Thanks to an assembled multitude of Togs, Tygs and refugees from the Home for the Bewildered, the atmosphere was electric with excitement and anticipation, which was remarkable since most of the gang had been queueing in the bitter wind that blows around Broadcasting House since about 7.30 in the morning.
I arrived leaning heavily on a stick,to be greeted by Hellen Bach with a kiss and a bouquet of roses. Later on Sir Ian McKellen presented me with them again, and another kiss this time on the hand. I hope all this is not going to spoil me...
Sir Ian was a terrific guest, at ease, good-humoured, with the vim and vigour of a man half his age. He's never been out of work, and he has never stopped working ; as soon as he finished with me, he was off to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket for the Sunday matinee of "Waiting for Godot". How does he do it? I nearly fell asleep over lunch...
But "WW" is not a talk-show (incidentally, the Dutch for "talk-show" is "prat-show") it's Radio 2 music at it's best, on record and live as you like : Elio Pace his Band and Singers kick it off, and the dust never settles. The brilliant musical guests were Norah Jones and Jamie Cullum, playing and singing like things possessed, and topping it off with an unexpected blinding duet. As always and ever, my Togs letters supplied the wit; I'd have needed another couple of hours to have included them all. John "Boggy" Marsh had flown home from sailing around Cape Horn to warm the audiences cockles and add verisimilitude to a particularly moving tale of "Janet and John". Mick Sturbs, who writes these epics, was in the audience but made his escape before the crowd turned ugly... A great and lovely day, even if I say so myself, and hats off to "Barrowlands" Boyd, who put the extravaganza together. And now we've got to do it all again next Sunday morning, 11 to 1...
Among the first mail I received was one from Norman Macintosh to tell me that the Togs had raised the magnificent sum of £587,482 for "Children in Need" in 2009. Magnificent! Check it out on www.charitygoods.com
"Tyggy" Steels is relieved by my reappearance. She's dispensing with the WWS (Wogan Withdrawal Symptoms) patches... Mahatt Micoat used to be a TWIT (Terry Wogan Is Tops), spiralled downwards into Togdom, and now wants to join the SWOTS (Sunday Wogan On Two Society). My own favourite grouping was TWINKLETOES (Terry Wogan Is Not Kinky Like Everybody Thinks Or Everybody Says).
Cheery welcomes on all sides : Horatio Q. Birdbath : "I've missed "Workers Playtime", was that Violet Carson on the piano?" No, Elio Pace, though it's an understandable error. Anyway Violet Carson played the old joanna for Wilfred Pickles ("Give him the money Barney"), not Workers Playtime. Do try and keep up...
"'Tis the 14th of Feb, it's Valentines Day
And Wogan is back, let's shout Hooray!
Every Sunday Pee-em, we Togs will switch on
To Radio Two... Hope there's Janet and John"...
Your every whim, catered for....
Of course,there are some people who just don't get it... or do they ?....
"I have to say,I was shocked to hear that you're now going to be on the radio of a Sunday morn. Six days a week ! Exhausting. Mind you you're on a roll, so it's probably the right time to be stepping up a gear... Caught bits of your breakfast show lately, you've become a lot funnier since Christmas. And you've stopped putting on that silly Irish accent. Well done,but don't wear yourself out. Take a holiday soon...
P.S. The wife and I are looking forward to you camping it up on the old Eurovision again this year...."
Sometimes you wonder if it's worth going on......
Tags: blog, children in need, comments, guest, janet & john, radio
We are so delighted to have you back , Sir Terry