Simon Mayo Drivetime
Simon Mayo Drivetime was 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. It was broadcast on weekdays from 17:00 to 19:00 in the United Kingdom. It was presented by broadcaster Simon Mayo, who moved to drivetime from his weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live after Chris Evans moved to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
On 10 January 2018, the BBC announced that Jo Whiley would become Mayo's co-host from 14 May. The drivetime show would also be extended to 8pm The final regular show was broadcast on Thursday 3 May 2018, with the show officially ending with All Request Friday the following day. The new show was not a success, with Mayo announcing his departure from the station on 22 October that year. They presented their last show together on 20 December, with Mayo hosting solo the following day, marking the end of his 17-year stint at the station. He revived the theme music and jingles used on this incarnation of the programme.
Co-Presenting Team
Matt Williams
was the sports reporter on the show, presenting Matt's World of Sport at 17:50 and 18:50 each day. On Fridays, in the second report he interviewed somebody who is involved in a sport that is not regularly reported in the general media, known as the Friday Fixture. He also announced the weekly rock tune on Wednesdays as "Doctor Mosh", as well as participating in the daily confessions as 'Brother Matt'.Bobbie Pryor
Bobbie Pryor is the regular weekday afternoon travel reporter on Radio 2, and read the travel news at 17:15, 17:55, 18:30 and 18:55 each day. Pryor was previously the weekend travel reporter but from 11 August 2014 became the regular weekday reporter, replacing Sally Boazman who moved to weekends. She participated in the daily confessions as 'Sister Bobbie'.Nigel Barden
Radio 2's resident chef, who cooked for the team every Thursday. He participated in Thursday's confession as 'Novice Nigel'.Sally Boazman
was the regular travel reporter on the show, Boazman was known as 'Mother Superior' in the daily confessions. but in August 2014 made the move to weekends on BBC Radio 2. Due to holidays, her final show with Mayo was on 24 July 2014, but her last report for weekdays was on 8 August 2014.Alan Dedicoat
was the regular newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 2, who read the 17:00 news occasionally, coming into the show. He also occasionally participated in the daily confession, Dedicoat retired from newsreading and continuity announcing duties on BBC Radio 2 on Friday 27 March 2015, but briefly returned on Monday 30 March 2015 for one final confession.Rebecca Pike
presented the business news at 17:30 and 18:40 every day, and at the end of the 17:30 bulletin also reports on the FTSE market data and exchange rates. On Fridays she interviewed a guest with a new invention, known as the Innovation Slot. Pike was known as 'Sister Rebecca' when participating in the daily confession. She left the programme and the station on 17 December 2015.Stand-in Presenters
Stand-in presenters on the show included Patrick Kielty, Liza Tarbuck, Ryan Tubridy, Richard Allinson, Richard Bacon, Mark Goodier, Sara Cox and Amol Rajan.Show Features
The show's opening and closing theme tune was a 2003 recording by Jools Holland and Prince Buster of the 1948 song "Enjoy Yourself " by Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson. Before the theme plays, a re-written, a cappella version of "Day-O " by Harry Belafonte played, with "Day-O, me say Day-O" replaced with "Mayo, Simon Mayo". Previously, some editions of the show also used the 1950 hit version by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, or occasionally the version by The Specials from their 1980 album More Specials.The instrumental "Garden Party" by Mezzoforte was used as a backing track during one of the show's features.
Monday-Thursday Regular Features
- Three Word-ers: Listeners sent in a summary of their day in no more than three words, which were read out sporadically throughout the show. There was also a "talking text service" where listeners read out their three word-er live on air.
- The Oldies: A selection of five or six songs all related to a particular topic relevant to that day's events were played throughout the show, chosen by readers of the show's blog and followers of the show's official Twitter and Facebook accounts.
- "Subject" Guest: At around 17:20, a guest was introduced and they discuss an issue raised in the previous day's show, or in the news on that day. The guest was generally an expert in the subject area under discussion. The music used in this section was usually an instrumental version of Ray LaMontagne's "Repo Man" from his 2010 album God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, although occasionally the theme to children's sci-fi series Joe 90 was used.
