On the Road
Jenni Murray’s headlines The broadcaster tells Louise Flind about lovely Bette Davis, disgraceful Martin Bashir – and saying goodbye to Woman’s Hour
What was it like leaving Woman’s Hour? I felt, come on – you’ve worked for the BBC for so long: for Woman’s Hour for 33 years. You’re nearly 70. If you don’t make a change now, you never will. In the last programme, I was not going to cry when I said goodbye – but I did. I got the loveliest cake from Mary Berry and lovely flowers.
Allowed. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to someone else presenting Woman’s Hour. My favourite used to be The Archers.
What were your high points of Woman’s Hour, and low points? I looked back at my 1987 diary to the September date when I started and on the second day it said ‘Bette Davis – posh hotel’. In this elegant hotel, she sat on a sofa – tiny, immaculately dressed with long red fingernails, very fierce. I started talking to her about her book and about how she’d worked in a military canteen. Immediately she warmed to me and, at the end, she repeated that famous line from All About Eve (1950): ‘Fasten your seatbelts – it’s going to be a bumpy night.’ And Joan Baez – whom I’ve interviewed twice – who I have worshipped since I was a teenager, and Hillary Clinton.
Do you work on planes and trains? I’ve still got my old Blackberry, which I can write easily on with my fingernails.
What’s your opinion of the Martin Bashir scandal? Well, what a disgraceful young man he was. Are you still angry with your mother? I think I’ll always be angry with her and always love her to death. Do you think the media are more obsessed with weight than they used to be? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I’ve suffered from obesity and can’t comprehend why journalists don’t examine in any proper scientific manner why some of us become obese. What are your favourite radio programmes? And least favourite? I love Tim Harford, who analyses statistics and is very funny. I also try to catch Laurie Taylor who does Thinking 86 The Oldie September 2021
Are you a traveller? When I was young, my father worked abroad a lot and going to the airport and getting on a plane was exciting. I quite like this country, actually.
Where did you go on your honeymoons? The first time, we’d just come back from a year in France and we went straight back to university. The second time, we didn’t go anywhere. Do you have a daily routine? Less now than I had doing Woman’s Hour. I still wake up at 5.30, and back then I used to get up, shower, take the dogs out. Now I wake up at 5.30 and think, ‘Ah, lovely,’ and go back to sleep. Are you brave with different food abroad? Oh yes, I’ll eat anything. The strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? I didn’t actually eat it, but when my father was working in Turkey I went to a barbecue and a great reward was a sheep’s eye. What’s your favourite food to cook? In London, I go to Marks and Spencer and buy noodles, vegetables and either some strips of beef or king prawns and a lovely, thin, soupy thing – Japanese. I do a quick stir-fry. Best and worst experiences in restaurants when abroad? In Montpellier when I was a student,
there was a restaurant on the beach with white tablecloths and they did the most incredible moules marinière, beautiful French bread and chocolate mousse and chips – absolute heaven – and local rosé. Do you have a go at the local language? When I came back from university, I was so bilingual that I dreamt in French and people assumed I was Swiss because I had that slightly flat accent. I studied German at school and never, ever used it. But in Spain with the children and some friends, in a villa, there was a rather grumpy German couple next door. One night, they got furious because of the noise and out of my mouth came a whole stream of impeccable German and my husband said, ‘Oh, I thought you’d forgotten your German.’ Top travelling tips? Travel as light as you possibly can. Is there something you really miss when you’re abroad? My three chihuahuas and my cat. What’s your favourite destination? I love the South of France and sitting by the sea with one of those great platters of fresh seafood and a nice glass of rosé. What are your earliest childhood holiday memories? We went to Scarborough for one week and to Blackpool for another every year with my grandparents. In Scarborough, I learnt to swim in the North Sea. What are you up to now? My memoir – Fat Cow, Fat Chance – comes out in paperback in September. I really want people to read that book because it will change their perception of obesity.
