Mark Goodier had a genuine scoop for Wallace and Gromit fans on Wednesday's Drivetime: after 37 years of saying nothing, Gromit is finally getting a voice, and it belongs to Martin Freeman. The casting is for a new audiobook called The Autobiography of Gromit, with creator Nick Park quoted as saying Freeman was "the obvious choice, really." Mark played a test clip of the voice in action, joking that the production team must have spent "hours watching Sherlock, just to get that clip."
The Pub Quiz brought its usual mix of bribery and panic. Producer Ben offered to let Mark skip the vending machine if the team scored well, while travel presenter Kirsten O'Brien was told she'd only dodge the chocolate machine herself with three points out of five in a sports round. She scraped through with two, but got the chocolate anyway after caller Ed from Lockerby, a delivery driver who'd shifted 26 pallets that day, generously told Mark "you've got to give her the chocolate." Ed himself nailed three points, including correctly guessing that Karen Carney, not Harry Kane, was the first footballer to win Strictly Come Dancing.
Listen: Gromit finally speaks
Listen: Chocolate bribery and the pub quiz verdict
Owain Wyn Evans gave Sara Cox a training update for his 400-mile, four-nations Children in Need cycling challenge, admitting "my legs are absolutely killing today" after a hill session. Listeners were still suggesting names for his bike, with Sara advising him to keep custard creams by the bed for middle-of-the-night hunger pangs.
Mark also ran down the Bee Gees' most-streamed songs, with Staying Alive topping the list on 2.1 billion streams, and previewed news that Led Zeppelin have finally licensed Stairway to Heaven for the new Narnia film, The Magician's Nephew.
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