He added: "Everyone said I had no chance for my programme, which I admit is a difficult programme … but for the French to choose with such a big percentage to support me means they believe in this programme.
In two days he manages to film four extra items for my programme, including a riverside picnic with Yotam Ottolenghi, attend every party going, participate in three sessions and make time for a languorous wine-soaked afternoon with me.
In Berlin's Philharmonie, you get the feeling people would rather impale themselves on their Mahler box sets than clear their throat in a concert; I received an incredibly stern Teutonic telling-off for turning the page of my programme.
In 1998, Peel was awarded an OBE: he summed up his work with the words, "You get free records, you get paid for playing them on the radio, I choose all the music for my own programmes... it seems to me to be almost the perfect life, really".
Marc Riley (6 Music DJ) Rufus Wainwright, Want One (2003 LP) The more time I spend listening to one LP, the less time I have to listen to new releases for my radio programme, so I try to keep level-headed.
It's important for my research programme that I come back with good data, but if the ocean is too rough or too calm I could come back empty-handed.
In planning my programme for the next four years, I have one burning ambition for London that will guide every decision I make – ensuring that all Londoners can have the same opportunities to get on in life that London gave me.
While drafting my programme for Paris 2020, I was inspired by the visions of other great cities – including London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Vancouver.
But I find it quite hard to find programmes for my age group.
As an artist who has spent a lot of time setting up people to look like celebrities, including Thatcher, for my photographs and TV programmes, I can only applaud the casting: Streep is no Thatcher-lookalike, but she has the perfect nose structure for the job.
