Day and night, night and day

The Radio 3 anchors on the values of silence and patience

- Sean Rafferty and Petroc Trelawny

THOUSANDS of people around the UK and well beyond, especially over the past year, derive pleasure, comfort and stimulation every weekday from the top-and tailing on BBC Radio 3 of the morning Breakfast programme and the evening In Tune. The regular presenters for these live broadcast slots are Petroc Trelawny and Sean Rafferty, one a Cornishman, one an Irishman, colleagues and friends who joined the station within months of each other in 1997/98. Both have vivid memories of occupying offices in a remote offshoot of Broadcasting House with sloping garret roofs and ‘a very useful fridge’.

The two programmes share a strong sense of community with their audiences. ‘It’s like being part of a large family,’ says Mr Trelawny, ‘but without the rows.’ Breakfast is shaped by listeners, who contact the programme with suggestions; he relishes the quirkier items and the chance to include his own favourites— trains and railway routes are frequently mentioned, as is anything Cornish. ‘Radio is an intimate medium,’ observes Mr Rafferty, ‘people are touched by it, their imagination can float. I’ve banned the C(ovid) word on In Tune, which is not avoiding reality, but providing people with a place of safety, an antidote to dark times.’