Confessions (radio programme)

Last updated

Confessions is an ongoing popular feature which first appeared on the BBC Radio 1 weekday breakfast show in the early 1990s, devised by its host, Simon Mayo.

Contents

Mayo, who had hosted the show since 1988, started the feature in August 1990, partly due to the rising interest in his own Christian faith, and it caught on very quickly. Listeners would write in to "Father Mayo" and "confess" to their "sins", and each morning at 8:35 am [1] Mayo would broadcast one to the nation over Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's Adagio for Organ and Strings in G minor.

The "confessions" were often humorous and sometimes lacking in taste or scruples. At the peak of the feature, Mayo received more than one hundred confessions a week. Some were sincere confessions and Mayo discounted any which admitted to crime, adultery, overt cruelty or other more serious activities.

Infamous confessions included:

After completing each confession, Mayo would ask his crew - consisting of weather and travel presenter Dianne Oxberry, newsreader Rod McKenzie, or their respective stand-ins if they were away, and the day's "special guest producer" played by the show's own producer Ric Blaxill - whether they would "forgive" the confessor or not.

Some confessions prompted complaints from listeners, especially if they involved particularly cruel behaviour towards others or any that involved living creatures, even if there was no hint of animal cruelty in the confession.

Simon Mayo in 2018 Simon Mayo (41543482744) (cropped).jpg
Simon Mayo in 2018

The feature was a huge success. Word spread internationally and a story made the front page of The Wall Street Journal , with Mayo often being asked if he was "trying to challenge the power and principles of various religions".

Confessions spawned a successful spin-off book and, later, a Saturday night BBC television series which ran from 1995 [2] to 1998, which was criticised by the Broadcasting Standards Council. [3] [4]

Mayo revived Confessions on his Radio 1 mid-morning programme [5] which ran from 25 October 1993 to February 2001.

In January 2010, Mayo revived Confessions on his BBC Radio 2 drive-time show. After Mayo left Radio 2 at the end of 2018, it returned again on his mid-morning show on Scala Radio from 4 March 2019, and also on his solo drivetime show on Greatest Hits Radio from 15 March 2021.

Greatest Hits Radio (2021–present)

Mayo started the feature again on Greatest Hits Radio, with various members of the confessional change, but Matt Williams as a consistent member. A new confession is read every day from Monday to Thursday at 5:45pm. The listeners responses are read after the news at 6. [6]

A version of the podcast was launched in 2023 - which was released every day as an 5-7 minute podcast on the GHR app. On the 4th January 2024, it was announced that a new Confessions Podcast was to be launched, similar to the version on Radio 2 and available on all platforms.

Members of the Confessional

Below are listed a complete selection of the members (past and present) of the confessional - the name of the group that decide if the confessor should be 'forgiven' or 'not forgiven'.

The Confessions Podcast

A major feature of the confessions, was the weekly podcast that was a round-up of that week's confessions that was published during Simon Mayo's Radio 2 stint. Often released on a Friday, it had recordings of the week's confessions played in full compiled together. In August 2017, [10] it additionally featured some of the best listener responses, reading the messages and fan-mail that had been sent in by listeners and the 'black-listed' confessions that were unable to air but were allowed to have a brief summary on the podcast (Williams' favorite section). At the end, as an extra 5th confession, was the 'confession from the crypt' where a listener would write in to choose a confession from previous years that they wanted to be played again. These additions to the podcast added 15-20 minutes to the run time to make it last between 45 and 50 minutes.

The podcasts were published on the show's website for download as well as on other platforms such as i-tunes, which was nicknamed "r-tunes" due to the BBC's policy of no advertising, and which is also a pun of OurTune, started by a previous Radio 1 mid morning host - Simon Bates.

These podcasts were made between 2010 and 2018, with changes made to the format in 2017 and 2018 (change in presenters). The episodes from July 2017 to the final episode in 2018 [11] are still available to listen to on BBC Sounds and other platforms.

In January 2024, Greatest Hits Radio announced they would return to making the podcast in its full form similar to the Radio 2 version from 5 years previous. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wave 105</span> Radio station in Fareham

Wave 105 was a regional radio station based in Fareham, England, owned and operated by Bauer. It broadcast to South Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, Wiltshire, and Dorset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Mayo</span> English radio presenter and author

Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022.

Simon Philip Bates is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular presenter on Classic FM. He hosted the breakfast show on Smooth Radio from January 2011 until March 2014, and took on the same role at BBC Radio Devon from January 2015 until January 2017. He was the first presenter of BBC Two's Food and Drink programme in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Goodier</span> British radio disc jockey (born 1961)

Mark Goodier is a Zimbabwean-born British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from September 1990 to March 1992 and again from April 1995 until November 2002, becoming the show's longest serving presenter. He also had a stint on Radio 1 Breakfast during 1993.

Richard John McNeill Allinson is an English broadcaster with Greatest Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio 60s is Creative Director of Magnum Opus Broadcasting. Between 1997 and 2014 he was a disc jockey for BBC Radio 2.

