Alex Lester

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Alex Lester (born Alexander Norman Charles Lester, 11 May 1956 in Walsall, United Kingdom) is a British broadcaster.^[1] He presents the weekday overnight/early-morning programme on BBC Radio 2. He also temporarily replaced Russell Brand on Saturday evenings in late 2008, between 9 and 11pm, following Brand's resignation over the prank calls row.

Early life and career

A doctor's son, Lester was educated at Denstone College, and worked in a variety of jobs (including at Dudley Zoo, in a pub, and as a civil service clerk), before he began his broadcasting career in 1977 for BBC local radio stations. He joined Radio Aire in Leeds in 1981.

Later, he worked for other radio stations in the commercial sector. These included Radio Tees, based in Stockton-on-Tees, where he worked from 1983 until 1986. At Radio Tees, on joining, he narrowly avoided an attempt by Canadian Programme Controller, Donald Cline, to rechristen him "Red" Lester. Lester went on to present, amongst others, the weekday lunchtime show and a specialist blues music programme there.

In 1986 he returned to the BBC, presenting the breakfast show (indeed, the first show) on the newly opened BBC Essex based in Chelmsford. Lester joined Radio 2 in 1987, as an announcer and newsreader. He also presented the night-time show on a rota basis. In 1990, he was given the early-morning show permanently.

The Best Time Of The Day!

Alex Lester keeps U.K. truckers and other night-shift workers awake with his weird and strange observations, but. without him, we would be lost. Long live the Dark Lord and "The Wife". The programme currently starts at 2am, ending at 5am, and has become something of a national institution with an enormous and fiercely loyal cult audience of nightshift workers and early risers. The meaningless but catchy show slogans are SCOF (Swirling Cesspool Of Filth) and Slap My Top (thought to be a variation on the music hall soundbite slap my thigh - but reserved exclusively for people with bald heads) and listeners have marketed the show by writing the phrase in the dirt on the backs of trucks and vans. There was a limited edition range of T-shirts with the slogan written in Cantonese developed by a listener, which Lester awarded to people who came up with the most innovative uses of the slogan - winners included a local radio reporter who got the expression into a story; a man who wrote and recorded a song with the slogan as its title; a mystery girl, for placing an ad for Lester's show in the small ads section of a local newspaper and a man who developed a website which remains a communal meeting point for the programme's listeners, and is listed in the External Links section below. As well as T-Shirts another listener produced a range of glow in the dark Alex Lester wristbands which were also given away as prizes on the show.The new phrase for the 2010 - 2011 Truck Writing Season is WALLOP (We're Alex Lester's Lovely Overnight People).

Despite the ungodly hour, Lester prides himself on calling his programme The Best Time Of The Day. As one of the longest-serving broadcasters on the network, he is occasionally heard on Radio 2 during the daytime when regular presenters are away. The new slogan for the show is buffoon town.

The programme was broadcast from 4am until 6.30am from 1990 until 1992, and from 3am to 5am until 1994. For sixteen years after 1994 the programme began at 3am and finished at 6am, until it was rescheduled in 2010 after changes to the Radio 2 morning schedule. It now broadcasts from 2am to 5am every weekday.

Personal life

Lester has homes in Hastings and Wednesbury. For nearly 10 years he lived aboard a 60-foot traditional stern canal boat (which he nicknamed The Blue Pig) during the week, while presenting his show from the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios and then The Mailbox in Birmingham. He also has a restored cottage as a third home in the Normandy region of France.

Obscure sports are another passion, over the years Lester has participated in Extreme Downhill Cheese Rolling, the Yorkshire Celery Wrestling Finals and achieved a 9th place finish at last year's World Bog Snorkelling Championship.

In 2007, Lester decided to celebrate his 20th anniversary at Radio 2 by fulfilling his life's ambition of driving the width of the USA, from Los Angeles to New York. He catalogued his experiences via a blog, linked from the Radio 2 website.

In December 2010 Alex announced his engagement to his longtime partner Kerry who is also known as "The Dark Lady". They married on 3rd December 2011. Edwina Hayes, a singer-songwriter whose music had been featured on his show, performed at the ceremony.

References

External links

• Alex Lester at BBC Programmes
• Slap My Top! - The Unofficial Alex Lester show site (endorsed by Alex Lester but not by BBC Radio 2)