Voices off

Ian Skelly: not a shock jock

I only found out today that Stuart Maconie has been sitting in all week on the 6 Music Breakfast Show. Between eight and nine this morning I can't tell you how pleasant it was to be listening to a presenter who wasn't going through the gurning Dave Double Decks routine. The informed chat between records is, to me, anyway, every bit as important as the music itself.

The reason, I guess, that I wasn't aware of this bout of depping is that normally I listen to either Radio 3 or Radio 4 with my Rice Krispies and can't abide shouty voices and indie drivel in the morning. But even on Radio 3 I have to be careful. When Ian Skelly recently took over the reins and provided cover at breakfast time it was a joy to hear a genuinely knowledgable voice who wasn't reading from an idiot board and genuinely cared about the pieces he was playing.

It's for these reasons I can only listen to Today when Evan Davis is at the helm. His voice is the voice of calm. The voice of reason.

The BBC may well see Shaun Keaveny, Clemency Burton-Hill and Sarah Montague as the future of their respective stations, 6 Music, Radio 3 and Radio 4. But it's not a future I want to be part of.