Martin Kelner
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Martin Barry Kelner is a British journalist, author, comedian, singer, actor and TV presenter, whose primary career is in radio presenting. He has spent over 40 years hosting radio shows, mostly for the BBC, in particular
Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
. He has been regularly accompanied throughout his career by comedy sidekick Edouard Lapaglie.


Education and early career

Kelner studied Arts and Social Studies at
Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...
in Glasgow, but dropped out. He was employed as a reporter on the ''
Western Daily Press The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mond ...
'' in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and for the ''
Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid '' The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 as a succe ...
''. He then joined the
Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...
, for whom he worked in Bristol, Lambeth, South London and in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. Martin Kelner moved to Radio Hallam in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
to begin his career in radio. He started reading the breakfast show news before moving on to his own late night show. He spent a brief spell at London's
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
's
Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West Eng ...
, before moving to
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
in 1981 and the fledgling
Radio Aire Radio Aire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Leeds and West Yorkshire. The station was merged and relaunched as Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History Radio Aire was launched at 6am ...
. He left Radio Aire in late 1982, and worked for
Yorkshire TV ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
for a time on a programme called '' Calendar It's The Weekend''. He was also a co-presenter on '' BBC Breakfast''. Other television excursions for Kelner include ''Brainwave'', a daytime
quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...
show and ''Pick of the Week''.


Radio

In 1984 Kelner joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. He initially presented the weekday early show on BBC Radio 2 in September and October 1984, and then presented his own Saturday night show on the same station from 6 July 1985 until 24 March 1990, also returning to the early show for two stints during 1985. He fronted his own Saturday afternoon show on Radio 2 from 1 October 1994 to 23 March 1996. He also did many stand-ins for regular presenters on the network, peaking in the mid-1990s when he regularly deputised for
Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...
on the weekday early show (both when she sat in for
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 ...
and when she was on holiday herself) and also sat in for
Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...
and John Dunn. He also presented editions of the ''Radio 2 Arts Programme'' from the north of England, and a programme called ''Let It Be... Please!'' featuring bad or embarrassing cover versions of
the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' songs. He then fell out of favour at the national station, presenting his last Radio 2 show sitting in for Sarah Kennedy on 29 November 1996. At the same time as he was on Radio 2, he was also presenting a local radio late-night show from the
Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
studios and broadcast across the
BBC Night Network The BBC Night Network (sometimes referred to on-air as BBC North FM and originally Radio North East) was an all-evening radio network which linked up the North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and later the North West England regions of BBC ...
in the
north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
, on which he first gave airtime to radio comedy sketches from
Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise in '' The ...
. She portrayed the Mrs Merton character on his radio show ad-libbing conversations with Kelner for around eight years. He also introduced Aherne into network broadcasting on Radio 2 and the original BBC Radio 5, where he presented the programme ''Five Aside'' for the station's opening months in 1990. He returned to Manchester to present the breakfast show on 100.4 Jazz FM, where he introduced another great comic talent to the public in the shape of Jake Yapp's Dora Dale, with whom Martin produced the hit
BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...
comedy show, ''Pleased To Meet You''. This show was nominated for a Sony National Radio Award on 28 March 2007 in the category of Best Comedy Programme. Until October 2006, Kelner presented the Friday and Saturday late show at the weekends on
BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio Humberside is the BBC's local radio station serving East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Queen's Gardens in Hull. According to RAJAR, the statio ...
,
BBC Radio York BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Bootham area of York. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...
, BBC Radio Leeds and
BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital television and via BBC Sounds from studios on Shoreham Street in Sheffield. According to RAJAR, the statio ...
. Other stations he has worked for include BBC Thames Valley FM,
BBC Radio Cleveland BBC Radio Tees is the BBC's local radio station serving the former county of Cleveland which comprises the unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and ...
, Pennine Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport,
BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...
, Real Radio Yorkshire and
Mansfield 103.2 FM Mansfield 103.2 FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, serving the areas of Mansfield and Ashfield in Nottinghamshire and nearby Bolsover in Derbyshire. It was launched in 1999 after winning a licence to bro ...
. From 2006 until 2010 he presented his own podcast, the ''Piss Poor Podcast'', accompanied for the most part by Edouard Lapaglie. He also appears on BBC Radio 5 Live as a regular panellist on ''
Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 1100 and 1200 and is based on a similar format to the ESPN show '' Around ...
'' (twice finishing as series runner up and twice winning the series championship, in 2013 and 2019), and has contributed to Chart The Week on Richard Bacon's programme. His most regular radio slot had been the BBC Radio Leeds ''Breakfast Show'' which he co-presented Monday to Thursday from 6:30am to 9:00am, but he was moved to the lunchtime slot in November 2012. Due to a change in direction of the station, Kelner left Radio Leeds again, presenting his last show on 18 March 2016. On 2 February 2018, Kelner joined the DAB station
TalkRadio TalkRadio (previously styled as talkRADIO) is a talk radio station broadcasting nationally in the United Kingdom, which was relaunched on 21 March 2016. Based in London and owned by Wireless Group, a subsidiary of News Corp., it is the sist ...
, hosting weekend mornings from 1am to 5am.


Writing and journalism

Kelner's journalism includes a weekly column for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', "Screen Break", which took a lighthearted look at the world of sport on TV, and a fortnightly column about radio. "Screen Break" finished on 31 December 2012. He writes occasional travel pieces for ''
The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...
'', and has written for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', of which his brother
Simon Kelner Simon Kelner (born 9 December 1957) is a British journalist and newspaper editor. Kelner studied at Bury Grammar School. His older brother is the journalist and broadcaster Martin Kelner. He is Jewish. He started work at ''Neath Guardian'' in ...
was executive editor. Kelner began writing for the '' Racing Post'' at the beginning of 2013. Other publications he has written for include '' GQ'', ''
Men's Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. ...
'', ''Later'' (now defunct), RCME, ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', Landrover Owner magazine, ''You'' magazine, and ''Public Servant'', the local and national government journal. He also has contributed to the
YouGov YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and sinc ...
website, and wrote television previews for the '' Daily Mail'' around 1994/95. He has posted humorous product reviews on Amazon. His first book, about the outer suburbs of show business, was called ''When Will I Be Famous?''. His second book, ''Sit Down and Cheer'', looked at the history of sport on British television.


Personal life

Kelner's daughter,
Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...
, is a journalist.


Health problems

in the summer of 2013, Kelner was diagnosed with fibromatosis; he later had surgery to remove a
sarcoma A sarcoma is a malignant tumor, a type of cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal ( connective tissue) origin. Connective tissue is a broad term that includes bone, cartilage, fat, vascular, or hematopoietic tissues, and sar ...
from his abdomen and was cared for at St James Hospital,
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
. He was later treated at the hospital's
intensive treatment unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensiv ...
for a week, and returned to his home in
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
for further recovery. In his blog, Kelner noted that it would be early 2014 until he could fully "return to professional life". He resumed his column in ''
The Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of ...
'' (at first on a semi-regular basis) and BBC Radio 5 Live later announced his return to ''Fighting Talk'' on 2 November. By mid-January he had resumed his lunchtime programme on BBC Radio Leeds.


References


External links

*
Martin Kelner's personal website including latest and archived podcasts

Guardian Sports Columnists Index – select Martin Kelner


{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelner, Martin Living people British radio comedy British radio DJs British radio personalities English radio presenters The Guardian journalists BBC Radio 2 presenters People from Swinton, Greater Manchester Alumni of the University of Strathclyde People from Prestwich Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Male actors from Salford