Her riotous weekly show had an army of devoted fans. Now Tarbuck has joined the ranks of star presenters leaving the BBC – and she’s getting her hands dirty
A tragedy. A national disaster. A loss to the cultural landscape that should be discussed in parliament. These were just a few listener reactions when Liza Tarbuck left her Radio 2 show earlier this year. “I was bereft about it, too,” sighs Tarbuck. “I miss angsting over the playlist. I miss the texts and emails. For two hours every weekend, we were a proper gang.”
Tarbuck hosted her Saturday evening show for 14 years, building it into the funniest show on British radio. Her riotous mix of freewheeling chat and hand-picked tunes ( the music could span nine decades in the same show) drew an audience of 2 million, and received more messages from listeners – 50 per minute – than any other programme on the station.
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It became a cult phenomenon thanks to its running jokes, hilarious crowd-sourced stories and Tarbuck’s anarchic links to the 7pm news bulletin (“Smell that fromage! We interrupt this fun to bring you some miserable news”). “I love a bit of mischief,” she chuckles. “It’s like nectar to me.”
She called it “by appointment radio” and it was, attracting a loyal fanbase – including many fellow broadcasters. Regular listeners were dubbed “the hivemind” or “the murmuration”.
The final edition aired in January but her departure wasn’t confirmed until March, when Tarbuck posted a heartfelt, hand-written farewell message on Instagram. “I think you’ve guessed,” she wrote.
“Some fool left a door open and I sneaked out. A French exit.
Together we made two hours of radio feel like a private members’ club. That’s the stuff of dreams.
Thank you for letting me in, it’s been a privilege.” Many devotees were distraught. They still take to social media each Saturday to compare it to missing a friend.
Mystery swirled around her departure. Over a video call overlooking her verdant London garden (“My top tip is pots with drip trays”), Tarbuck cheerfully shrugs this off.
“Lots of people, very kindly, thought I was ill or my parents were ill, but that wasn’t the case,” she says. “I was at Radio 2 on and off for 36 years in total.
I realised it was time to go. The messages I received were deeply moving.”
She joined a talent exodus from the station in recent years, following the likes of Ken Bruce, Zoe Ball and Simon Mayo, as well as the late Paul O’Grady, out of the Broadcasting House door. “The talent leaving Radio 2 tells its own story,” she says.
“It’s no wonder people get upset by it. Listeners have allowed us into their home, which is a precious thing and should never be taken for granted.
That’s why the audience take it personally.”
She laments the loss of such stalwart names and maverick talents. “The BBC needs high standards and a certain level of curation because it’s a world leader.
Ever since we were all sat in front of Bill & Ben or Blue Peter, it was the place to be. But you can’t live off that reputation for ever.
You have to keep it being the place to be. You do that by pushing the boundaries and not worrying about what commercial radio is doing.
Let them do it. It doesn’t matter.”
Fans retain hope for a triumphant return to the airwaves. “Maybe there will be a comeback in some form,” she says. “I genuinely don’t know. I couldn’t do a show that didn’t have music flowing through it, and the difficulty is how to pay the artists. But I’m figuring that out.” So the murmuration should keep the faith? “Always. We’re all still out here, flying in some line of formation.”
The 61-year-old actor and broadcaster – daughter of comedian Jimmy – has enjoyed an eccentrically eclectic career. After making her name in long-running ITV sitcom Watching, she took the lead in Linda Green, Paul Abbott’s BBC comedy-drama. More recently, she appeared in Bridget Christie ’s menopause comedy The Change and played Anne Hathaway in Ben Elton’s Shakespeare sitcom Upstart Crow.
She has presented everything from The Big Breakfast to Britain’s Top Dog. Tarbuck even won Taskmaster while wearing a surprisingly convincing false beard . “It was eight years ago but people still stop me to talk about the beard and the BMXing,” she laughs.
Now she is returning to TV to present The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down. This fresh twist on Channel 4’s ceramic contest sees six celebrities roll up their sleeves, brave the wheel and battle the clay. Across five weeks, the contestants – comedians Lucy Beaumont, Richard Herring and Fatiha El-Ghorri, former footballer Paul Merson, actor Layton Williams and presenter Denise van Outen – make everything from raku animals to garden gnomes.
In the process, they blossom under the expert eye of judges Keith Brymer Jones and Rich Miller. “Keith is fabulous,” says Tarbuck fondly.
“A really good laugh. But trust me, Rich is the one slyly holding it all together.
They’re both open-hearted and emotionally intelligent, which is a lovely quality in men of a certain age. That makes it a safe space and brings people’s barriers down.
Celebrities aside – what a horrible label – they’re just humans. Keith said to me early on: ‘Just watch the clay work as therapy,’ and it really did.”
El-Ghorri makes a cathartic cancer confession. Beaumont and Williams find pottery helps with their recent ADHD diagnoses.
Merson plans to continue the hobby beyond the series because it helps him stay in the moment – which he needs as a recovering addict. He believes ceramics classes should be offered in rehab.
“Mr Merson’s got a great slant on things,” says Tarbuck. “He’s a blokey bloke but he’s done so much work on himself.
He’s great company and very intelligent. Although he’d hate me saying that.”
Her favourite contestant, however, was Beaumont. “I just love Lucy, she’s so ‘other’,” laughs Tarbuck. “She has an unbelievable brain, but bless her, she had a nightmare. Every time she emerged from the drying room, her hair would be full of fine clay dust. She was furious but in a hilarious way.”
There’s a dramatic droppage (“I was terrified that I’d break something but thankfully it wasn’t me”) and some trademark blubbing from Brymer Jones. “‘Keith the Weep’ set me off once,” admits Tarbuck. “Somebody really needed praise at that time and, seeing how it was received, that’s what made me go. It was tangibly moving.”
Over the heartwarming series, these rookie potters display real progression. “Growth definitely happens,” nods Tarbuck. “It’s inspiring TV. I enjoy [sister show] The Great British Sewing Bee because I leave that programme thinking I can make a jacket. I have a go and end up with a wrap skirt. That’s happened three times.”
She’s more of a ceramic collector than a maker herself, Tarbuck confesses, but she relishes crafting. “I’m quite handy. I paint. I garden. I’m into beading and mosaic. I think it comes from having an airy-fairy job where there’s nothing tangible at the end. As an antidote to acting and presenting, you make something you can put your hands on and go: ‘Look what I did today!’ It helps me stay sane and grounded.”
It’s a treat to have Tarbuck back on our screens and she’s quietly plotting more projects. “I’ve got a good idea for a Time Team type of show.
Roaming the British isles, having a dig around. History is entrancing.
You’ve got to keep the creative possibilities bubbling. I do something nice and mundane like walking the dog [she has a Portuguese podengo called Ringo] and all sorts of ideas start percolating.
All I can do is keep pushing them out there and some will stick.”
Meanwhile, the murmuration should watch this space. “I’m interested in the immediacy of YouTube,” she says.
“I don’t know much about Patreon but I’m assured that would be a good platform if I were to do a radio show. But it’s not just about radio – it’s about variety.
You can sit and wait for an acting job to come in, but I don’t know how much good that does you. Sometimes you have to branch out and be brave.
Why limit yourself?”