Hi folks. Not here today as its book launch day and ALL launches have to be between 6.30 and 8.30. It's in the rules. So Matt, Rebecca and Sal and heading over after the show, and will just miss my fabulously witty and dry speech.

Liza in charge and then back tomorrow for World Book Day. Be good to Ms Tarbuck and see you Thursday.

And keep the blog rolling!

What Ho! Greetings from the (still neglected and mangy fox-ridden) estate which I will see precious little of this week. Hope all good with bloggers out there. I'm spending a day talking to assorted local radio folk about the book. I used to be at BBC Radio Nottingham and know what an important job local radio does. Thing is I only get 10 minutes with each, which means I barely get to swap humorous show biz anecdotes with each host before time is called. I trust they will be gentle. Then it's the Richard Bacon show on 5 Live and the return of the book panel that was my creation; books, author, and 2 reviewers. This time I get the grilling and I can feel my stomach tightening already. Who had this stupid idea in the first place? Oh right...

And eventually to R2 where Drivetime offers its usual stuff plus Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland pretending to be Sam Bourne, his pseudonym when being a best selling author. Always enjoy reading and speaking to Jonathan, one of our outstanding reporters and, increasingly, one of our outstanding thriller writers. His latest is "Pantheon", a story rooted 'in one of the best kept secrets of the Anglo-American wartime elite' which actually makes it sounds less exciting than it is. Sam/Jonathan from 6 tonight.

And oldies please on the subject of EXERCISE. Tonight's Horizon on BBC2 claims you only have to do three 20 second bursts of intense exercise three times a week to feel the benefits. Wow. 3 mins a week? Don't believe it for a minute but let's run with EXERCISE for some tunes tonight.

Now I won't be on the show tomorrow (little book launch to attend) but will be back on Thursday.

Have a tip-top and not ho-hum Tuesday. See you after 5.

Another fine week dawns....morning to all. A somewhat mixed weekend really. The bad side was a very public one and I'd really rather not talk about it. If that's ok with you. I'll be avoiding all reds today and fortunately a music network has other more important issues to concern itself with.

Anyway, it's only a game.

Apparently.

Matt might be slightly more difficult to restrain but his red is different to a London red but THAT'S ENOUGH FOOTBALL ANYWAY.

Took child 3 to The Muppets last night. He'd seen it before but was prepared to humour me and go again. I loved the TV series and still have the original album somewhere. I've always struggled to get used to any voices other than Jim Henson and Frank Oz for the Kermit, Fozzie and co. But it's a delightful film which may well be a kids film that's enjoyed more by nostalgic parents. And now 'Man or a Muppet' wins the Oscar for best song and child 3 is asking me if I prefer Swedish Chef or Sam The Eagle. My Fozzie/Douglas Hurd impression may live on a little longer.

Today we welcome Monty Halls to the show. Fresh from his 'Reef' show,the marine biologist/action-man Attenborough fronts "The Fisherman's Apprentice". Monty lived and worked as a Cornish small boat fisherman. It's one of those worlds that we are in danger of losing and Monty will explain all tonight.

And oldies please for THE OSCARS. The usual shenanigans overnight saw The Artist, Hugo and Meryl Streep take the headlines. Your musical interpretations and selections welcome.

Have an energy-filled and compliment-heavy Monday. See you after 5.

Words are being sent and said. Meetings called and minutes taken. The vastly irritating delays in posting comments will be top of the Blogging Affairs Investigation Unit when it meets. Number one job-read this blog and yesterday's comments! Hopefully SOMETHING CAN BE DONE! I will get someone from BAIU to post maybe...

Meantime, really enjoyed the show again last night. I've recorded a chat with Steve Wright which goes out on his show next Wednesday when I'm off on book duties (just one day! Back Thursday) and I told him I think I enjoy this show more than any other I've done. Nothing matches the power of a breakfast show or could match the intellectual satisfaction of the 5 Live show but this Drivetime thing is something else altogether. We have the best time doing it and (irritating small green error boxes notwithstanding) hopefully that comes over.

Double show day with Denzil Washington talking about his latest movie Safe House on 5 Live and then the delightful waters of the ARF. Lovely/surprising/slightly strange calls and great Friday night tunes with the nation, seemingly, looking forward to the contents of its fridge. Who wants to be the ARF King/Queen/executive chair for the week? Go ahead...tunes please!

