Steve Wright in the Afternoon

Steve Wright in the Afternoon (Radio 2)

Other names	The Big Show
Genre	Comedy, Talk, Music
Running time	3 hours (2–5pm)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 2
Hosted by	Steve Wright
Starring	Tim Smith Janey Lee Grace Bobbie Pryor
Recording studio	Wogan House, London
Original release	5 July 1999 – present
Audio format	88–91 FM, DAB digital radio, TV and online
Website	Official BBC Website
Podcast	Steve Wright in the Afternoon - The Big Podcast

Steve Wright in the Afternoon (Radio 1)

Genre	Comedy, chat
Running time	2.5 hours (3–5:30 pm)
Country of origin	UK
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 1
Hosted by	Steve Wright
Original release	1981 – 1993

Steve Wright in the Afternoon is the name of the current afternoon show on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Steve Wright. The show is one of the most popular on the station, and is often referred to as The Big Show. The show is broadcast from 14:00 until 17:00 Monday to Friday.

History

The show originally started on Radio 1 in the 1980s where it ran successfully for a number of years until ending in 1993. Steve Wright then worked on other shows for the network before leaving the BBC for several years. In this period, he worked at Talk Radio, and at GWR presenting a networked weekend show. He finally moved back to the BBC at Radio 2 in 1996. He started as a weekend presenter hosting a Saturday morning show (later taken over by Jonathan Ross) and Sunday morning's Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs. Steve Wright in the Afternoon was revived in 1999 following a shake-up at Radio 2 and Wright now presents the show every Monday to Friday from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. It has built up a huge following and was given its own podcast in 2006 as part of a trial period. This is still available every week with highlights from the show.

Team members

The Show follows the zoo format, with Steve Wright as the host, and co-presenters Tim Smith and Janey Lee Grace, as well as input from news and travel presenters on the day. There is also a character called 'The Old Woman'; when she appeared on the show, listeners did not know her identity, but many rumours circulated on the internet as to who she was. On 9 November 2016, Steve Wright confirmed the death of Joyce Frost from Dagenham, aka 'The Old Woman', thereby revealing her true identity.^[1] Other spoof characters include 'Barry from Watford' (the octogenarian lifestyle coach - played by the actor Alex Lowe) and 'Elvis', who appears in the feature Ask Elvis.

Format

The show begins at 14:00 with the show's main theme. Unlike most shows, it is well established as being a "brand", with its own unique style of presentation, although Steve regularly uses the standard BBC Radio 2 jingles along with jingles unique to the show, written and performed by AJ Music Productions.^[2] Guests regularly appear on the show, often to plug a new TV show or movie.

When other presenters stand in for Steve Wright in the Afternoon, the stand-in host does "their own thing", rather than replicating the normal show. The show's theme and jingles are not played, and otherwise regular features (such as the factoids) are not used. For example, the most recent stand in Mark Goodier has been known to use an instrumental version of Chic's "Happy Man" as background music, and during the 3–3:30 pm slot he plays six songs, one from each decade from the 1960s onwards, plus two chosen by the listeners, all of which relate to a theme, such as weddings or water. In the past, stand-in presenters have included Mark Radcliffe, Aled Jones, Craig Charles, Liza Tarbuck, Dale Winton, Richard Allinson, Sara Cox, Chris Tarrant and Tony Blackburn. More recently, alongside the aforementioned Mark Goodier, the regular stand-in hosts have been Patrick Kielty, Jo Whiley, Ore Oduba, Gary Davies, Chris Tarrant, Jonathan Ross and Al Murray.

Features

Some regular features include;

• "Non-Stop Oldies", a mixtape of around six songs submitted by a particular listener, often with sentimental value. Contrary to the segment's name, some of the songs played are not necessarily classified as oldies by the general public, as songs from as late as 2009 have played during the block. The songs are played with almost no breaks from 3:00 to 3:30 pm every day.
• Factoids, short items of trivia. This segment spawned two books; Steve Wright's Book of Factoids in 2006 and Steve Wright's Further Factoids in 2009.
• "Do You Remember?" (discontinued): Once or twice a week, the team (normally two or three of Steve, Tim Smith, Bobbie Pryor or Janey Lee Grace) reminisced on how things were when they were growing up, often in a humorous fashion. Subjects discussed included TV programmes, cars, household appliances, food, shopping and travel. Listeners also often sent in suggestions to contribute.
• Barry from Watford: Approximately once a month, "elderly lifestyle guru" Barry from Watford (actually actor/comedian Alex Lowe) visits Steve and delivers his take on popular culture.
• Hands up: Steve asks 2 or 3 questions between his first and second song with a round of applause in the studio such as "Hands up if you are liking the warm weather?".
• Guest interviews, usually 2 or 3 per show.
• Big Shout-Outs: Listeners send Steve messages via text or email. If the message is sensible and entertaining it may be read out. The likelihood of your message being read on air is greatly increased if a phrase such as "Absolutely loving the Big Show" is included in the message. This feature is particularly enjoyed by bored workmen; spoof messages are often sent on behalf of their colleagues.

In mid-2014, Steve introduced a new Friday feature, Serious Jockin' (with no G), where he plays tracks, often disco music and house music, back to back with listeners' texts and emails. He invites listeners to send in their "no G puns", which he reads out on air; for example, "I'm playing my electric guitar; serious rockin'". The music ranges from 1950s to the present day and has an iTunes and BBC Music playlist. Whenever Mark Goodier fills in for Steve, he does a similar feature called "Serious Mixin'" which starts fifteen minutes earlier than Wright's block and is throughout the week instead of just on Fridays.

The show is occasionally punctuated by voice impressions of famous people, such as Donald Trump ("This is the bigliest show" / "No fake news!") and Jeremy Vine ("Just another reminder not to miss Eggheads tonight, the best quiz" - in reference to Vine's frequent references to Eggheads - which he presents - at the end of his own radio show, which precedes Wright's). Steve himself often performs impressions of his Radio 2 colleagues - such as Tony Blackburn, Bob Harris and Jools Holland - when publicising their shows.

Steve often talks about his disdain for red trousers, which is signalled by a jingle of him shouting the phrase "Red Trousers!" with shock and fear, then screaming as a snippet of the Dragnet theme song plays in the background.

When Steve reads a shout-out from listeners who are in France, he often reads the shout-out in an exaggerated French accent with clichéd accordion music playing in the background. When he reads a shout-out from listeners in Spain, he often plays stereotypical Spanish-style fiesta music during the shout-out.

External links

• Steve Wright in the Afternoon at BBC Programmes
• AJ Productions

References