''Loose Ends'' is a British radio programme originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, and then transmitted early Saturday evenings from 1998 by

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. It was hosted by

Ned Sherrin Edward George Sherrin (18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC. He appeared in a variety of r ...

until 2006 and has been hosted by

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts dur ...

, Nikki Bedi and Peter Curran since 2007. The programme brings together guests, generally from the world of entertainment, in a mix of interviews, sets by comedians and musical sessions.

History

First broadcast in 1986, it developed out of ''The Colour Supplement'', a Sunday morning programme which had featured early ''Loose Ends'' contributors such as

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Robert Elms and Victor Lewis-Smith. The latter's contributions to ''Loose Ends'' were recorded packages, being a mischievous and disruptive element of the programme. Originally commissioned comedy had, by 2006, been phased out almost entirely, with comic performers tending to deliver existing material from their repertoires although, in June/July 2006, the Scots comedian and writer Janey Godley scripted a weekly series of satiric fictional extracts from ''

Nancy Dell'Olio Annunziata "Nancy" Dell'Olio (born 23 August 1961) is an Italian-American lawyer and media personality. She first came to public notice as the girlfriend of football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Early life Annunziata Dell'Olio was born in New ...

's Diary'' to coincide with the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. Dell' Olio was the girlfriend of

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

coach

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

. Only four extracts were transmitted due to the England team's failure in the championships. Typically the programme was topped and tailed by Sherrin reading a comic monologue which, over the years, was written by Alistair Beaton, D. A. Barham, Ian Brown & James Hendrie, Nev Fountain, Tom Jamieson, Tom Mitchelson, Ian Hawkins, Terence Dackombe, Andrew Nickolds, Steve Punt and Pete Sinclair. When Sherrin became ill with a throat infection in late 2006, later diagnosed as throat cancer, Peter Curran stood in as presenter of ''Loose Ends'' with Patrick Kielty and

as guest presenters. Sherrin died of

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

on 1 October 2007. Clive Anderson became permanent replacement host in 2007. In 2024, alternate presenters have included Nihal Arthanayake and

Stuart Maconie Stuart John Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark Radc ...

References

External links

* BBC Radio 4 programmes 1986 radio programme debuts {{BBC-radio-stub