Prescott takes on the Shipping Forecast
By Ian Dunt
John Prescott is to become the first non-BBC presenter ever to take on the Shipping Forecast on Radio 4 in a stunt to raise money for Red Nose Day.
The former deputy prime minister will deliver the evening forecast at 00:48 GMT on March 19th following a protracted joke on Twitter.
The Forecast, which is listened to as much by non-sailors for its strangely reassuring delivery as it is by seafarers, will be pre-recorded to avoid any linguistic slip-ups.
During his time in government, Lord Prescott became famous for mangling words. Civil servants were given strict instructions to make ministerial statements punchy and easy to express to avoid any further embarrassments, such as the time he spoke of the “sceptre of unemployment”.
Blog: The beauty of the shipping forecast
BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer Alice Arnold first raised the prospect of Lord Prescott delivering the Forecast after he joked about it on Twitter.
“I saw a tweet from John saying that he was doing an interview for Radio 4’s The World Tonight show and he might as well stay on to do the shipping forecast.
“As I was reading it that night I tweeted he was welcome to do it so I could go home early. He then started tweeting the shipping forecast to me.”
The message read: “alicearnold1 *clears throat* Humber. Wind Northeast 4 or 5, occasionally 6. Sea State. Moderate. Weather. Showers.Visibility. Good.”
Ms Arnold continued: “I asked him if he’d like to do it for real and he said he’d only do it for Comic Relief, so we did our best at Radio 4 to make it happen.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that John’s prepared to do this and it’s extraordinary how a little joke on Twitter has now come to something real to raise awareness and money for Comic Relief.”
Lord Prescott, a former ship steward, said: “I’ve always been fascinated by the shipping forecast ever since I was a waiter on the liners. I used to sit in my bunk listening to it on the wireless.
“It has such a metronomic quality, like the rhythm of the sea. It feels like a poem.
“I’m really looking forward to reading the shipping forecast but you can expect me to dwell on the report for Humber. Or to give its correct pronunciation, ‘umber.”
The Shipping Forecast is delivered according to a strict formula, with the emphasis on careful enunciation sop that it is still understandable to people in rough seas.
But the monotone delivery and, to non-sailors at least, indecipherable series of categories, has also become a uniquely reassuring and well-loved part of BBC Radio 4’s schedule for city dwellers.