Have a breezy and enlightened Friday, see you after 2&5.

Well good morning to you all. Mild indeed, house too hot- early morning adjustment needed. Looking forward to a touch of spring today. I know it hasn't been that cold this winter but the arrival of warmth (and a thinner jacket selection) is a cause for cheerfulness. I know it's back to normal by the weekend but as Lena Martel so memorably told us 'One day at a time'. And today looks good.

Melvyn was an old smoothie last night. Still a twinkle in the eye and bounce in the famous, lustrous locks. 72 would you believe! And working just as hard as ever with a brain full of stuff. Not everyone agreed with his main premise but the fact that we are less class-obsessed is surely true; we have better things to be bothered about.

Re. fewer postings. Will find out if there are tech reasons and increased difficulty in leaving comments. What are bloggers thoughts here? Will pass on to the BBC Dept of Blogging Affairs Investigation Unit to find out what has been going on. If its more complicated and boring to make your way through the system, questions must be asked...

Nigel does cookies today! Yes, it's big biscuit time. Probably with chocolate in too which is very bad news for Rebecca's Lenten avoidance of sugar. The smell might be the thing that gets to her in the end. Could you resist freshly baked cookies at 6pm? I think not.

And oldies please on the subject of MEN, MALENESS and the Y CHROMOSOME. It seems that men are not about to wither away. There had been reports which suggested that the Y chromosome had shrivelled and that as a result men could disappear in around 5 million years. Anyway, research now says that's rot and the Y is healthy and stable and has been for millions of Years. So that's all right then.

Have a mild and reassuring Thursday, see you after 5.

Well a mild and cloudy day on the (much neglected) estate, school run finished and coffee waiting. Trust all bloggers are raring to go-have postings eased off while I have been moonlighting? Am I responsible? Guilty of neglect your honour...search parties need to be sent out to round up the stragglers.

Really enjoying being back on and Larry Lamb was fun yesterday. Still fascinated that he should have felt a wanderer and a performer without knowing anything about his history. What's the biology there? Can your family traditions really be passed on when you have no idea what those traditions are? We use DNA as a shorthand for what someone's instincts are but I wonder if that is the truth of it. I'm sure there are some bloggers out there who know the truth. Step forward and be counted...

Watched some of the Brits last night and while there's been a lot of fuss about Adele being cut off (why not just let the news be late? News at 10.15 would have been fine) I thought the real shame was the perfunctory mentions of Whitney and Amy Winehouse. If that was all they could do, maybe they shouldn't have bothered.

Today we welcome back Melvyn Brag to Drivetime. He is without doubt one of the great broadcasters in this country and I find him compulsive listening, even if I have no idea what he is talking about. He has a new series on Class and Culture on BBC2 this week. Melvyn thinks we are freer, more tolerant and less snobbish than we used to be-he will explain more tonight.

And oldies? Well to follow on from pancakes yesterday, we should do LENT songs today- GIVING UP STUFF. Chris and Vassos have been discussing GIVING UP STUFF for Lent and I have decided to give up smoking, eating beetroot and reading German poetry. It'll be tough but I'll get through it. Also then NOT GIVING UP should feature in the mix somewhere.

Have a cultured and classy Wednesday, see you after 5

Hooray for routine and playing records. Hooray for Rebecca, Matt and Sally. And for the jingles, newsreaders and engineers. And production team. And security and management. All of them. It's fair to say a degree of exhaustion has kicked in. Having kept going non-stop for ages it all seems to be hitting at once but my ferocious health regime (no chips) and top-notch gym routine (steam room 3 times every week) will get me back on track in no time. Fear not.

Another top show planned today (note:planned. Not the same as delivered. But we'll try). We will be talking about Who Do You Think You Are today. They have a live event this weekend at Olympia in London and actor Larry Lamb - who was featured on the show in August - is on Drivetime tonight. He's best known I suppose for Archie Mitchell in Eastenders and Mick in Gavin and Stacey but let's talk family trees and ancestors. The tv show is a huge hit with a magazine spin off - its readers voted Larry's show their most popular.

