Less Talkington

Another radio milestone last night: Fiona Talkington said farewell to Radio 3 Late Junction listeners, after twenty years on the show that she co-created with Verity Sharp. The programme moves from three nights a week, to a two-hour show on Fridays, with Verity.

Fiona, from Reading, started in radio with a classical show on local station Radio 210, then sent a tape to Radio 3. She joined in 1989, and started presenting editions of Mainly for Pleasure, alongside Richard Baker. Presumably, in those dark days, the rest of the schedule was Mainly for Hair-Shirts.

Partway through her Late Junction stint, she developed breast cancer, but kept going through seven years of treatment, with colleagues occasionally coming to her home to record editions.

She says she's continuing to work at Radio 3.  The Late Junction retreat is seen by many fans as a move away from an eclectic style of broadcasting that has something of the heritage of John Peel. There are 6,022 signatures on one petition against Alan Davey's decision, and 1,066 on another.