Desmond Carrington All Time Greats Radio 20th Anniversary 7th October 2001 (complete)

This is a special programme from Sunday lunchtime perennial Desmond Carrington. After 20 years on the air filling the Radio 2 Sunday Lunchtime spot, the show had become as much a part of the sabbath as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Here Des spins back over those 20 years with excerpts from his very first show, which thank goodness he’d had the foresight to keep -unlike Auntie Beeb. Desmond reviews his eclectic mix of popular music from his own vast collection. He offers a competition to guess the top 5 most played tracks over the 20 years and we get to hear from producer Dave Aylot as they pick out the competition winner. Desmond remembers some of the sadder events to happen on Sundays including Inneskellen and the death of Diana. But we have to leave the last word for his touching and understated description of his father clutching his hand and walking him back into the house after hearing Neville Chamberlain’s chilling announcement on 3rd September 1939.