Terry Wogan says a breakfast goodbye - 2009

Overseas radio consultants often struggled to understand the approach of market-leading Radio 2 when Wogan ruled the airwaves. No teasing, or benchmarks; and few of the mechanics associated with a successful breakfast show. The evidence of success from the daily ramblings of this septuagenarian was, however, clear to see.

His broadcasting career began across the water at RTE before his first BBC work in 1966. After a few shows across the Radio 2 schedule, he took up breakfast in 1972, hosting it 'til 84, and returning in 93.

Terry's world on-air was a comfortable, parallel one, shielded from brutal reality. He invited you and others of the 'Terry's Old Geezers' clan to sit alongside him in a world where people were nice to each other and exchanged cheery notes. Everyday, relatable ramblings spun into fine entertainment through impeccable vocabulary and impeccable timing. He'd been around so long, he became part of the national fabric, and was so outdated he came back into fashion, with pierced, Goth students even enjoying his charm.

As a one-to-one communicator, he was the master: radio was a medium made for him. His final breakfast broadcast in 2009, scripted to the word, but delivered as if every thought occurred to him spontaneously was a fitting illustration of the reason why he enjoyed lasting success.