BBC Radio 5 Live is taking the station on the road for four days and broadcasting from Liverpool ahead of this year’s Grand National horse race.
Many of the programmes will come from the city’s Epstein Theatre, plus there’ll be an edition of Fighting Talk live in front of an audience of 2,000 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.
The OBs start with a live question and answer session on Wednesday 6 April featuring some of the big names in horse racing broadcasting – including Clare Balding, Cornelius Lysaght and commentator John Hunt. Richard Bacon’s show the following day will come live from Aintree racecourse then in the evening Tony Livesey’s late show will be at the Epstein Theatre with a live audience.
Friday night sees a special edition of Kicking Off hosted by Colin Murray, then a live sports-based comedy “At the end of the day’ which has been made by indie Savvy Productions and commissioned through the BBC’s North's Radio 5 live Creative Kicker Fund Development Fund.
On the day of the Grand National – Saturday 9th April – Colin Murray will present a live edition of Fighting Talk from the Empire Theatre with guests including former talkSPORT presenter Mike Parry. The show is going to be simulcast on BBC Radio Merseyside too.
Radio 5 live Controller Adrian Van Klaveren said: "The Grand National is a massive showpiece event that really excites the country. We’ll be at the heart of the action throughout this great festival with large parts of Radio 5 live in Liverpool to share the experience.”