The Radio 2 Breakfast Show


The Radio 2 Breakfast Show refers to a range of programming on weekday mornings on BBC Radio 2 since 30 September 1967. The show's longest serving host to date so far was Sir Terry Wogan, who worked on the programme for 29 years in 2 separate stints, from 3 April 1972 until 28 December 1984, and again from 4 January 1993 until 18 December 2009. The show's shortest serving host to date so far was Brian Hayes, who hosted the show throughout 1992. Since January 2019, the show has been fronted by Zoe Ball.

History

NoPresenterFromToDuration
1Various30 September 19672 January 1970
2John Dunn5 January 197031 March 1972
3Terry Wogan3 April 197228 December 1984
4Ken Bruce7 January 19854 April 1986
5Derek Jameson7 April 198620 December 1991
6Brian Hayes6 January 199223 December 1992
7Terry Wogan4 January 199318 December 2009
8Chris Evans11 January 201024 December 2018
9Zoe Ball14 January 2019present

''Breakfast Special'' (Various Presenters: 19671970)

From Radio 2's inception in 1967, a breakfast programme was broadcast in tandem with The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, featuring a mix of news, music, traffic and weather reports. Unlike its Radio 1 counterpart which had started with a single presenter, Breakfast Special was a continuation of a BBC Light Programme format which had been running since 1965 with a roster of presenters who hosted in weekly rotation. These included Paul Hollingdale, Ray Moore, Peter Latham, Bruce Wyndham, and John Dunn. The music played was largely easy listening of the type with which Radio 2 would be particularly associated until the 1990s. An early feature was "Band of the Day", which would feature recordings of standards and traditional jazz by artists such as Sidney Sax, Frank Chacksfield, Syd Dale and Leon Young.
During its first year the Breakfast Show began at 5:30am and ended at 8:30am, at which time Radios 1 and 2 would broadcast the same programme, however in 1968 this was changed to a 9am finish, after which Radio 2 would broadcast its own programme.

John Dunn (19701972)

Dunn became the first permanent presenter of the show on 5 January 1970, with Ray Moore providing cover. The show was still broadcast during this period between 5.30am and 9.00am.

Terry Wogan (First tenure: 19721984)

On 3 April 1972, Dunn was replaced by Terry Wogan. During the Wogan era, the programme was also moved to a later start time of 7am, with an Early Show preceding it, finishing at 9am. During this period Wogan's cover again principally came from Ray Moore, who presented the Early Show at other times. From 3 January 1978 Jimmy Young's programme was moved earlier in the day to follow Wogan, and until the end of its run was broadcast between 7.30am and 10.00am. Their banter-filled handover became something of a feature. Wogan remained in this role until 28 December 1984; as he left the station for a while to begin presenting his own chat show Wogan on BBC1 television.

Ken Bruce (19851986)

Wogan was replaced by Ken Bruce, whose first show aired on 7 January 1985. Bruce had presented various Radio 2 programmes after starting at BBC Radio Scotland. Bruce's tenure was brief, his only "crime" apparently being that he "wasn't Terry Wogan". In 1986 he was moved to the mid-morning slot which, along with stints on both the late and early shows in 1990-91, he still occupies to this day. During the Bruce era, the show was broadcast in a later timeslot between 8.00am and 10.30am.

Derek Jameson (19861991)

On 7 April 1986, Bruce was replaced by journalist Derek Jameson, in a move which proved controversial at the time, as Jameson, although known on television for his contributions to programmes such as What The Papers Say, was not recognised as a radio broadcaster. Even though he made the show more news-based, Jameson became a popular broadcaster, regularly attracting audiences of 10 million, and remained in the role until 20 December 1991. During the Jameson era, the show was reduced by 30 minutes and moved to an earlier timeslot of between 7.30am and 9.30am. The show has continued to end at 9:30am ever since Jameson took over.

Brian Hayes (1992)

On 6 January 1992, Jameson was replaced by Brian Hayes, who took over what was still a news-based show and proved to be an even more controversial choice, as his perceived acerbic manner was seen as being at odds with what the Radio 2 breakfast programme had become. Subtitled Good Morning UK!, it did not prove popular and it ended on 23 December 1992. During the Hayes era, the show was extended by 1 hour and was moved to an earlier start time of 6:30 am.

Terry Wogan (Second tenure: 1993–2009)

Hayes was replaced by Terry Wogan, who returned to the programme and the station on 4 January 1993, after the axing of his BBC TV chat show the previous year. From here on in, the news based elements of the show were dropped, and it returned to its more traditional music and chat style format. Now entitled Wake Up to Wogan, it was the first time the breakfast show had explicitly been given a title other than a generic 'breakfast' term, or simply the name of the host, a trend which continued with Wogan's successor, Chris Evans, in 2010 and his successor Zoe Ball in 2019. During the second Wogan era, the show was at first reduced by 30 minutes and broadcast between 7:00 am and 9:30 am in its first year. From 17 January 1994 until the end of its run, the show was reduced by another 30 minutes and was broadcast in the same timeslot used in the Jameson era. On 7 September 2009, Wogan announced that he would step down as the show's host at the end of that year, moving to weekends to present a Sunday mid morning show called Weekend Wogan, starting on 14 February 2010. He presented his final breakfast programme on 18 December 2009, which marked the end of nearly 30 years over 2 stints working on the show.
Johnnie Walker then became the interim host of the programme in the period between Wogan's departure and Evans' arrival, from 21 December 2009 until 8 January 2010. Walker was a regular stand-in for Wogan during his latter years on the show.

Chris Evans (2010–2018)

Wogan was replaced by Chris Evans, whose first show aired on 11 January 2010. For its first 10 months on air, the show was extended by 30 minutes and broadcast between 7:00 am and 9:30 am, which was used in the first year of Wogan's second tenure. On 11 October 2010, after early presenter Sarah Kennedy's departure, the show was extended by another 30 minutes and broadcast in the same timeslot as used in the Hayes era. On 3 September 2018, Evans announced his departure from the network and his plan to move to Virgin Radio. The last show was broadcast on 24 December 2018 and on 21 January 2019, Evans began the second incarnation of the show on Virgin Radio UK.
The show then used guest hosts Paddy O'Connell, Sara Cox and Mark Goodier in the period between Evans' departure and Ball's arrival, from 26 December 2018 until 11 January 2019.

Zoe Ball (2019–present)

Evans was replaced by Zoe Ball, whose first show aired on 14 January 2019, inheriting the same timings used in the Hayes era and since 11 October 2010 of the Evans era.

Stand-in presenters

Stand-in presenters known to have covered the show include: