Tag Archives: Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio

Happy New year 2019

January 5, 2019 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you had a fantastic Christmas period. You ate, drank and were merry. And found joy in the giving and the receiving of presents. I had a lovely and quiet Christmas. It was the first one for a couple of years. That I had not been working.

I will never admit to getting older but in previous years I have been desperate to go out on Christmas Eve and to party. This year I just stayed in listening to music and having a few glasses of red wine. And you know what. I really enjoyed it. It is the simple pleasures in life. That are often the best.

On Christmas Day itself. I went round to my parents first thing in the morning. It is a family tradition to start the day with a nice big fry up. And there was no way I was missing out on that. Once the kitchen is tidied up and a cup of tea has been enjoyed. It is then time to move in to the living room for the exchanging of presents. This year with the added bonus of a nice glass of champagne each. To help us with the proceedings.

We are pretty clinical in our present buying. We each make a list of what we would like in November. This then gets passed around to the other three. We then liaise to get each other things from the list. The plus side of this is you generally get what you want. The down side is there are rarely any surprises. I was delighted with my gifts. Which included a new alarm clock, thermal socks, a tie with horses on it and some leather gloves.

After the presents have been given out. I then get ready to head to the pub. This has been a sacred family tradition for as long as I can remember. As a child I remember all the adults going there and then coming back slightly merrier. I have been every year since I was old enough. The venue has changed over the years. So now me, a couple of my uncle’s and a few of my cousin’s all meet up at The Red Lion in Whiteleaf at Midday. We have a few drinks. Then we return home to our own homes ready for dinner.

We always have a full traditional Christmas lunch with turkey and all of the trimmings. I love a Christmas meal with the stuffing, pigs in blankets and brussel sprouts. Things I do not normally have at any other time of the year. This is washed down with some nice red wine. The meal is then topped off with a delicious pudding. That must be accompanied by cream. We then have a little bit of a brief rest and a chat. To let the food go down.

Once we are all ready the afternoon of fun and games begins. This year we started off with some Karaoke. This is my annual apology to my parent’s neighbours. Or anybody walking past the house at the wrong time. Who may have heard me trying to sing. Sorry.

I then hosted a Pop Quiz. Which I have to say the rest of the family were rubbish at. Lastly we played a game of Charades. Although this was not your usual version. It was a risque variation on the normal theme. That my dad had found. Which did make for a few awkward moments in front of the parents. But it was all good fun!

We finished the day by watching Michael McIntyre. While enjoying some cheese and biscuits with a nice glass of port. It was another fun family Christmas. Which I thoroughly enjoyed. Just as I was sitting at home reflecting on the day. Before I went to bed. I had a small bottle of Baileys. That a very good mate and his wife had very generously got me. Well it was the birthday of our lord and saviour. The only day of the year. When it is acceptable to drink as many different drinks, as you possibly can.

Before Christmas Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio celebrated its 40th Birthday. They had a small party. Which was attended by the station’s Patron Ken Bruce, singer Tony Hadley and the voice of the X Factor Peter Dickson. I would like to say huge congratulations to the station for what it has achieved during the last forty years. And for the hours and hours of entertainment that it has provided to the hospital’s patients and staff.

I was a member there for around seven years. I had a fantastic time there. And met some lovely and amazing people. It was lots of fun. I am happy to say that I am still really good friends with many of the people I met during my time there. I did my first proper radio show on the station. It was in their studios that I got to practice, grow and improve. It definitely helped me to launch my radio career.

Neil Quigley back at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio with Martin Kinch

It was volunteering at the Hospital Radio. That enabled me to get my first paid radio work at my local commercial station Mix 96. Based in the town I was born, Aylesbury. I started off reading the local sports results on the Sports Show. Ringing around all the grounds and then delivering the scores on air.

I then got to present the sports show. I did some weekend shows. I then covered the evening show. Before eventually getting to present both the Drive and Morning shows on the station. None of which I would have achieved without Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio. I wish them all the best for their next forty years of broadcasting.

I managed to get a ticket to see Sir Paul McCartney play the O2 Arena in December. I had seen him in concert three years ago in Birmingham. And as you would expect he was fantastic. I was a bit undecided about if I should go and see his latest tour. But I did like his latest album Egypt Station. And he only really tours the United Kingdom every three years. So in the end I made sure that I was there.

