ma'am.

Fascinating to see your comments about the Iron Lady oldies yesterday. I remember a discussion we had on 5 Live a few years ago on the Thatcher legacy and it was clear from guest and listener comments that she was as divisive now as she was then; it was as though she was still in power. Your posts yesterday suggest that is still true. We review the film on 5 Live today from 2 and we were hoping to have Jim Broadbent on to talk about being Dennis to Meryl's Maggie. Sadly he has had to pull out but he puts in a fine turn. Instead we'll be speaking to Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes on his directorial debut Coriolanus in which he also stars. And frankly he's terrifying. I spoke to him when the last Harry Potter film was out and he had just finished being Voldemort-and he was tough then. He is one of the actors who seems to find film promotion a tiresome chore but I'll have another go because his is a compelling performance.

Then (and picking up some cakes on the way) the first ARF of 2012 hits your radio. And it will be the same as in 2011, 2010 etc. I still love hearing of everyone's plans and schemes for the weekend, even if mine seem plain dull in comparison. Throw out the tree, neatly coil the lights and tell me your Twelfth Night ARF hit opening tune that is SO much better than everyone else's.

Here's to an energising and reassuring Friday, see you after 2 and 5

We start the new year with our jolly boiler deciding to take some more time off. Either that or it's dead. And we're cold. And miserable. So I might not linger on this blog if that's ok with you. Boilers are just rubbish really. All they have to do is stay working but they wait for your time of maximum need and just give up. We have called the man with a bag of spanners and healing hands.

Good show yesterday I thought and back in the swing of things. Rust and cobwebs blown away (does that work? maybe rust or cobwebs but unlikely to be both) and looking forward to 2012; it promises to be quite a year. And once everyone has gone back to work, we can get this party started. You send an email and back comes the automatic reply 'I am not working till the 18th. Try my underling who might be back on the 14th.' Kids? Back to school! Go Now! Even if term hasn't started! Wait in the playground and show willing. Students? Back to University! Your parents need to rent out your rooms! Take your washing, your late nights and lie-ins and get thee hence. See you at Easter. You'll be fine. We should know, we are paying for it.

(There. That's better)

Now I'm thinking of IRON LADY oldies. You'll have seen the ads for the film and the reviews and posters. Meryl Streep does indeed put in a fantastic peformance and it is a fascinating film, well worth your time. Please send in as many broadcastable songs as possible. You know what I'm saying. Balanced, nuanced, smart. Like you are normally essentially.

Have a magnificent and sure-footed Thursday. See you after 5.

A weird and slightly wonderful start to the day around the estate. On hearing that the first meteor shower of the year was about to take place, I popped on the slippers and coat and wandered out into the near darkness. Surprising the mangey foxes from their sleep, I stood watching the skies. Saw the plough, a few clouds and a brief sparky shooting star which flew for about an inch of sky then disappeared. Not that spectacular at all really, so wandered back inside. I assume it was a bit like that old Kit Kat ad when the guy in the zoo was always looking in the wrong place and missed the dancing panda-there were loads of great things to see but I was always looking at the wrong piece of sky. Anyway, this was followed a few minutes later by a pink/orange hue filling the kitchen as the sun came up (shepherd's warning? Does that work?) and stopped me feeling guilty that I had wimped out of waiting for more sky magic Thanks for all the welcome back posts-it was great to be on the radio again. Sally, Matt and PTP all sounded good to me and we are all hoping for a great year on DT (and the head-girl Rebecca of course).

The gym kit is replaced! Everything is new and professional looking! I look the part! If you squint, I could be a London 2012 wannabe. I'm sure my smelly shirt etc are scattered somewhere across someone's hedge and I can only apologise for an aromatically challenged new year. The sports shop was rammed with folk trying to get fit and getting some smart jogging gear in the sales. And they were all at least 2 decades younger than me. Maybe 3. And in the shop assistant's case, 4. It was horrendous. If there is a sports shop for the middle aged, I'll happily visit regularly. One intriguing note from my new socks- the sports variety. They are actually labelled 'Left" and 'Right'. Now I really do feel stupid.

But let's do THE GYM, GETTING FIT/UNFIT AND FEELING HEALTHY/FLABBY oldies if you fancy giving us a drivetime workout. Tracksuits optional.

Have a wild and wonderful Wednesday, see you after 5.

Well here we are again and a happy new year to bloggers new and old, young and old, far and wide. Another year of Drivetime beckons and I can't wait to get back into that old routine. The gap between Christmas and New Year goes on for ever and is so disorientating that the return to normality (or normalcy as I believe we have discussed before) is, for me, entirely welcome. But I do love my job! Thanks to PK for sitting in but don't get too comfy Paddy. I've only been here for 2 years and intend to be around for a while yet...

And more than a thousand blog posts? My you have been busy. Who needs posts from me? Loads of great comments and reviews; looking back at the comments is like revisiting Christmas and new year. My rather hopeless guess of 401 posts seems rather pathetic in retrospect. Who'd have thought this blog would have been such a discussion centre for Christmas weather, family illness and occasional poetry? The Drivetime fire is burning brightly.

[Definitely too much punctuation from me already. Brackets, exclamation marks, semi colon, question marks, ellipsis and all before the 3rd paragraph. This must stop.] {Though I have never used these brackets before- very stylish.} Christmas around the estate was a mixed affair with much jollity and the occasional ambulance (not connected). Top food and presents then the theft (again) of my gym kit (unwashed) from the car (stop!) Maybe its the same person that took the halloween pumpkin. And the wreath from the door. Ho hum. Blogger patrols need to start as soon as possible. So we return today at 5 with some live music from the much talked-about Juan Zelada. You'll have heard his 'Breakfast at Spitalfields' and 'The Blues Remain' on R2 a lot last year and his debut album 'High Ceilings and Collar Bones' comes out later this month. He sounds like a cross between Paolo Nutini, Van Morrison and Jack Johnson which is not a bad place to be. He's from Madrid, is disgustingly good looking and is destined for a fine 2012. You have been warned! ("He's the Juan!" etc) And oldies? Well, like last year, I think BACK TO WORK does it. BACK TO THE OLD ROUTINE tunes will sound just fine come 5pm when we will all have forgotten we were off in the first place. Apart from all the clearing up that needs to be done of course.

Have an optimistic and sure-footed Tuesday. We are back! See you after 5.