Long-serving BBC Radio 4 host Libby Purves is leaving the station after plans were announced for her to host a new show starting in April.
Libby has presented Midweek for the last 34 years but RadioToday reported the long-standing show was ending to make way for two new arts/theatre programmes. Libby was in talks to host one of these monthly shows.
Libby has since decided that she will not be presenting the programme and Radio 4 says it will confirm new arrangements for the show in the coming months. However, a documentary hosted by Libby will still air later this year.
Gwyneth Williams, Controller Radio 4, says: “We are sorry to hear that Libby has decided not to take on the presenting duties for Radio 4’s new monthly theatre programme as planned. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Libby again for her years as the brilliant host of Midweek, which comes to an end in March 2017, and I look forward to hearing her back on Radio 4 this autumn to present her documentary on the creation of The Bridge Theatre in London.”
Libby joined the BBC as a studio manager in 1971. Five years later, at the age of 28, she joined Brian Redhead and John Timpson on the Today programme, becoming the show’s first woman presenter and the youngest ever. She was the first person to broadcast live from Beijing, hosting Today from there in 1978.
Libby was a regular interviewer on Midweek and became its host in 1983. She has presented a number of documentaries including Mysterious Ways, a millennial six-part series.
