''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular presenters were Richard Baker,

Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-vege ...

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of '' The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documen ...

and Jeremy Paxman. It is broadcast (usually) live on Monday mornings between 9:02am and 9:45am, and repeated in a shortened, edited version at 9:30pm the same evening. Its guests typically come from the worlds of politics, journalism, science and the arts. Prior to Marr the programme had a number of regular secondary presenters including Ken Sykora, Kenneth Robinson (who began in 1971 during the Baker era), Rosie Boycott, Catherine Bennett and

Lisa Jardine Lisa Anne Jardine (née Bronowski; 12 April 1944 – 25 October 2015) was a British historian of the early modern period. From 1990 to 2011, she was Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and ...

History

Richard Baker (1970–1987)

The original programme differed from its current form; for the first year or so it was entirely pre-recorded. Produced by Michael Ember, a flamboyant producer from the BBC Hungarian Service, the 1970 show was supposed to be intelligent banter on a weekly theme held together in a jocular fashion by Richard Baker, a well-known television newsreader. If that week contained Valentine's Day, for example, the show would start with some hints as to proper behaviour for that day, a bit of history, then a tape recorded by Doug Crawford, a former pirate radio DJ, consisting of a montage of music, archive recordings, opinions recorded on the street and the like, presenting the public's image of the day in question. After eight minutes or so, the programme returned to the live studio for anecdotes and discussion from a variety of guests. Regulars included Lance Percival, a satirist from TV shows of the time who sang the ''Start the Week'' intro theme as a topical calypso, cookery with

Zena Skinner Zena Skinner (27 February 1927 – 6 March 2018) was a British chef, writer, and cookery expert on television and radio. Early life Skinner was from Luton, Bedfordshire. Her father owned an electroplating company. Career Skinner served in ...

. The programme had a regular following but was thought to be too light-hearted and irreverent for 9am on Monday mornings by a new Director of Programmes.

Russell Harty (1987–1988)

The programme turned towards being a chat show during Harty's year in the chair;

, a friend of Harty's first appeared on the programme as a substitute presenter before illness led to Harty's death in 1988.

Melvyn Bragg (1988–1998)

After Harty's death, several presenters were tried out, including Kate Adie,

Sue Lawley Susan Lawley (born 14 July 1946) is a retired English television and radio broadcaster. Her main broadcasting background involved television news and current affairs. From 1988–2006, Lawley was the presenter of '' Desert Island Discs'' on BBC ...

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for '' The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with a ...

and Melvyn Bragg. During Bragg's tenure the programme gained "a new reputation for '' gravitas''"; and also a larger audience, which by 1996 was "at one to one and a half million, slightly more than the far more middle-brow programmes such as '' Midweek'', ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'' and '' Loose Ends'', which occupy the slot on other days." According to ''

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 ...

'', "rows, however innocuous some of them seemed at the time, have become a trademark under Bragg: among the most notable have been Ben Elton vs

Brenda Maddox Brenda, Lady Maddox ( Murphy; February 24, 1932 – June 16, 2019) was an American writer and biographer, who spent most of her adult life living and working in the UK, from 1959 until her death. She is best known for her biographies, includin ...

, Rosie Boycott and Bragg vs novelist Kathy Lette, Armistead Maupin vs Libby Purves, and Bragg himself vs (separately)

Joan Smith Joan Alison Smith (born 27 August 1953) is an English journalist, novelist, and human rights activist, who is a former chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN and was the Executive Director of Hack ...

Michael Dobbs Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his '' House of Cards'' trilogy. Early life and education Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfords ...

William Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...

, Tony Parsons and Jean Aitchison. The programme's prominence in Radio 4's schedule meant that Bragg's elevation to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

as a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

necessitated Bragg's relinquishing of an involvement in the programme.

Jeremy Paxman (1998–2002)

Paxman's tenure was relatively short for a broadcaster of his stature because his aggressive style of interviewing was not considered compatible with the programme.

Andrew Marr (2002–present)

Andrew Marr took over as the programme's presenter in 2002. Occasional stand-in presenters in recent years have included David Baddiel and Sue MacGregor. In January 2013, Marr suffered a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

and went on sabbatical from the show, though he did chair a one-off episode in November and several episodes in December 2013. He thereafter returned as the presenter of the show, but not on a full-time basis. Since 2013, he has alternated with various presenters, currently Tom Sutcliffe, Kirsty Wark and Amol Rajan.

Awards

''Start the Week'' won the Best Radio Programme category in the 1994 and 2005

Voice of the Listener & Viewer The Voice of the Listener & Viewer, originally just Voice of the Listener, is a British consumer group, championing public service broadcasting and speaking for listeners and viewers on the full range of broadcasting and media issues. It was found ...

Awards, and is only the second programme to win the award twice.

References

External links

Official website
{{BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 programmes 1970 radio programme debuts British talk radio programmes