Sunday, January 31, 2016

One of the family: a few thoughts about Sir Terry Wogan

January 2016 has been an unrelentingly sad month, with the loss of many talented, creative people. Lemmy, Alan Rickman, Colin Vearncombe and of course, David Bowie have all passed, leaving a huge legacy. And now today, we have lost Sir Terry Wogan, undoubtedly one of the greatest broadcasters the UK and Ireland has ever seen.

If anything, I feel Sir Terry's loss more keenly than those others mentioned above; not simply because of his effortless talent, but also because his presence in my life was so pervasive. He's always been there, and when you consider that he was a daily presence in many people's lives for so long, it does feel like I have lost a member of the family.

I think my earliest memory -- and one of my overriding memories -- of Sir Terry dates back to 1980 or thereabouts. My dad has long been a fan of Sir Terry, and would always listen to his Radio 2 show (first time around) in the car. On this particular day, he was taking my younger brother Tony and I to school. Sir Terry lined up a track by Alvin Stardust, and introduced him as Alvin Starbar. Now this was the funniest thing ever as far as a 7 year old and 5 year old were concerned, and we were both in fits of laughter for the rest of the journey. In fact, my brother messaged me today referring to this anecdote.

As a fan of Kenny Everett, I'd also appreciate his and Sir Terry's interactions on Kenny's sketch show and on Blankety Blank. As a kid, I remember being open-mouthed when Kenny bent Sir Terry's trademark microphone in two; in fact, watching that clip again on YouTube today demonstrates how ramshackle Blankety Blank looks compared to today's slick quiz shows, but I'll tell you now, it was all the better for it. The camaraderie between Sir Terry and the celebrity guests, and indeed his interactions with the contestants, is just a joy. Sir Terry may be winging it but he knows what he's doing, he's got it all under control. It's just an effortless, charming watch, and it's sad we've lost a lot of that in today's TV.

Sir Terry's charm was also evident in his thrice-weekly chatshow, Wogan. It takes a real professional to be able to host three chat shows a week for 8 years, and if anything, his ability to make it look so easy in some ways undermined the hard work involved. At turns earnest, cheeky and probing, Sir Terry could handle any guest the BBC booking agents threw at him, and was able to win over even the most aloof of contributors. Some say that Sir Terry's geniality slipped when he interviewed David Icke in 1990; the view was that Sir Terry's approach was colder than usual, and that this may have been unfair given the view at the time that Icke may have been going through a personal crisis. Whatever one may think of Icke and his world view, one must remember how unusual the whole affair was and in defence of Sir Terry, I would suggest that this was a difficult interview for anybody to get right. I can't think of any of Sir Terry's contemporaries who could have handled that interview successfully.

His work with Children In Need needs little introduction, and as well as being a figurehead for the cause, his ability to get the tone between frivolity and seriousness just right at the right points on the telethon night itself is much underrated. Likewise, his involvement in Eurovision brought a welcome sense of fun to an event which could be accused of taking itself too seriously at times.

If I think back to what Sir Terry means to me, I think of his second tenure as the Radio 2 breakfast host. I started listening to Radio 2 properly in 1996, when I got my first car (a Peugeot 205!) and that's when I was really drawn into what Sir Terry was really about. Older but not necessarily wiser, I was at an age where I started to get him and his whimsical take on the world. A gentle listen, easing the listener out of the hypnogogic state and into the reality of working life. A bridge between personal time and work time. His way with words impressed, his ability to take a listener's contribution and perform it perfectly impressed, and it was even better when he'd read something out but struggle to keep his laughter in check. Like when he'd crack up reading out the hilarious Janet & John stories; him laughing would have me laughing, have the nation laughing.

In more recent years, I'd still listen to Weekend Wogan on Radio 2 on Sunday's, and an unexpected televisual delight of last year was BBC2's Terry & Mason's Great British Food Trip. A 20-part series which featured Sir Terry and London cabbie Mason McQueen travelling to various British cities to check out the sights and tastes, this was a warm, amusing, entertaining series which showed Sir Terry as a man at the height of his powers. His rapport with Mason was a joy to behold, and it was evident that Sir Terry was having a ball.

But you know, that's the great man down to a tee. He spent 50 years having a ball, whether on radio, TV or carrying out charitable work. And we had a ball watching him do it.

A great broadcaster who will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Sir Terry.

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