And music? Well SHROVE TUESDAY, PANCAKE DAY and assorted paraphernalia would work fine I think. And in case you're wondering, sugar and lemon is the only true way. Really.

Have a relaxed and carefree Tuesday, see you after 5.

Hello again all you lively and lovely bloggers. Here we are again. Hope all has been well with you as I have been smiling for a living. I'm writing this heading toward the tv studio for one final celebrity version of Blockbusters before wrapping and heading to R2 towers (and in case you're asking it's Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, Alex James, Keith Duffy, Konnie Huq and Fatima Whitbread. Well it was when I left last night anyway). That'll be 41 shows in the can and it has been terrific fun from start to finish. I think we've done a series that Bob Holness would approve of. Many Ps have been asked for and many gold runs completed.

And relax.

TV face off.

It's Drivetime time!

Can't wait to get back on air and play some tunes again. And we're back with a mighty fine book for the Radio 2 Book Club. Sophie Hannah's 'Kind of Cruel' is cool, calculating and chilling. Read some here! She's a terrific writer and her crime fiction/psychological thrillers are page turning as well as thought provoking. She's here at 6!

Confessions, Quiz of the Day, Wisdom. moshing, sport money and guests. Is that right? Think I've remembered everything. And music? Well let's have SIMPSONS tunes please to mark the 500th episode airing this weekend. What a fabulous, ground breaking show it's been. Consistently laugh out loud funny and probably responsible for introducing our children to biting sarcasm about 10 years earlier than was helpful. Don't remember ever calling my mum 'butface'.

And that's our show!

Have a breezy and jaunty Monday, see you after 5.

Morning bloggers.

Made up for missing the Folk Awards ceremony by a fine gig last night at Kings Place from Martin Simpson, Dick Gaughan, and June Tabor. With brilliant playing from Andy Saward and Andy Cutting they worked their way from Sheffield to Glasgow to Louisiana and Shilo. Episodes and Green Wing star Stephen Mangan was sitting next to me and led us all in a long ovation. We emerged to a wintry swirl-second in a week!

'February made me shiver' sings Don McLean on R2 this morning (6.16 am). How right he is. Half term beckons with 2 inches of snow on the ground and excited kids wondering if they'll get a snow day to add to their week off. And parents everywhere hoping they don't have to rearrange everything pdq. Just keep them for one more day! It's not much to ask!

Child 2&3 keen to come to my work this morning anyway as Daniel Radcliffe follows his R2 Breakfast appointment with Chris with a movie chat for Dr Mark K and me. The Woman in Black is his new film and a Hammer production. Many bloggers will have read the book/seen the play so know what to expect; plenty of shocks and old fashioned terror. Creaky doors, cobwebs, graveyards in the garden all work their spell on the viewer. And Mr Radcliffe is a fine actor now. It is surprising to find him with a child and a widower these past 4 years but we quickly go along with that. It's not a film for late night, solitary viewing (particularly if you have a house with creaky doors, cobwebs and a graveyard in the garden) but recommended for everyone else.

Then to R2 for some hot rocking ARF action and I really want to start with your song. Your particular song, so make it easy for me! It's my last show for a week as Blockbusters takes over for a few days (1 show down, 39 to go) and Ms Tarbuck will be with you. She also did Blockbusters for a series so she'll understand what's happening. My half term will be full of p's q's and flashing hexagons.

Have a salty and well gritted Friday, see you at 2&5.

And have a great week!

Good morning to all bloggers far and wide, the estate cold and neglected this morning. Too many things to do and no time etc. Long day yesterday at the Lowry Centre in Salford for the Folk Awards and I hope you enjoyed some of the tunes we had for you. Starting with the Dubliners was a fine moment- an awesome parade of facial hair! And 50 years of tunes is some record. I thought Ralph McTell's speech while presenting them with their award was a lovely moment.

But the highlight of yesterday's show was Don McClean. He's played on the show before of course but I thought yesterday when he played "Everyday" and "Castles In The Air" was one of those 'I should work for nothing' moments (not really Bob in case you're reading this). And still a fabulous guitarist too. And getting an extra half hour was a treat too. One other highlight to mention- Jackie Oates. I wish I'd taken a photo of her singing and playing 2 instruments at the same time, with her eyes shut. She was our last guest but, as it turned out, top of the bill. Congratulations to all the winners last night, there'll be a few sore heads in Salford hotels this morning.

