Friday, June 23, 2006

Nick Clarke's Audio Diary Is a Radio Masterpiece

I switched on Radio 4 this morning wondering who would be on Desert Islands Discs only to find they had replaced it with an audio diary by Nick Clarke, who was the presenter of The World at One until he was diagnosed with cancer. The audio diary covered the period leading up to the amputation of his leg and how he and his family coped with the aftermath. As regular readers will know, my eyes tend to moisten at the slightest excuse, and I am sure I was not alone in being deeply moved by the programme. It's still going on as I'm typing this. If you didn't manage to listen to it, go to the Radio 4 website and download it. You won't regret it. I've met Nick on a couple of occasions and he is a truly lovely man. I hope this is not the last time I hear his voice in the 9am slot on Fridays. For me he would be an ideal presenter of Desert Island Discs.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Iain's sentiments. Nick Clarke's audio diary about his battle against cancer was a revealing, honest and extremely moving piece of radio. Nick Clarke is a first-class broadcaster on The World at One - let's hope it isn't long before we hear him back presenting it permenantly.

Paul Evans said...

Totally agree, it was absolutely excellent. Genuinely moving.

Anonymous said...

There is an accompanying article on BBC Online:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5107226.stm

Niles said...

Yup, absolutely. He should be back on WATO, not relegated to DID.

Anonymous said...

You're not a softy Iain it got me and I'm a callous bastard. Made extra moving by Nick's fantastic voice.

Anonymous said...

Good news: Just heard on Any Questions that Nick Clarke will be back on air presenting Any Questions for three weeks from next Friday while Jonathan Dimbleby has a holiday.

Anonymous said...

I listened in awe.
I cried buckets.
My cancer was diagnosed in December '05 so I know some of the black hells he went through - in ways that are otherwise impossible (I'm totally clear now)
Nick's oh-so-eloquent diary was magnificent. Such courage.