Radio 2 presenters interview their heroes

BBC Radio 2 presenters have interviewed their personal heroes in a series of podcasts for BBC Children in Need.

Lunchtime phone-in host Jeremy Vine talks with Katie Piper, Steve Wright speaks with Jeremy Paxman and Ken Bruce interviews British racing car legend, Sir Stirling Moss.

Breakfast presenter Chris Evans chose to speak with Sir Paul McCartney, while Vanessa Feltz chats with Lulu. Completing the line-up, Simon Mayo interviews American broadcaster Larry King and historian Neil Oliver.

Jeremy said: “I am such a fan of Katie. By coming through an experience which would have caused most of us to feel terminal despair, she inspires everyone to grasp, whatever their problems, that there is hope and a future. She doesn’t preach: it’s enough for Katie just to tell her story and talk about how she put her life back together and came back even stronger than before. One of the people I admire most in the country today.”

Steve Wright’s hero, Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman, discloses that he doesn’t watch a lot of TV, though has a soft spot for Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire.

Popmaster Ken Bruce’s Hero is racing car legend and winner of 16 Grand Prix’s Stirling Moss. In the interview, Moss talks about the first car he bought – an Austin 7 for just five pounds – as well as the car he has enjoyed racing the most.

Chris Evans spoke to Sir Paul McCartney, and listeners can hear Chris ask Sir Paul about his childhood, how despite all of his fame he has managed to stay so grounded and what words of inspiration he has for young people today.

Vanessa Feltz said that she had ‘worshipped Lulu’ since being a little girl and the opportunity to interview her was a dream come true. In the interview, Lulu talks about her initial move to London and hitting the dizzy heights of fame with her hit single ‘Shout’, as well as the impact success at an early age has had on her life.

Concluding the series, Drivetime’s Simon Mayo interviews two heroes in one podcast, speaking with both the iconic American broadcaster, Larry King, and renowned historian Neil Oliver. Talking frankly about his 56 year career, King divulges the keys to his success and why President Clinton once called to thank him for changing history. As well as divulging why being an information junkie makes him the ‘kind of person you do not want to sit next to on a plane’, King also give his thoughts on his CNN successor, Piers Morgan.

Taking an alternative view on the hero theme, Mayo also interviews historian Neil Oliver. In a moving interview, Oliver recounts the events of the Penlee lifeboat disaster of 1981; a tragedy in which sixteen people perished off the Cornish coast.

The interviews are available for download from Wednesday 6th November 2013 priced at 99p each with all money going to BBC Children in Need.