James Whale on Talk Radio with me/Radio Authority

At one dull conference, James Whale was in full performance flow on stage, deriding British radio; and its regulator, then the Radio Authority (before OFCOM) for which I worked. At one stage he pointed, with hostility, at the audience. 'Is anyone from the Radio Authority in the audience?', he growled. In the absence of my colleagues, I could not deny my presence, tempting though it was. 'And you've never done an actual day's work in radio, right', he asserted. 'Fifteen years, actually', I could truthfully reply, which rather ruined his line.

I like James a lot, and respect his work. He came across to me later and invited me on his late night talk show on the then Talk Radio UK. On the night of the programme, we duly chatted and took calls in the first hour, then the second; and into the final hour after which he took me home. Belated thanks, James. I enjoyed it.

Here's a clip from said show in the mid 90s. I talk of early digital radio, and the trend to networking. It is therefore a moment in time in British media regulation. I try to keep to Radio Authority lines, whilst not betraying what I actually felt. It was always a fine line, working for a regulator which sat in the inter-regnum period between over- enthusiastic regulation and the current climate.