I met up with a mate of mine and his girlfriend. Who were also going. We had a few drinks around the Greenwich area. Before we made our way to the venue. We had a quick drink at the Arena. Then it was time to make our way to our seats. There were however, still a few people filtering in. When there was suddenly a light in the crowd and some scrambling in the floor seat area. As it was the last night of the UK leg of the tour. Paul had lots of family and friends in. And he had popped out quickly to see them before the show.

The stage erupted when his band started to make their way out on to the stage. Then the place went totally ballistic. As the main man walked out and put on his guitar. Before launching into the Beatles classic “A Hard Days Night”. Which is a sensational way to kick off any performance. He then spends nearly three hours effortlessly playing Beatles, Wings and his own solo stuff. Seamlessly moving between several different guitars and pianos.

The pyrotechnics they were letting off during Live and Let Die were astonishing. I thought they were actually trying to blow the place up. It was an amazing spectacle. He then follows that with the immortal Hey Jude. During which he has the whole audience in his hands. And has us singing along to every note. As he stands there conducting us. What a moment! At that point you thought this gig could not get any better. But it could.

Not only does he come back on for an eight song encore. But before the third song in this section. He brings on two special guests. Firstly the Rolling Stones guitar legend Ronnie Wood. And then much to everyone’s surprise his Beatles band mate Ringo Starr. At which point the whole place goes crazy. Ringo takes his place behind the drums. And the three of them perform Get Back. I could not believe it!

That is the closest I am ever going to get to seeing the Beatles play live together. For obvious reasons. This was a huge deal. This has not happened in this country since the band split up. Even Paul as Ringo was walking off said “let’s just take a minute to soak up what has just happened”. My mate who is a massive McCartney and Beatles fan was literally in tears when Ringo appeared. It meant that much to him. The three of them sounded great together.

Paul then goes on to play another five songs. Brilliant as they were. It could not top that version of Get Back featuring half of the members of arguably the best band we have ever produced. He finished the show with The Beatles song “The End”. I am hoping this does not mean that it may be his last UK arena gig. It is just a sensible song to end any performance with if you have it in your repertoire. Although in the unlikely event that is his final gig on home soil. I am so pleased that I was there to witness it. Sir Paul McCartney you are a legend!

During that really odd period between Christmas and New Year. Where you eat what you like for Breakfast and have no idea what day it actually is. My sister and I went to see the pantomime at The Swan Theatre in High Wycombe. It was Snow White. Which was the same story that I saw at the London Palladium just before Christmas.

The Buckinghamshire version starred former Strictly Come Dancing dancer Brendan Cole, Mandy Muden who was on BGT, Jason Sutton and the ventriloquist Kieran Powell. It did share some of the script and skits with its London sister production. So I did know what was coming a lot of the time. But that is my fault for seeing the other one and not theirs.

It was fun and entertaining. Everyone got time and a bit of space to showcase their talents. Mandy did a few magic tricks. Keiran got to do some stuff with his “friend”. And Brendan had the opportunity to display his amazing dancing prowess. Plus a bit of his singing to. Fair play to him. They worked him hard on the dancing front. They had him doing pretty much every kind of dance move you can imagine.

It was a good and proper family pantomime with nothing missing. I am glad I went and saw it. The cast were great. Nice as ever to see the children getting involved and shouting at the characters, when required. Pantos will be a lot of kids first experience of the theatre. Therefore I like to see them have a great time. As they are then more likely to support live shows and go to the theatre more often when they are older.

It was generally quite a good Christmas period for my team Spurs. We had good wins in the game before Christmas away at Everton. Then on Boxing Day at home to Bournemouth. But then things did go a little wrong last Saturday at Wembley. When we lost to Wolves. But then we beat Cardiff away in the next match. This week we have the first leg of the League Cup Semi-final against Chelsea. And play Manchester United in the league next Sunday. A win in both would be very nice.

A friend of mine is a big train enthusiast. For the last six months from my local station. They have been running weekly Steam Train rides. I despite this attraction being so close. May never have got round to it. But the mate in question said he was coming down from London to take the trip. And he asked me if I fancied joining him on New Years Eve afternoon for a ride on the Steam train. So I did.

As it happened they had a special offer running . Which meant if you lived in a certain postcode area. Which I did, that you could get the ticket for half price. And this deal also included a cup of tea and a mince pie. You cannot argue with that kind of value. The train runs between Princes Risborough and Chinnor. It uses an old route, That has not been in operation for many years. But that the society who run the steam train managed to get restored.