So today Nigel cooks something like braized slow simmered rack of lamb in drizzled gravy jus and pickled cabbage. Or something like that. And oldies? It has to be FABIO/HARRY tunes please at your discretion. What an extraordinary story!

Have a clear-headed and smile-filled Thursday. See you after 5.

Well your Drivetime friends are heading north to Manchester today. It's Folk Awards time folks! Mike Harding and friends tonight will be rewarding greatness and maybe unearthing a few gems. The joy for me has been discovering magnificent artists that, in my ignorance, I had ignored. Nic Jones' Penguin Eggs is now one of my favourite albums of all time but I hadn't heard of him 'till he won a special award at the F.A. a few years back. June Tabor, Martin Simpson, John Tams, Show of Hands and Bellowhead are artists I've come to love through listening to Mike and attending these evenings. I'll miss the Brewery in East London but looking forward to visiting the original 'Dirty Old Town'. In fact we've asked The Dubliners to open the show with that song, written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 about the joys of Salford.

The Dubliners and Don McLean will be getting lifetime achievement awards and would love to hear from bloggers if they have seen either act live. Any stories or reminiscences that would enlighten the show? Don sang on the show a while back and it was a joy just to have THAT VOICE in the studio. Well, we're going to do it all again today and I can't wait. Stuart Maconie will do our confession (might not get quite the reaction that Terry Wogan's buttocks got last night!) and Mark Radcliffe, Mike Harding and the wonderful Julie Fowlis will all wander past at some time or other...

And oldies please with TRADITION or ROOTS as the theme just to get in the swing of things. And we have an extra 30 minutes to play with tonight!

Wishing you all a melodious and harmony-filled Wednesday, see you after 5.

Thanks for all the nice messages on yesterday's blog. We start in the Blockbusters studio today and I write this blog while being driven to the studios in Isleworth for a pilot day. We record show 1 on Thursday and then it's 5-a-day for a long time. Coo gosh indeed. And while on the subject of extra curricular activities,while talking to our book club author Penny Hancock yesterday, the first finished copy of Itch turned up. I restrained my desire to whoop and holler as this would have been inappropriate but it's still an exciting moment. What a great guest today. John Hurt will be here at 6. He's getting a Bafta for outstanding contribution to cinema this weekend and he has so many memorable roles to look back on. He also has a voice which, as a friend remarked, if an Irish coffee could talk it would sound like John Hurt. Evidence on parade from 6 And tunes today to mark the 200th anniversary of CHARLES DICKENS. I would join all those who might mark it by waking around London all day as he did but am otherwise engaged...

So have an appreciated and error-free Tuesday. See you after 5

Morning and welcome to bloggers old and new. Warm and cold. Snowed in and surprisingly snow free. Hope you had a fine weekend. We got about 3 sparkly inches of snow and our road was at once a lot more beautiful and a lot more dangerous. Beauty still on top for the moment.

Ours was a memorable one. We mourned the passing of a friend who had been ill for way too long. We sang and clapped to Thea Gilmore as she sang the songs of Sandy Denny and emerged to a white-out to make us sing and clap all over again. And behave like teenagers . My mum didn't get to see us for her birthday meal as the roads were too rubbish but book 2 got a thousand words instead. Whether they were good words of course is another matter altogether.

My mother always says her 21st birthday was not the event she was hoping for due to the King dying. She doesn't mean this in a self-centred way you understand, just that her 21st was memorable in ways she wasn't expecting. And that was 60 years ago today. Happy birthday mum and congratulations ma'am.

I think DIAMOND JUBILEE oldies would be the least we can do.

(By the way the lyrics I tweeted on Saturday to mark my friend Julia's passing were from a song called "Closer to the Light" by Bruce Cockburn. I'd copy them here but sadly copyright law means that's impossible. They work for me.)

