The Sunday Hour

The Sunday Hour (formerly Sunday Half Hour from 1940 to 2013) was a long-standing show broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, broadcast for 78 years between 14 July 1940 and 28 January 2018.[1]

For most of its life it occupied a Sunday evening slot, latterly between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm but in 2013 it moved to a Sunday morning slot between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. It broadcast Christian hymns and prayer, and was one of only two remaining Christian-based shows on Radio 2, the other being Good Morning Sunday.

For its first fifty years, a large number of presenters took part, and the entire show was hosted by a different church each week. From September 1990, the format changed so that the show was presented by a regular presenter from the studio, with recordings of hymns, some sung by a "featured choir", inserted between the discussion, prayers and dedications. Each week the show is centred on a specific theme: an event in the Church calendar, a passage of the Bible, or a more general area such as the family or the importance of carers. The longest-serving of the regular presenters was Roger Royle, an Anglican priest, who presented the show between September 1990 and April 2007. Brian D'Arcy, a Passionist priest from Northern Ireland, took over as the presenter in April 2007. Diane-Louise Jordan was the next presenter, replacing Father Brian in February 2012.[2] Jordan announced she was leaving in July 2017.[3]

From 20 January 2013, the show was extended to an hour and moved to a new slot from 6:00 am to 7:00 am on Sunday mornings. The programme's name was changed to The Sunday Hour. Singer Michael Ball took over the Sunday evening slot with a new two-hour show.[4]

The show was axed and broadcast its final show on 28 January 2018 after 78 years in favour of a brand new format for Radio 2's Sunday breakfast programme, Good Morning Sunday, starting February 4.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Sunday Half Hour 70th anniversary", BBC website, 18 July 2010
  2. ↑ BBC Press Release: Father Brian D’Arcy steps down from Sunday Half Hour
  3. ↑ "Diane Louise Jordan leaves The Sunday Hour".
  4. ↑ BBC Press Release: Michael Ball joins Radio 2 in brand new Sunday night show
  5. ↑ A new look to Sunday mornings on BBC Radio 2


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