David Lloyd Vitty is a British radio presenter. He worked alongside Chris Moyles at BBC Radio 1, having originally been a broadcast assistant on Moyles' early morning show. He became the show's head writer and 'Director of Comedy' and moved with Moyles to the drivetime slot, and then to Radio 1 Breakfast, during which time the programme was known as The Chris Moyles Show. In total, he spent 14 years from 1998 to 2012 working alongside Moyles.

Scott Mills was a British radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022. It was hosted by Scott Mills, with contributions from Chris Stark. Other contributors have included Mark Chapman, Laura Sayers, and Beccy Huxtable, the last of whom left the show in 2013.

The Identik-Hit Quiz was a daily feature on the Simon Mayo Breakfast Show between December 1989 until September 1993.

Chris Evans Drivetime was the incarnation of the drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 from 18 April 2006 to 24 December 2009, and aired on weekdays between 17:00 and 19:00 in the United Kingdom. It was presented by Chris Evans, who moved to Drivetime from his Saturday afternoon show after Johnnie Walker left the slot after seven years in 2006. On 7 September 2009 the BBC announced that Evans would take over the breakfast show from Sir Terry Wogan, from January 2010, and on 15 September it was confirmed that Simon Mayo would replace Evans on Drivetime. Mayo had been a stand in presenter for Evans on a few occasions.

The Golden Hour is a long-standing radio feature in the United Kingdom, in which records are played that all charted in the UK Top 40 in a certain year and listeners are invited to guess the year. First broadcast on BBC Radio in 1973 during Tony Blackburn's mid-morning show, the Golden Hour segment was continued for many years on BBC Radio 1 by Simon Bates, Simon Mayo, and Chris Moyles, with Bates currently presenting the feature as a programme on Universal Music's range of Now Music television channels.

<i>Simon Mayo Drivetime</i> Radio show

Simon Mayo Drivetime, is the incarnation of the drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 between 11 January 2010 and 4 May 2018, being revived briefly for Mayo's final show with the station on 21 December that year, and then fully from 15 March 2021 on Greatest Hits Radio. It is broadcast on weekdays from 16:00 to 19:00 in the United Kingdom. It is presented by broadcaster Simon Mayo, who originally moved to BBC Radio 2's drivetime from his weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live after Chris Evans moved to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hits Radio Liverpool</span> British radio station based in Liverpool

Hits Radio Liverpool, formerly Radio City, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Liverpool, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Merseyside, Cheshire and parts of north Wales.

<i>Kermode and Mayos Film Review</i> Radio programme

Kermode and Mayo's Film Review was a radio programme with Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday afternoons. The show was self-described as the BBC's "flagship film programme" and featured film reviews from Kermode, interviews with actors and other guests, and listeners' emails. The programme's Twitter handle, "Wittertainment", was a nickname for the programme itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 2</span> British national radio station

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 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. The 'About Radio 2' BBC webpage says: "With a repertoire covering more than 60 years, Radio 2 plays the widest selection of music on the radio - from classic and mainstream pop to country, folk, jazz, musical theatre, soul, hip hop, rock 'n' roll, gospel and blues."

Matt Williams is a British sports presenter and reporter on BBC Radio 2 and later, on Greatest Hits Radio.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 2, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

This is a list of events taking place in 2019 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.

Magic Classical is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The station was launched in March 2019 as Scala Radio and broadcasts nationally on DAB Digital Radio, via Smart speaker, app, and online. The station was the first national classical music service to launch on terrestrial radio in the UK since Classic FM in 1992.

The Simon Mayo Breakfast Show was the weekday breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 between 23 May 1988 and 3 September 1993. The programme was broadcast on weekdays, apart from on bank holidays, and had three broadcast slots. Originally on air between 7 am and 9.30 am, it gained an extra 30 minutes on 3 April 1989 to coincide with an earlier start to Radio 1’s day. Finally, when Radio 1 began 24-hour transmissions on 1 May 1991, the programme was broadcast between 6 am and 9 am. The programme ended as part of the major shake-up of BBC Radio 1 schedule by Matthew Bannister, which saw Mayo move to the station’s mid-morning slot.

This is a list of events taking place in 2022 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ BBC Radio 1 Programme Index
  2. ↑ BBC Programme Index - BBC One 1 April 1995
  3. ↑ Rhys Williams, "BBC show 'beyond bounds of decency'", The Independent , 27 July 1995 (online).
  4. ↑ Chris Hughes, "Barrymore Rapped for 'Victim' Telly", The Mirror , 10 July 1996 (online).
  5. ↑ BBC Programme Index - radio 1 25 September 1993
  6. ↑ "Everything you need to know about Simon Mayo's Confessions". Greatest Hits Radio - Planet Radio. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Baby on a Plane (Simon Mayo's Confessions) , retrieved 9 January 2024
  8. ↑ "Get to know Producer Suzi from the Simon Mayo Drivetime Show". 11 August 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Radio 2's Confessions - Wendy's Dirty Drippinghood and other tales... - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "Radio 2's Confessions - Tracy's Sinister Sat-Nav and other tales... - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Radio 2's Confessions - The Final Confessions Podcast! - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Simon Mayo's Confessions - Trailer". Greatest Hits Radio. 4 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.