Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Sir Michael Parkinson and Reindeer

Sir Michael Parkinson shares stories about his friend and footballer George Best from his new book. Plus we chat to Steve Swinnerton who's been breeding reindeer for over 30 years.

Sir Michael Parkinson shares stories about his friend and footballer George Best from his new book he co-wrote with his son, George Best: A Memoir. Following this, we ask for your desperate claims to fame to world-renowned broadcaster in today's Top Tenuous. We also chat to Steve Swinnerton, the Reindeer Man who has been breeding the festive animal for over 30 years in Rugeley. Vassos is joined in the Sports Locker by NFL player Tracy Porter. Pause For Thought comes courtesy of writer and broadcaster Sarah Joseph.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 Dec 2018 06:30

Music Played

  • Bruce Springsteen

    Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

    • (Single).
    • CBS.
  • Rick Astley

    She Makes Me

    • Beautiful Life.
    • BMG Rights Management.
  • Aretha Franklin

    You Send Me

    • Aretha Now.
  • Liam Payne & Rita Ora

    For You (Fifty Shades Freed)

    • Fifty Shades Freed O.S.T. (Various Artists).
    • Island.
  • The La鈥檚

    There She Goes

    • Love - 38 All Time Love Classics.
    • Polygram Tv.
  • Mariah Carey

    All I Want For Christmas Is You

    • Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas.
    • Columbia.
  • Mark Ronson

    Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (feat. Miley Cyrus)

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • Adele

    Rumour Has It

    • 21.
    • XL.
    • 1.
  • The Real Thing

    Can't Get By Without You

    • Time For Love (Various Artists).
    • Truetrax.
  • Lady Gaga

    Always Remember Us This Way

    • A Star Is Born O.S.T..
    • Interscope.
    • 17.
  • The Pogues

    Fairytale Of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)

    • (CD Single).
    • Rhino.
  • Bryan Adams

    Do What Ya Gotta Do

    • (CD Single).
    • Polydor.
    • 006.
  • Johnny Hawksworth

    Roobarb & Custard Theme

    • This Is The Return Of Cult Fiction.
    • Virgin.
  • P!nk

    A Million Dreams

    • The Greatest Showman: Reimagined (Various Artists).
    • Atlantic.
  • Snow Patrol

    What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? (Wildness Version)

    • Wildness (PG Advisory).
    • Polydor.
    • 6.
  • Tina Turner

    The Best

    • Tina Turner - Simply The Best.
    • Capitol.
  • 搁耻苍鈥怐.惭.颁. vs Jason Nevins

    It's Like That

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • Lisa Stansfield

    The Real Thing

    • Huge Hits 1997 (Various Artists).
    • Global Television.
  • Chuck Berry

    Run Rudolph Run

    • Chuck Berry - The Chess Years (Cd 2).
    • Chess.
  • James Arthur & 础苍苍别鈥怣补谤颈别

    Rewrite The Stars

    • The Greatest Showman: Reimagined (Various Artists).
    • Atlantic.
  • Electric Light Orchestra

    Mr. Blue Sky

    • The Very Best Of.
    • Frontiers Records.
    • T1.
  • The B鈥52s

    Love Shack

    • Now 1990 - The Millennium Series.
    • Now.
    • 3.
  • Barbra Streisand

    The Rain Will Fall

    • Walls.
    • Sony Music CMG.
  • Cliff Richard

    Wired For Sound

    • Cliff Richard - Private Collection.
    • EMI.
  • The Ronettes

    Sleigh Ride

    • A Christmas Gift For You (Phil Spect.
    • Phil Spector Int.

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

From Sarah Joseph, Editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine:

Yesterday was the 26th anniversary of my dad鈥檚 passing. 听听

My relationship with my dad was complex. My parents had separated when I was 15 months. Our issues weren鈥檛 dealt with when he was alive, so when he died suddenly at 57, the week before my wedding, I was left with a huge mountain of grief, peppered with unresolved anger, and more than a sprinkling of regret.

Now grief, I have come to accept, is a strange thing. It鈥檚 a master of disguise, morphing itself into all sorts of shapes, as we struggle to manage loss.

For me, I draw inspiration from the Islamic maxim, that nothing is lost with God. Everything remains with The Merciful. And the Qur鈥檃n reminds us, even an atom鈥檚 weight of our actions remain with Him. But that doesn鈥檛 dismiss the reality, that even with faith, grief can be hard to deal with.

Indeed, the emotions about my dad often leak through. I can vividly remember bawling my eyes out when my daughter was 15 months old 鈥 the age I was when my parents separated. My inner children cried - Was I not enough to make him stay?

There were to be many more milestones in my children鈥檚 lives where grief would suddenly explode. 听Parents evenings, plays, concerts, and the feelings of anger that my dad never came to any of mine 鈥揳nd now could never come to anything of mine ever again. Anger that he didn鈥檛 even make my wedding 鈥 although, to be fair, he did have a good excuse for that one!

I find the power and pain of regret can be debilitating. It never ceases to amaze me the emotions we can hold within us, without even knowing they are there.

A final resolution came fairly recently, when I had a dream. 听Whether it was some great spiritual moment, or my sub-conscious finally coming to terms, I can鈥檛 tell you, but given I was stuck for 20 plus years in the denial and anger stage, ever since the dream I have reached acceptance.

In the dream, my dad, wearing cricket whites, was walking across the grass. He looked glowing. He looked young. And we had the biggest hug鈥

Broadcast

  • Wed 5 Dec 2018 06:30

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

500 Words

成人快手 Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.