The journey there takes about twenty five minutes. It is a lovely experience. As you can hear the engine and see the steam pushing you along the countryside. It is actually quite serene and relaxing. When we got to Chinnor we walked to the nearest pub and had a quick pint. Before catching the next train home. But this part is of course purely optional.

The journey back is actually by Diesel train. At the moment they have no way of turning the train around. So the Steam Engine pulls all the carriages to Chinnor and then the Diesel Engine on the other end returns you to Princes Risborough. It was a fun experience. I would say give it a try, if you get the chance. It is a nice flavour of how train travel used to be.

This New Years Eve my good friend and I, Andy Holmes went to my local wine bar in Princes Risborough called Dukes. I have been in there a number of times, since it opened. And always found it to be a wonderful place to enjoy a drink. It was an all ticket event. It started at 7.30pm. And as it happened Andy and I were the first to arrive. I had no idea how busy it would be. So I thought the best plan was to get there early and secure a table. Which we did.

It was a great night. Everyone there was lovely and friendly. And of course rightly in good spirits. They kept bringing around nibbles. I must admit I had a few every time they did. I find it impossible to turn down food. They also had live music. Just a bloke with a mic and a guitar. But he was fantastic. He had a great voice and played all the right songs. He had us all dancing and singing along by the end.

The whole night was washed down with several glasses of a very nice Rioja. The perfect way to see out the old year and welcome in the new one. Here’s to a healthy, happy, positive and fun 2019. A very Happy New Year to you. I hope it brings you everything that you want it to.

Have fun. I will be taking a mini-break from the blog. And it will be back in a month. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you will find out why in the next week or so. Cheers Neil

Fantasy Comedy

June 23, 2018 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been busy and fun. I do spend a lot of time in London. Therefore I am very often on the train to and from the Capital. As I was about to get off one at Marylebone Station a few weeks ago. I randomly bumped in to somebody, who I had not seen for a ages.

On the second ever series of Big Brother. There was a gentlemen from Oxfordshire in the house. He was only in there for a couple of weeks and was voted out fairly early on. But he did still make a bit of an impression with his regular work outs and his tendency to wink at people quite a bit. His name was Stuart Hosking.

I was at the time working at Mix 96. When he came out of the house and the series was over. He ended up getting a Sunday morning show at the radio station. I produced the programme for the first two or three weeks. Which was great fun and a good laugh.

I think on show two. We had somebody who had been on Blind Date the night before in for a chat. It was interesting to get the inside track on how it all works from someone who has been through it. We all went for a quick drink afterwards. Which was normal practice for our post programme meeting. Well it was, while I was producing.

I seem to meet up with Stuart at various things over the years. I once went with him to an Industry Magazine Party. And fair play to him he managed to get us in to the VIP section. Which meant we upgraded from free beer to free champagne.

I also went with a mate of mine to a big birthday party. That he threw at a very nice hotel a few years ago. That was a brilliant evening. The entertainment were the Rockoakie Band. Who are amazing. They are a live band. Who then give you the chance to perform songs with them. My friend did a few numbers on the night. As did the Birthday boy himself. Chris Moyles often booked them for his live theatre shows.

It was nice to see him and have a quick chat. As we headed up the platform. He is still keeping nice and busy and up to some fun and interesting things. He is still good friends with a few people in the entertainment business. Personally I think that the first three Big Brothers were the best. Then it started going down hill from there.

Frank Skinner has been one of my favourite comedians, since I can remember. I have read both of his books. I have watched from the studio, as he hosted an episode of Room 101. Plus over the years spent hours watching Fantasy Football. And I even watched his sitcom Blue Heaven. The one thing I had not seen him do was stand up comedy live.

Happily I finally managed to put this right a couple of Saturday’s ago. I found out he was doing some work in progress shows at the Soho Theatre in London. I managed to grab myself a ticket. As I have said before it is a nice venue for comedy. He was playing the down stairs room. Which is set up like a lounge bar with tables and chairs. It is a little bit like a cabaret place similar to the London Hippodrome set up.

Needless to say the gig was a sell out. As I was in the bar beforehand I saw the unmistakable figure of Mr Skinner arrive and make his way down stairs to prepare for his audience. The title for this appearance was “The Man With No Show” Therefore the idea was he would just come out chat to the audience and hopefully find some stuff. That he can then polish into comedy gold. Probably for a big tour.

