That Mark Radcliffe was well enough to appear in today’s final Radcliffe and (Stuart) Maconie afternoon show on BBC 6 Music after undergoing treatment for cancer in recent weeks was perhaps the only good news that came out of it. Great, brilliant, wonderful news, actually, because the full recovery of this desperately talented and funny man matters far more than my radio listening habits. Yet hearing his voice one last time in the afternoon fills me with a deep gloom that I have rarely, if ever, felt at the end of a radio show.
For Radcliffe and Maconie have revolutionised not just my listening habits, they broadened my musical tastes far beyond my widest imaginings. I always loved my music, of course, but thanks to 6 Music in general and Radcliffe and Maconie in particular that love went to a higher level.
Given that they recently achieved their best ever listening figures, their departure to the weekend breakfast shows makes no sense, unless of course you think there is no place at the BBC for two middle aged, white men. Naturally, I support the case for greater diversity at the BBC, and everywhere else for that matter and it could be that moving Radcliffe and Maconie is for reasons other than their age, colour and sex. However, there is a tiny part of what is left of my brain which believes in conspiracy theories and I can’t get it out of my head that moving them away from the weekday show is not about their ability as broadcasters.
Truthfully, I’m gutted at their departure. They have made me laugh, sometimes they have made me cry and they have almost always educated me. And after today, Friday 21st December 2018, my afternoons will never be the same again.
Have a merry christmas, everyone, except that bloody controller at BBC 6 Music, that is.
