Fighting Talk
 | |
| Other names | FT |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports panel game |
| Running time | 50 minutes (approx) |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Language | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 5 Live |
| Hosted by | Current Rick Edwards Former Johnny Vaughan Christian O'Connell Colin Murray Matt Johnson Jonathan Pearce Georgie Thompson Josh Widdicombe |
| Produced by | Simon Crosse Charley Copsey Mike Holt |
| Recording studio | MediaCityUK (Salford Quays), Salford, Greater Manchester |
| Original release | 4 October 2003[1] – Present |
| No. of series | 15 |
| Opening theme | Sabotage by Beastie Boys |
| Website | Official website |
| Podcast | Fighting Talk Podcast |
Fighting Talk is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11:00 and 12:00 and is currently presented by Rick Edwards.
Its first series was broadcast in October 2003, presented by Johnny Vaughan. Later series were presented by Christian O'Connell and Colin Murray.
The show has twice won Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards in the sports programme category, in 2006 and 2011. In 2011, judges described the show as "like a modern version of old-fashioned Music Hall".[2]
Format
[edit]Listener participation
[edit]Prizes were suspended during Series 5 due to the BBC's blanket ban on hosting phone-in competitions, which came as a result of various phone-in and interactive voting scandals.[3]
History
[edit]The first series began in October 2003 and was hosted by Johnny Vaughan.[1] The inaugural show featured a panel consisting of Greg Brady, Will Buckley, Bradley Walsh and the eventual winner, Stan Collymore. After the first series ended in April 2004, Vaughan left to present the Capital FM breakfast show.
Christian O'Connell was the show's second presenter,[4] and completed a successful second series from 2004 to 2005, culminating in a Gold Award for the show at the 24th Sony Radio Academy Awards.[5] He left to focus on his new Virgin Radio breakfast show at the end of 2005. His last show was in December 2005, and featured his four favourite guests — John Rawling, Steve Bunce, Greg Brady and Bob Mills. That show also briefly featured the wives of three of those panellists, who were invited to answer (via telephone) a question on behalf of their husbands. Bob Mills' wife was unavailable for comment.
Colin Murray started presenting the show in February 2006.[6] He was the host for seven years until he left in July 2013 as he moved from the BBC to present on rival network Talksport.[citation needed]
Murray was replaced by three presenters who rotated hosting duties. O'Connell returned, with commentator Jonathan Pearce and TV presenter Matt Johnson the others for the 2013–14 season.[7]
For two seasons, 2014–15 and 2015–16, hosting duties were shared between presenter Georgie Thompson and comedian Josh Widdicombe.[8][9] Murray returned to the show on 17 September 2016[10] and remained until his second departure at the end of the 2022–23 season. Rick Edwards replaced Murray as the show's permanent host.
The "Stuart Hall incident"
[edit]Fighting Talk made national news with an episode broadcast on 12 March 2005. The panel consisted of Danny Kelly, Will Buckley, John Rawling and Stuart Hall. Presenter Christian O'Connell asked the panel: "What other former all-conquering nations, clubs or individuals would you like to see have a renaissance?" Hall responded with "Zimbabwe" and criticised President Robert Mugabe, saying "...don your flannels, black up, play leather on willow with Mugabe cast as a witch doctor. Imagine him out at Lord's casting a curse; tincture of bat's tongues, gorilla's gonads, tiger's testicles...". Shortly afterwards, O'Connell was heard to ask studio staff "Are we still on air?" During the same show, Hall was also asked for his opinion on sporting stars acting as role models for young people. In his response, he defended swearing by footballers suggesting that "your average 10-year-old can instruct you in oral or anal sex".[11][12] The incidents were widely reported in the national press, although neither attracted significant criticism from listeners.[11]
Fighting Talk: Any Other Business
[edit]A one-off, politics-based show — using the name of Fighting Talk's 'Any Other Business' round — was broadcast on Sunday 17 December 2006 at 19:00, presented by Richard Bacon. A run of four further shows billed as Fighting Talk: Any Other Business were broadcast between 15 July and 5 August 2007. The host was the original Fighting Talk presenter Johnny Vaughan and guests included Alan Duncan, Diane Abbott, Stephen Pound, Arabella Weir and Robin Ince.[13]
Book
[edit]A Fighting Talk tie-in book, Fighting Talk: Flimsy Facts, Sweeping Statements and Inspired Sporting Hunches, edited by regular pundit Will Buckley, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 2 October 2008.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Johnny Vaughan's Fighting Talk starts on Radio Five Live". BBC — Press Office. 29 September 2003. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
- ^ "TalkSport leads sporting triumphs at radio awards". Sports Journalists' Association. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
Kelner
- ^ "At a glance: Shows in TV scandal". BBC News. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
- ^ "Christian O'Connell to host Fighting Talk on Radio Five Live". BBC — Press Office. 27 May 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
- ^ "The Sports Programme Award". Sony Radio Academy. Archived from the original on 18 May 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
- ^ "Colin Murray takes over Fighting Talk on Five Live". BBC — Press Office. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
- ^ Plunkett, John. "Christian O'Connell to return to BBC Radio 5 Live's Fighting Talk". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "Josh Widdicombe and Georgie Thompson to host Fighting Talk". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "Josh Widdicombe throws in the towel on Fighting Talk". Chortle. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
The comic and his co-presenter Georgie Ainslie are both standing down after two series
- ^ ""It'll never work…." - Colin Murray back on Fighting Talk". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ a b John Plunkett (17 March 2005). "BBC defends sports pundit on a sticky wicket". London: Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2 February 2007.
- ^ Ian Herbert (18 March 2005). "Bard of the airwaves Stuart Hall stuns show with 'black-up' rant". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ Plunkett, John (7 June 2007). "Vaughan back at Radio Five Live". Media Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
