''Weekend Wogan'' was the incarnation of the Sunday morning show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

from 14 February 2010 to 8 November 2015. The show was presented by

Sir Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

, which marked his return to the airwaves following his departure as presenter of the weekday breakfast show, in December 2009. In its first year, the show was broadcast in front of a live audience in the

BBC Radio Theatre The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings. History Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was desi ...

, before moving to Western House, Radio 2's headquarters, where it remained until the end of its run. Wogan hosted the show for the final time on

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

2015, as his health was beginning to decline due to cancer. He died from this illness on 31 January 2016. The show's slot was filled with guest hosts until 29 November 2015 after which regular cover show ''Madeley on Sunday'', presented by

Richard Madeley Richard Holt Madeley ( born 13 May 1956) is an English television presenter and writer. Alongside his wife Judy Finnigan, he presented '' This Morning'' and the chat show '' Richard & Judy''. Madeley's solo projects include the ITV series '' F ...

, took over the slot temporarily.

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

took over the slot on a permanent basis from April 2016, returning to the show he vacated in 2010 to allow Wogan to present. The programme featured guests and live music from BBC Radio 2 studios at Western House in London. It was broadcast for approximately 40 Sundays a year, with the remaining 12 being taken by an interim show, which from May 2012 was ''Madeley on Sunday''. Previously, until September 2011, the interim show was ''

's Sunday Brunch''.

History

Wogan confirmed to his listeners on 7 September 2009 that he would be leaving the breakfast show at the end of the year with Chris Evans taking over. He presented his final edition of ''

Wake Up to Wogan ''Wake Up to Wogan'' (''WUTW'') was the incarnation of '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' that aired each weekday morning from 4 January 1993 to 18 December 2009. It was the most-listened-to radio show in the United Kingdom, and the flagship breakf ...

'' on 18 December 2009, although by then it had been announced that Wogan would return to Radio 2 from 14 February 2010 to host a live weekly two-hour Sunday show, featuring live musical performance and guests, between 11:00 and 13:00. The three 2010 series took place in front of a live audience in the Radio Theatre at

Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...

and had an original run of three months. Tickets for the first block of 12 shows had sold out within 24 hours. Wogan's first guests on his new show were actor

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

and jazz singers

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

and

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

. In its first year, the programme also featured a house band, led by musician Elio Pace. In 2011 the televised version was decommissioned and ''Weekend Wogan'' was hosted from BBC Radio 2's studios in Western House. On 3 July 2012 the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

ruled that Wogan had breached broadcasting guidelines following an edition in January of that year in which he made comments that appeared to make light of the

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, which had occurred nine days earlier. After playing " Rock the Boat" by

The Hues Corporation The Hues Corporation was an American pop and soul trio, formed in Santa Monica, California in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single " Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies. Group name and background Before achieving main ...

he questioned whether it was an appropriate choice of song and joked about the

Costa Concordia ''Costa Concordia'' () was a cruise ship operated by Costa Crociere. She was the first of her class, followed by sister ships ''Costa Serena'', ''Costa Pacifica'', ''Costa Favolosa'' and ''Costa Fascinosa'', and ''Carnival Splendor'' built for ...

's captain. The ship ran aground and partially sank off the Italian Coast with the loss of lives.

Show format

Airing from 11am to 1pm every Sunday, Weekend Wogan featured a mix of live and recorded music, together with guest singers. The show also included celebrity interviews, as well as contributions from Wogan's listeners and regular guests such as, in its first year, the newsreader John Marsh. Features of the show included the infamous ''

Janet and John ''Janet and John'' is a series of early reading books for children, originally published in the UK by James Nisbet and Co in four volumes in 1949–50, and one of the first to make use of the "look and say" approach. Further volumes appeared l ...

'' stories featuring Marsh and which were a regular mainstay of ''

''. A

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

of the show was available online. Wogan usually signed off the show saying "well, that's about the height of it" before thanking his guests and producers, previewing next week's show and playing his last record. Throughout 2010 the show was also televised. Wogan was joined on stage by an eleven-piece house band led by musical director Elio Pace with backing vocals from Kirstie Roberts, Sue Acteson and Chloe Buswell. Video highlights of Weekend Wogan could also be viewed on the show's website from Mondays and on the

Red Button Red button may refer to: *Red Button (digital television), a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and used to access interactive television services **BBC Red Button, a digit ...

History

Show format

Televised episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

References

External links