We Three Kings

20 Dec 08, 11.49am
Around this time on a Saturday morning I'd usually be listening to Jonathan Ross on Radio 2. Today it's Liza Tarbuck and it's not quite the same. Liza has a pleasant homely style but there was something matey about Jonathan & Andy's banter that made their Saturday show worth tuning into. I hope they're back on air soon. Waiting to see how long Liza could hold my attention, I heard her talking about how in Roman times everyone had to eat cabbage to fight off illness. OK it's this sort of 'factoid' that makes Steve Wright so enjoyable but it wasn't rivetting enough to keep me hanging on for more. I turned over to Radio 4 to find Ian Hislop also talking about the Roman Empire. A slightly odd coincidence but I decided to give it a chance. We Three Kings investigated the origins of the Christmas story and its modern day symbol of present-giving. Ian Hislop has this wonderful ability to draw the listener into his journey with images we can all understand. He drew the parallel between the Kings bearing gifts and today's Christmas cracker with its own symbolic gift, the hat you wear like a crown and the joke which, like the Christmas message, fills us with tidings of great joy. Hislop is an excellent broadcaster with a great sense of comic timing. Radio 2 should give him the Saturday morning show!