I love Radio 4 BUT.....

[MrsDickens]

....there are some programmes that have me bellowing at the radio like an enraged moose . Like their 'hilarious' comedy slots at 11.30am and 6.30pm. Just endured the horror of a sitcom with Ronnie Corbett as a bumbling grand-dad whose ghastly family ticked every cliche box you can name. Just unbelievably bad, and the memory of many others lingers with me, more's the pity (eg. Pam Ayres' sitcom; that appalling thing about the spies on a boat, and the interminable Scottish woman and her nightmare friends/dog/mother/boyfriend)

So I was wondering - what on Radio 4 can you otherwise-loyal listeners just not abide?

Lankyalto- do you meane the music from the 80s for the sat am sports prog? I loved it... can still hear it now.
I lurve counterpoint... the presenter now is pretty good I think. I'm guessing he doesn't write the questions himself.

See I love the comedy and drama stuff, although some are dire, I also love saturday review and the archers, counterpoint etc etc. Hate quote unquote and loose ends, but think that midweek is brilliant. I like all the variety on the channel.

But part of the remit of R4 is exactly to make you shout at the radio isn't it?

I spend quite a bit of Today shouting. Saves me shouting at the DC in the mornings.

Some of the critics on Front Row or whatever it's called really really annoy me. I don't want professional play/cinema/gig watchers to tell me how crap something is just because they've seen so much they are jaded.

Loose Ends is dire.
Libby Purves gets on my nerves, too (but not always).

I hated the John Peel programme on Saturday morns ("Won't it be exciting today to talk about the plastic pig collection of a woman dying painfully of six different forms of cancer!"), and am not thrilled with its replacement (I'm a big fan of Fi Glover otherwise, too).

But who/what I really can't STAND is the Today programme interviews -- especially of politicians. It's like a constant mind game of the politicos trying to spout the same sound bite as many times as possible, meanwhile the interviewers strive to twist up politico's words to mean something else completely (Humphries is the worst, but Evan Davis is nearly as bad). The most pointless and uninformative interviews ever.

Also, the way Today cuts every interview very short except the one big political interview after 8am (when they engage in the daily mindgame battle).

Mind, there was one excellent interview this week where a Kent County Councillor had been quoted out of context by BBC and the Conservative spokesperson was really knocking it back hard at Humphries; I did enjoy listening to that, admittedly.

In Our TIme makes my head hurt. I used to end up driving D2 for a nap after dropping off DD1 at nursery and it was always In Our TIme. Which heaps insult to injury onto a poor, sleep-deprived, addle-brained mother.

I used to feel that maybe I could just get cleverer by osmosis if I had it on in the back ground.

But then again, I do like COunt Arthur Strong.....

There are a few very, very odd 'comedy' programmes too....anyone ever hear 'Fags, Bags and Mags'? (as I think it was called) - set in a newsagents' shop in Scotland? Deeply peculiar. I think someone was on drugs when they commissioned that.

Am quite partial to 'Ed Reardon's Week' however...

One of the best ever things has been "Bleak Expectations".

But I can't listen to anything with Fergal Keane in it.

You and Yours: annoying people like Winifred Robinson (I screech at her columns about feeding her child ready meals in the DM) being all self-righteous usually about idiotic people who couldn't be arsed to read the smallprint on contracts they signed when sober and supposedly of sound mind.

Quote Unquote: I get annoyed every time I hear "devised and presented by Nigel Rees" for some reason - sounds like it is his own vanity project

Most of the afternoon plays.

Great Lives: like the concept but get really bloody annoyed that Matthew Parris calls the expert on the subject the "expert witness" like it is some bloody courtroom battle. Just call him or her the expert, please

I love a lot of the 4.30 stuff when I am driving home - Word of Mouth, Casenotes (?) the medical thing with Mark Porter, random sciency type things.

Love to hate Today - always end up screaming at some point during my commute, but it is usually an annoyance that I welcome rather than an annoyance that is just annoying IYSWIM.

Oh yes, loathe Fi Glover too and that Ned Sheerin Loose Ends guff. I don't listen at weekends as too much of it is crap.

Love Eddie Mair on PM though. He makes me smirk as he has such a wry sense of humour.

Yep to Eddie Mair. And I'm also starting to think that Sue McGregor must be the best broadcaster ever. She's wonderful in 'The Reunion', so sensitive and quick on the uptake. I also love her on 'A Good Read' (but, contrarily, not the irritating Mariella Frostrup on 'Open Book'!)

Ah MrsD - completely agree with you back Sue great, Mariella whatever.

Does anyone find Moneybox live - Paul Lewis,
rather fearsome?

He's all friendly in the trailer..please ring up with your questions. Then when some poor soul does, he's quite abrasive and impatient when they confess to some crazy thing they've done with their money that Paul and the team disapprove of.

You are mad, veg talk was fab and I miss it.

Count Arthur Strong is however the worst thing. I can't stand Melvyn Bragg - aptly named I think.

Gardeners Question Time is ok, but so cringe worthy when they make a joke that's not actually funny but the audience roar with laughter.

god i thought i was the only person in the world who loved VegTalk

meg ned sherrin is dead

Having picked holes in Radio4 I have to say I do love it so much. And all the things that irk me - even Loose Ends - are 100% better at their worst than some of the 'prime time' offerings on tv, which make me despair.

The Archers I hate the Archers!

ah bundle, can you tell i've been avoiding loose ends for a long long time?

i must confess to a vested interest here: i sometimes produce the mark porter prog you mentioned

Which one, bundle - the medical one? (can't remember name, sorry) Rather enjoy that (and I'm not being fawning a la Loose Ends )

Quote Unquote is horrific. And any part of the Today Programme where John Humphries is called upon to engage with the 21st century (or even the second part of the 20th).

Oh I adore Eddie Mair. I would vote for him as PM anyday. Did anyone hear him interviewing Nick Clegg the other day? He asked some brilliant questions which NC really struggled over. I believe he is interviewing David Cameron tonight.

oh bundle - is he as lovely in real life as he seems on the radio? i would love to have him as my gp!

Things that make me lunge for the radio and turn over to BBC7:

Thought for the Day UNLESS it's Rabbi Lionel Blue or just maybe, the Sikh guy they have on, because I like him too.

Gardener's Question Time. Sycophantic, mind-numbing tedium.

The Choice normally makes me scream. I hate Michael Buerk's portentious voice.

You and Yours. Grrr

Quote Unquote. This is so universally hated that there are jokes about it on other R4 programmes, ffs. Who listens to it? God it's fawning.

On the other hand, I love R4 and couldn't live without it and would happily pay license fee for it alone, etc.

love Eddie Mair. He asks questions just as tough as the Today ones but is always courteous about it