- Homework Sucks: Listeners were invited to send in questions to see if other listeners could answer them. These could be any form of question, and two or three per day were selected to be answered by the general public. Previously, only one question was selected per show with a definitive answer provided by an academic or other expert in whatever subject area the question relates to. The original premise of the feature was that it was only open to children wanting help with their homework but was soon expanded to general questions from anyone. The music used in this section was Chicken Man by Alan Hawkshaw, best known in the UK as the theme tune to children's school-based drama Grange Hill. Latterly the interview with an expert was dropped and three potential answers from listeners were read out. During this time the feature was also known as The Radio 2 Search Engine or Twoogle.
- Confessions: Carried on from Mayo's previous radio shows on BBC Radio 1, listeners sent in embarrassing or funny stories about them injuring, or playing practical jokes on people, that they never owned up to at the time it happened, Mayo still broadcasts to the nation over Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's Adagio for Organ and Strings in G minor. Mayo's co-presenters offered forgiveness before listeners being invited to text or email in their verdicts on the story, some of which were read out over the course of the rest of the show. The confessions from the week were compiled into a weekly podcast, released on Fridays.
- Celebrity Guests: On most days, the show invited a celebrity guest on in the second hour of the show, who were there to plug a newly released film, TV series or book.
- The Drivetime Live Sessions: Occasionally, an artist or band would perform a number of their tracks live in the studio. In between songs, they were interviewed by Mayo.
- The Radio 2 Book Club: An author was interviewed about a recently published book that they had written, and the team reviewed and discussed the book. Listeners also sent in their reviews, and a preview chapter was usually uploaded onto the show's webpage.
- Tunesday: In lieu of a guest, the half-hour between 18:00 and 18:30 was given over to songs over 5 minutes long that aren't usually played on the radio in their full length versions. Listeners sent in suggestions for tracks and 3 or 4 are played.
- Foodie Thursday: The show's resident chef, Nigel Barden, cooked the team some dishes.
- Matt's Middle-Aged Midweek Mosh: Sports reporter Matt Williams announced a weekly classic rock record, played at around 18:45, and encouraged everyone listening to act as if they were in a mosh pit, and "rock out".
- The Showstopper: Listeners were invited to email in their suggestions for the last song to be played on the show, which was in the same musical genre as the specialist music show following Drivetime on any particular day. Previously, a listener vote decided the choice but this was replaced in September 2012 with the current system. The different genres were:
- * Monday – Rhythm and blues
- * Tuesday – Jazz
- * Wednesday – Folk
- * Thursday – Country
- All-Request Rollover: Monday-Thursday the show featured a listener who didn't manage to get on the Friday All-Request show with their chosen song as a 'rollover' from Friday's show.
- Secret Santana: Every year, in the run up to Christmas the team played a round of 'Secret Santana' in which Mayo got one of the presenters or guests to pick a name out of the 'Secret Santana Fez' to randomly choose a track to play by Carlos Santana.
- Brucie Bonus: For the first three months of 2015, every show featured at least one track by Bruce Springsteen. The name is a reference to one of British TV host Bruce Forsyth's many catchphrases from Play Your Cards Right.
- Facts of the Day: After the news at 6 o'clock, humorous "facts of the day" were read relating to the specialist subject area of each of Mayo, Williams and Pike. Each fact had its own title relating to the content of the fact. This feature was dropped in spring 2015.
- The Quiz: At around 18:35 Mayo, Pike and Williams quizzed each other on their respective specialist subjects, and a score was kept throughout the week. The music used in this feature is a 1970 cha-cha-chá rendition of The Doors' "Light My Fire" by Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra. This feature was dropped during the summer of 2015.
All-Request Friday
- Mah Nà Mah Nà: A regular song on All Request Friday was the 1976 Muppets version of Piero Umiliani's Mah Nà Mah Nà. Introduced as "that song", it was usually the second track played on the show.
- Friday Fixture: In his 18:50 bulletin, sports reporter Matt Williams had the Friday Fixture where a participant in an "obscure" sport was interviewed.
Special shows