He is for me one of the funniest and most quick witted comics around. His brain does just seems to process things much quicker than us mere mortals. Bearing in mind he was on stage with no pre-prepared stuff. He was hilarious. I have not laughed that much at a comedy gig for ages. He has such a calm, warm and relaxed way of talking to people. Even when he is having a bit of a go at people. He does it in the right way and makes it feel inclusive. Like he is still on their side.

I had a brilliant night. It is always pleasing when your hero’s do not let you down. He is doing some more work in progress gigs at the same place in August. I certainly have not ruled out going again to see him. As it will actually still be a completely different show. Frank Skinner is quality.

I started my radio career at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio twenty three years ago. I met some wonderful people there. Many of whom I am still friends with all these years later. Two of the first people I met and worked with back then are now both living in Yorkshire. I started working with them producing their shows before I got my own programme on the station.

Last weekend I went up to visit them. I was staying with one of them at their house in Castleford. On the Friday night we stayed in to watch the football. Had an Indian take away and a nice bottle of red wine. While of course having a good chat about the old times and our current lives. A really fun and yet relaxing evening.

During the day on the Saturday we went and had a look around an Armed Forces Day event. That was taking place at Pontefract race course. My mate was in the RAF, so has an interest in this venture of course. It was basically like a classic County Show with charity stalls, arena displays and a wide selection of various refreshments.

They had a stall there for the Vulcan plane. As they are trying to build a special hanger for it in Doncaster. Which will include a coffee shop viewing area. So visitors can see the plane sat there in all its glory. While enjoying a drink and a piece of cake. It was nice to visit a race track and leave without losing any money for a change.

We then headed to Sheffield, so we could all catch up with my other friend and his wife. We went to his house and sat in his garden for a bit. Before heading in to town for a really nice meal and a couple of drinks. I have been out in Sheffield a few times over the years. I also went through a spell of spending some time just down the road in Worksop. Therefore I do know the area a little.

My mate had booked us a table at The Botanist. The table they gave us was right in the middle of the restaurant. Kind of in a sort of glass band stand. It was really not a place to be if you prefer keeping a low profile. Luckily none of us there fell in to that category. The selection of drinks there was fantastic. I chose to sample a few of the German beers they had on offer. The food there was really good to.

I had a homemade scotch egg for starters. Their famous hanging chicken garlic kebab with sweet potato fries for my main. Then for dessert I had the sticky toffee pudding. It was a really enjoyable meal. The company was fantastic. It was a wonderful night talking and catching up. While winding each other up and chatting about the glory days. When we regularly used to all go out and do discos together. Fun times!

I travelled home on the Sunday after first enjoying a massive brunch with my friend and his wife. The perfect end to a lovely weekend. I decided to treat myself to first class train travel on the way back. It was only about ten pounds more than the standard ticket. It meant that I got a comfier seat. Plus free tea, biscuits and water during the trip. Worth every penny as far as I am concerned. I could get used to it.

The World Cup in Russia is very much up and running. I am trying to watch as many matches as I can. I did of course make sure that I saw the England against Tunisia game. I was delighted for Captain Harry Kane and the whole team. The first game of any tournament is very tough. We are on the whole a young and inexperienced side. It was not a classic. We left it late but most importantly we got the three points.

Harry Kane will score goals in this tournament, He loves scoring and is very driven. I would not rule him out being there or thereabouts for the Golden Boot. If we can get the win against Panama tomorrow then we will be through to the knock out rounds. At that point really anything can happen. Good and bad. You just never know. Looking forward to getting behind the team and supporting the country. Come on England!

Obviously working at Broadcasting House in London. I do often see some recognisable faces around. Recently I found myself in the lift with new Radio One Presenter Maya Jama. Who as well as being an excellent broadcaster. Just happens to be going out with a certain gentlemen known as Stormzy. I saw the lovely Reverend Richard Coles. Who was dressed in his dog collar. And as you would expect he was just chatting to everyone and being generally lovely.

Tomorrow night I am off out in Tring to enjoy The Roving Comedy Night. I have performed at this event myself twice over the years now. But I am looking forward to seeing this year’s trainees do their stuff. And make their stand up debuts. I remember the nerves I felt before I did my first one. And the feeling of pure joy and exhilaration at the end of the night. I was walking on air for the next week or so.

I will be there laughing, clapping and cheering on all the first timers. As well as enjoying all the professional comedians accompanying them. It will be great to catch up with a few people. I know and have met through this wonderful event. Especially the comedy guru and my teacher himself Logan Murray. It will be my annual catch up with them. Although I am hoping that I might see some of them, when I go to Edinburgh for the festival in August.