{And while in brackets, my new TV adventure is none other than "Blockbusters". Yes really. We hope to do Bob Holness proud. And start filming next week. The team are terrific and fantastically supportive. 40 shows in one week can't be that tricky can it?}

Today it is the book club and blow me down if we haven't got another wonderful debut author (anyone would think I had a particular sensibility here). She is Penny Hancock and the novel is 'Tideline' full of dark things lurking beneath the surface of respectability. Read some here! Now!

Have a well insulated and be-hatted Monday. See you after 5.

School run done, homework discussed, coffee poured. Boiler blessed and prayed for.

Early waking and ran tv thing round my head for an hour or so. Bit A follows bit B unless C happens in which case it's D next. Then probably E but maybe G. And don't forget to smile (which I always do). That kind of thing. A photo is required this very morning apparently, before all is revealed on Monday's blog. Clue? I bumped into one of the former hosts in the BBC car park last month. Maybe not very helpful after all. So make-up, fuss and bother, attention to my eyebrows, lights and suits will take their place very shortly and it will be fun I'm sure and the team seem lovely. But nothing will replace the lovely cardigan-broadcasting at Radio 2 which is the centre of everything. And no one cares about a misplaced eyebrow hair.

Anyway a lovely 2 show day again and first up it's movies on 5 Live with Viggo Mortensen as our special guest, "the new De Niro" according to Dr Kermode. He's playing Sigmund Freud in a new movie "A Dangerous Method' alongside Keira Knightley and man-of-the-moment Michael Fassbender. Then (and not needing to acquire loser's snacks) straight to R2 and some full-bloodied ARF duties. Who will be our captivating child of the week? Where are the hen-nighters heading to? Who has the boring DIY weekend with not much else to look forward to? All will be revealed from 5.

Have a warm and wrapped-up-well sort of Friday. See you after 2&5

Parky or what? Feeling very happy that the boiler is ticking along nicely and not up to its usual tricks. Even writing about it in its presence makes me nervous. All the listeners busy 3-wording in things like 'off to Jamaica' are inflicting a cruel form of torture on the rest of us with nothing booked for a while. Warm holidays seem a long, long way away. Mat and I wrapped up well yesterday to reach the far off land of University College London's chemistry labs. We filmed a few bangs and whooshes for the website as we witnessed the screaming teddy baby experiment written about in our chemistry confession of a few weeks ago. It's taken a while to sort, but our confessor Jonathan donned the white coat and safety goggles to re-enact some of his greatest hits. The film will be up by drivetime time and Jonathan will be on around 5.20.

And for oldies I think we should have FACEBOOK tunes please, as it announces the biggest technology flotation ever. My Facebook involvement is limited to the Drivetime pages because my kids won't let me join. It's where they put their photos of nights out etc and the last thing they want is me checking them out. But it has taken over and changed the world so FACEBOOK oldies it is.

Have a connected and friend-filled Thursday. And happy birthday Ken.

See you at 5

Ok so you want a clue? (ref yesterdays TV show mention) There have been 3 other hosts before me, I'll be the 4th (obviously). That's all for now...

Cold and austere here around the estate-February is a rubbish month. Someone once said that February was designed for those who don't drink to know what a hangover feels like. Feels about right.

Showbiz day over (though chatting to Denzil Washington later still a bit luvvie) today I'm at a school watching an author sell his wares to grateful children. I'm hoping they give him an easy time! Then we are filming some noisy chemistry experiments for the R2 website. Remember the confession about the science teacher and the screaming jelly baby? Well we are getting him to repeat the experiment for us but we can't do it in the studio. Clipboard types will descend on us. So we go to some proper chemistry labs and record it for posterity. Melting, burning and flying sugar, propelled from a test tube! What could go wrong?

Thanks to Zoe (country gal) for that link to the Wall Street Journal piece about confessions when we first started this in 1990. I thought the guy was joking and would turn out to be Noel Edmonds filming for a gotcha oscar, but he was for real and the WSJ put it on their front page!

Today we welcome David Dimbleby to talk about the new series of Question Time on BBC1. He is one smooth operator, from a family of smooth operators. Time for DD to spill the beans about what the politicians are really like back stage I think.

And let's do QUESTION TIME oldies please. Audience/panel/host/questions wherever you fancy really.

Have a well insulated and comforting Wednesday, see you after 5. Flying jelly babies permitting.