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Guardian review Greg's first drivetime show

Jono

By Jono
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Jono

Jono

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Greg James made his debut as as Radio 1's Drivetime host on Monday afternoon, replacing Scott Mills who had been in the job since 2004. To casual listeners the swap – Mills is moving to James's mid-afternoon slot – is virtually seamless. James and Mills share a similar conversational style, identikit non-accents and equal disregard for the music that breaks up their numerous features. But there is one very noticeable difference between the two: age. With Chris Moyles, Sara Cox, Zane Lowe and Mills all in their late 30s, at least James, who is 26, fits the 15 - 29 year old age bracket the station is meant to target.

But a new presenter for the drivetime show hasn't heralded a new programme as such. In fact, James has brought with him the same "funny bits" that broke up his early afternoon show – including Ten Minute Takeover, which involves the listeners choosing three random tracks (exciting); Ask The Nation, which features people requesting advice on thorny social dilemmas (if you accidentally feed a vegetarian some meat do you tell them?); and Star Caller, which involves a celebrity cold-calling a member of the public (hilarity ensues – perhaps). All have potential, but the best moment on Monday was when the Star Caller "victim" asked if she could "say hello" to her "bomas". "Your what?" spluttered James. "My Best-Of-Mates-Always," explained excitable student Lee.

One thing that Radio 1's drivetime show lacks is any sense that the audience might be listening while actually driving or coming home from somewhere – here, "drivetime" has become lingua franca for a radio programme that's on in the late afternoon. But elsewhere, travel information and kinship with the weary commuter is the backbone of this slot.

On Five Live, there is barely a traffic light failure that doesn't get a mention; on Radio Two, devotes swathes of time to a woman sometimes referred to as "Sally Travel" and TalkSport seldom allows five minutes to elapse without use of the words "white" and "van". But then, perhaps equally important on the radio at this time of day is a sense that our hard work is done and we can now loosen our proverbial ties and enjoy ourselves. It's this element that Mills did well and James – who already appears to building a listeners club of like-minded souls – seems likely to do too, although at one point he did refer to "boring Newsbeat" before hastily backtracking.

The Drivetime slot has been used as a a launchpad by both Chris Moyles on Radio 1 and Chris Evans on Radio 2. Currently the equation of home-time music plus topical chat and occasional cranial detours is being best served by Eoghan McDermott on XFM, a presenter who successfully manages to perform the balancing act between comedian, host and idiot with breezy aplomb.

Away from music radio, Five Live's Peter Allen and Aasmah Mir brilliantly navigate an unwieldily maze of news, sport, chat and information (although Allen's double act with Jane Garvey is still much missed). But such is the relentless nature of their rolling news format that making it to 7pm is as much a relief for the listener as it is for them. Perhaps the perfect drivetime mix lurks elsewhere on the dial.

So if you listened to Greg James's drivetime debut, what did you think and will you be tuning in again? And if you get your drivetime thrills elsewhere, what are the elements that keep you coming back?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/apr/03/greg-james-bbc-radio-1-drivetime

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R94N

R94N

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One thing that Radio 1's drivetime show lacks is any sense that the audience might be listening while actually driving or coming home from somewhere – here, "drivetime" has become lingua franca for a radio programme that's on in the late afternoon. But elsewhere, travel information and kinship with the weary commuter is the backbone of this slot.

Yes, but I bet to a lot of people that isn't interesting listening, whether they are travelling somewhere or not.

On Five Live, there is barely a traffic light failure that doesn't get a mention; on Radio Two, devotes swathes of time to a woman sometimes referred to as "Sally Travel" and TalkSport seldom allows five minutes to elapse without use of the words "white" and "van".

I thought it was Sally Traffic, not Sally Travel? Maybe they changed it.

But then, perhaps equally important on the radio at this time of day is a sense that our hard work is done and we can now loosen our proverbial ties and enjoy ourselves. It's this element that Mills did well and James – who already appears to building a listeners club of like-minded souls – seems likely to do too, although at one point he did refer to "boring Newsbeat" before hastily backtracking.

Well, perhaps it's a good thing that most of Newsbeat is going then, if no one cares about it. Which is a shame, because I think the news is important, not boring.

So if you listened to Greg James's drivetime debut, what did you think and will you be tuning in again? And if you get your drivetime thrills elsewhere, what are the elements that keep you coming back?

Probably not. I still listen to Scott because even though some days the show isn't that great I still think it is worth my time.

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rosie_posii

rosie_posii

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To casual listeners the swap – Mills is moving to James's mid-afternoon slot – is virtually seamless. James and Mills share a similar conversational style, identikit non-accents and equal disregard for the music that breaks up their numerous features. But there is one very noticeable difference between the two: age. With Chris Moyles, Sara Cox, Zane Lowe and Mills all in their late 30s, at least James, who is 26, fits the 15 - 29 year old age bracket the station is meant to target.

I'd say that even to casual listeners, they'd be able to tell the difference between the two. Scott's style is quite different to Greg's, added to the fact that Scott has more of a team around him...

The sheep is not a creature of the air.

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Viv

Viv

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Hmmm.. I wouldn't say that at all. He is a bit of a "bungler" compared with his more restrained wife, but a surprisingly damn good laugh. In fact, he is better than Chris Evans !! :hahaha:

I do like some of the totally off-the-wall thoughts he has !! Actually quite similar to my own.

ps: Also quite like the daughter Chloe.. quite opinionated on Twitter, but she's good !! :-0

Delta Machine, Depeche Mode - buy NOW !!

http://youtu.be/59dZzXLPRg0

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MrDoovdeHaxorz

MrDoovdeHaxorz

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You know.. when you can't laugh at something anymore, when you can't tune in anymore, when you would rather have Richard Madeley on Radio 2 ....... that's when you know.... your time is over and out really. :-)

This coming from the huge Madonna fan? yeah... just gonna put that out there, I find it massively ironic is all...

Professional eater of puppy dogs, baby heads and killer of grannies...

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