The Roving Comedy Night signals the start of three weeks of gigs during the Tringe Festival. With lots of top comedians coming to Tring to do warm up shows for Edinburgh. I am going to see Marcus Brigstocke a week Sunday at the Court Theatre. If you like your comedy and are local it is well worth a look. Here is a link to their website http://www.get-stuffed.biz/tringe/

I am really looking forward to going to Royal Ascot today. I went for the first time last year. And I enjoyed it so much. That I have decided to make it an annual event. I will be in the Queen Ann Enclosure. Which means I will get to have a sing-song at the famous band stand after the day’s racing has finished.

I will tell you all about it next time we speak. I will be wearing my lucky suit, so I am hopeful of picking up a few winners. I may also sip a few glasses of champagne. It is a brilliant event. Plus as a bit of a Royalist I am hoping once again to catch a glimpse of the Queen.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil

Life Is The Name Of The Game

September 2, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been pretty busy with some fun stuff going on. Last week I went and had a long over due cup of tea and catch up with my good friend Dez Kay. We have known each other now for around twenty years, although neither of us look old enough. We first met when I was starting out at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio. We both used to do shows on a Tuesday night and from their our friendship blossomed. We also along with two other colleagues Merv Davidson and Nick Sievewright used to do a lot of discos together. We used to hire ourselves out to help raise money for the radio station. Which is a registered charity.

We had so many brilliant nights. I have not enjoyed doing gigs so much since. We were doing it for fun and because we wanted to. So it was just some mates having a good laugh. I mean it did help that we were very good and always went down a storm. We did used to put on a bit of a show. What started out as us just leading a few well known dances turned in to us having a routine of about four or five that we would all perform. Which towards the end did happen to involve outfits.

Happily I have never seen the evidence but we were videoed so many times that somewhere out there, I suspect there is some footage of the four of us doing the YMCA in costume. If you did ever happen to see us do it live. I can only apologise. We had a lot of fun together, which I never managed to recreate when I started doing gigs professionally. That is the trouble I guess, no matter how much you love doing something. When it changes from being your hobby to your actual job. It is never quite the same.

Anyway it was great to see Dez and talk about the present, as we both tend to keep ourselves very busy. He was about to go off and host a special Elvis Weekend to mark the 40th Anniversary of his death with another mate of ours Alvin Printwhistle. Then last weekend he was on stage at a big open air music event in Aylesbury working with lots of great bands. He still presents regularly on Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio doing a couple of weekly shows.

It would be nice to do something together again. As I have not worked with him on anything for ages. We do have some pretty good rock and roll style stories from the good old days. Although details of any of these I am afraid will have to wait until I write a book. I could honestly just sit, drink tea and talk to people all day. In fact one weekend when I was visiting Yeovil. I think I did just that for about six hours straight in a coffee shop.

So sadly the legend that was Sir Bruce Forsyth is no longer with us. He died after a long illness at the age of eighty-nine recently. If you look back at his career and see what he achieved and also how he achieved it, you cannot fail to be impressed. He really was a great all round entertainer, who could do it all. But he was probably at his best when he had members of the public to talk to and an audience to entertain.

I remember watching him host the Generation Game. He would have me in stitches, when gently taking the rise out of the contestants. While they were playing and often failing badly during the games and challenges. Personally I always loved it when the very end game involved a small play. In which they would have to read their lines off props and ad-lib, as they went along. Bruce was great in that, showing off his acting skills. Perfect Saturday night family television.

I never got to meet him in person. But a few years ago I went to the launch show for Strictly Come Dancing. Which in the end happened to be the last full series he hosted. It was a recorded show. As normal with television shows they had a warm up, who came out told a few jokes and got the audience clapping and cheering. All ready to be a part of the show. Then before the cameras started rolling Bruce comes out and does about twenty minutes of chatting to the audience, some dancing and then he performed a song with the Strictly Band. Absolutely spell binding entertainment from the master. The audience loved it.

For me that was when he was at his best up on stage in front of a crowd with a band. He received some criticism towards the end about his reading of the auto cue on the show but that was never his thing really. Feeling the audience and responding to their energy was more his bag. He nearly quit show business completely when he was thirty. He had given himself five years to “Make it” and that time was almost up when he got selected to front Sunday Night At The Palladium and the rest as they say is history. RIP Brucie.

