New PPL Hall of Fame inductees announced

The names of those entering the PPL Hall of Fame have been announced, and will receive their honour during this year’s Radio Festival.

The four inductees include broadcaster and writer Danny Baker, who yesterday was sacked from his daily show on BBC London and announced the news on Twitter.

He’s joined by Jazz FM’s Helen Mayhew, radio and TV presenter Margherita Taylor and comedian and BBC Radio 4 presenter, Sandi Toksvig.

The event, sponsored by PPL and hosted by Real Radio North East’s Gary Philipson and Lisa Shaw, will pay tribute to those voices that have made an outstanding contribution to the sound of British radio and to British cultural life.

Danny’s radio career began on BBC GLR in 1989. He then moved to BBC Radio 5 live where he presented sports shows, including the 6-0-6, which still influences the media’s approach to criticism of players, managers and referees.

This year, Danny won a Sony Radio Academy Award for ‘Speech Radio Personality of the Year’ for his Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 5 live.

In Helen’s 27 year radio career, she has enjoyed stints on Classic FM, The Jazz and BBC’s Radio 2 and 3 before joining the re-launched digital jazz station, Jazz FM in 2009, returning to its flagship programme Dinner Jazz.

Margherita Taylor started her radio career at BRMB twenty years ago, moving to Capital in 1995. She currently presents the weekday Smooth Classics show on Classic FM, and co-hosts the Classic FM live concerts with John Suchet. This year she also joined the presenting line up on Heart, the UK’s biggest commercial radio network, which is also part of the Global Radio family.

Danish-born Sandi Toksvig appears on many BBC Radio 4 programmes, presenting the travel programme, Excess Baggage, and also chairing The News Quiz. She was awarded ‘Broadcaster of the Year’ by the Broadcast Press Guild and Channel 4 ‘Political Humorist of the Year’. She has written 18 books and has regular columns in the Sunday Telegraph and Good Housekeeping.

The Hall of Fame inductees will be acknowledged alongside four other radio industry big hitters who will be presented with a Fellowship of The Radio Academy, which recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry and/or the Academy. Recipients of this highly regarded award are kept strictly under wraps and won’t be announced until the night.

Mick Hucknall, who has already been announced as this year’s recipient of the PPL Lifetime Achievement Award, will be delivering an intimate performance at the dinner and the event will see award winners joined by some very special guests.

Tickets for the evening are still available from The Radio Academy’s website.

Clive Dickens, Chairman of the Radio Festival, said: “The PPL Hall of Fame Dinner is set to be an exciting night of celebration for the industry. The awards evening acknowledges those people who have shone continuously in their chosen medium and who have brought fascinating and inspiring content to audiences.

“The evening will be topped off by a unique set from Mick Hucknall, whose music career has spanned a remarkable 25 years. The evening will be held at The Monastery in Manchester, which is a beautiful setting and very fitting for what will be a fantastic evening.”