Watching and waiting

Phew! We’ve just had a narrow escape, if reports are true that the Today programme has been ‘in talks with’ Katie Price, aka Jordan.

Phew! We’ve just had a narrow escape, if reports are true that the Today programme has been ‘in talks with’ Katie Price, aka Jordan. In talks with? Is international-style diplomacy really necessary for Ms Price to be persuaded to accept such an invitation, guest-editing Radio 4’s flagship current-affairs slot one morning between Christmas and New Year? She has declined (it’s that world-shattering book on how to beat cellulite she needs to finish), and so we’ll have to put up with second-best, Colin Firth, whose qualifications for the job appear to be his ability to walk out of a lake, his white frilly shirt clinging to his manly chest, like Sir Lancelot on his way to meet Lady Guinevere.

The guest-editing scheme was dreamt up by the Today team in 2003 as a fun way to liven up the festive season. Perhaps I’m an old Scrooge but it always seemed a bit daft and inconsequential to me, although nothing to get steamed up about. You might argue that bringing in an expert or personality with no news experience but some kind of public reputation might draw out some original insights, new ways of getting politicians to say what they mean. But can anyone remember anything surprising or revelatory or even faintly amusing from these guest sessions — apart from the great P.D. James, who last year tore apart the DG of the BBC over matters of executive pay like a wire-haired terrier with a particularly meaty bone?

Guest reviewers are a regular feature on Paddy O’Connell’s Sunday-morning magazine, Broadcasting House (Radio 4), discussing what’s in the papers, what they find interesting.