It has been a mixed start for my team Tottenham Hostpur in the Premier League. After a win in our first game away at Newcastle it was down to earth with a bump after we were beaten at our new temporary home Wembley by Chelsea. Which was followed by another home draw against Burnley. But it is still early days, so I remain positive. I have for the first time in years bought myself a current Spurs home shirt and because mentally I am still about ten years old. I had to have number ten and my surname on the back.

I am looking forward to wearing it to my first home game of the season against Swansea. I am also going to see them play Everton away next Saturday. Which has now become an annual event, basically so I can spend a weekend in Liverpool catching up with Jeff Nolan. I always have a good time up in that city seeing everyone. I think I have already seen Tottenham win, lose and draw at Goodison in the past, so I am prepared for anything. It will be a fun couple of days whatever happens with the football.

Staying with Football and Everton related things. Wayne Rooney has announced his retirement from the International set up. I have seen him play for his country several times at Wembley over the years. I could never fault his attitude and commitment. I was behind the goal the night he converted that penalty to become England’s all time record goal scorer, finally over taking Sir Bobby Charlton. Who had held that title for a very long time.

Although Gary Lineker was once close to taking his crown. Wayne also holds the record for the most caps for an outfield player. Which is also a brilliant achievement. Only Peter Shilton has played more games for England than him. Yet still people claim he is overrated.

What more could he do in his career apart from break all the records he has and win all the trophies that he has for his club side? If people are making this judgement on the fact that he never won the European Cup or The World Cup with his country. Then they are basically saying we have not had a decent player since 1966, which is clearly not the case. I still think he had more to offer and could have still played a part in next year’s World Cup.

I did say right at the start of this year that I would like to do a bit more radio presenting again. So now I am going to be appearing on Red Kite Radio for a bit. It is a new community radio station for Thame, Haddenham and the villages. Which launched around three months ago. It was set up and is run by quite a few people that I have worked with at Mix 96 over the years. Including the man who gave me my first ever on air gig Pete Simester.

So it is great to be working with so many familiar faces and voices again. I am on Monday to Thursday from 4pm – 7pm and Friday 4pm – 8pm looking after the Drive Time Show for a while. You can listen on 107.2 fm or online via the website which is http://www.redkiteradio.com/ It is lovely to be back on the radio in my home county once again.

I was out for a few drinks in London in the week which included a visit to the BBC Club. This is a bar area that is available only to employees of the Corporation. It is just a nice small room with some tables and chairs and a small stage area. As from time to time every month they put on various types of entertainment. It was only the third or fourth time that I have been in there. Though it seems in theory great to have somewhere cool to grab a quick drink after work so near by. In reality most days by the time I finish I just want to head home.

But somebody was moving departments and location so it was a good excuse to get together and have a few drinks. As well as the club we did visit a few other pubs in the area. Plus I managed to grab dinner with my cousin at an Italian Restaurant. Which was very nice, with friendly staff and good food.

I also treated myself to a glass of red wine with the meal. It was so nice I actually tried to find out which one it was but the waiter claimed you could not buy it anywhere and that they have a special deal with the supplier. Now I guess either he was telling the truth or it was just a cheap bottle of supermarket stuff and he did not want to tell me or I would see how big their mark up was on it. It was an enjoyable night all round.

I am really looking forward to going to see the current production of Annie in London, which stars Miranda Hart as Miss Hannigan. I saw a version of it many years ago at the Wycombe Swan with Su Pollard in that very role. As it happens I was there with my now fellow Red Kite Radio presenter Richard Carr.

I remember really enjoying the show. It is a beautiful and inspirational story. So I am curious to see this latest version. Plus I do just really enjoy a good night out at the theatre.

It has been another couple of interesting weeks at work in London. I walked past the unmistakable figure of Richard Osman near Marylebone Station the other day. He is kind of hard to miss because of his height. I was going to say hello, as he seems like a nice bloke but as I was about to speak I noticed he had his headphones in, so probably would not have heard me. Unless that is his cunning ploy to avoid talking to annoying people in the street.

I also saw Robbie Savage jog past me in the office having finished 606. I had to sit opposite Ian Wright for a bit just after Tottenham had been beaten by Chelsea, which was made worse by the fact as an ex Arsenal player. I could just sense he was enjoying that result. I also got to watch the brilliant Peter Allen and Jane Garvey do their Five Live Show, which was a fantastic experience.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil

Neil Quigley Presenter