Goslings made the radio star

Over the last few years, I’ve made something of a habit of listening to The Late Night Alternative on Talk Radio when I go to bed. It’s a show hosted by Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle which is kinda hard to describe. There’s no script, no plan, no phone-in topics. You can call in and talk about whatever you like. Well, for as long as they’ll let you. They don’t suffer fools. It’s on every weekday night from 10pm to 1am, and consistently drifts between hilarious, serious and emotional.

I discovered it by luck when I’d heard that Iain was starring in that silly celebrity jungle show in 2017. I don’t watch it, but it’s near on impossible to avoid the headlines when it’s on. So when I heard he was part of the lineup I was intrigued. He’d first come to my attention in the late 90s as one of the hosts of The 11 O’Clock Show. A TV programme very much of its time – think shock humour, The Word etc. But still brilliant. Daisy Donovan was his co-host. I fancied her and wanted to be him. It also launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen. Quite the pedigree.

But this was the first I’d heard about Iain for a long time, so I decided to find out what he’d been up to. Turned out he’d been on various radio stations for years and I’d been missing out. But no more. Most nights I tune in at 10pm and more often than not I’ve drifted off to sleep before the show ends. Not always though. If I’m having trouble sleeping I’ll listen to some of the following show, presented by Darryl Morris (no relation). And recently he’s launched a new feature where people record their daily government-approved isolation walks and he plays them on the radio. Naturally, I couldn’t resist. I recorded one of my canal walks last week and it was played live on air last night!

Don’t worry, I won’t let the fame get to my head. I’ll still be here tracking the progress of the goslings over the summer. But you should check out The Late Night Alternative or Darryl’s show if you get the chance. They’re always interesting and presented by genuinely decent people. A word of warning though – don’t leave your radio on overnight (I have a fancy one that turns itself off) otherwise you may be woken up by the hysterical tones of Julia Hartley-Brewer, and nobody needs that first thing in the morning.

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