Radio 4's Excess Baggage to be axed
20th March 2012
Voted Wanderlust readers' top radio programme, travel show Excess Baggage is to be replaced by Saturday Live
The 10am Saturday morning slot usually reserved for Excess Baggage has disappeared, following the decision to extend the BBC Radio 4 show Saturday Live to 90 minutes. The last edition of Excess Baggage will air on the 28 April.
The popular radio show has been running for 12 years, featuring travellers' tales, experiences and anecdotes, and is hosted by Sandi Toksvig and John McCarthy. It has been voted as Wanderlust readers' favourite radio programme for two years running, gaining a higher vote than all the travel television programmes, bar the actual winner. This year it was just pipped by Frozen Planet.
Although there will no longer be a stand-alone programme, fortnightly travel features hosted by Sandi and John will be added into the new extended version of Saturday Live.
Controller for BBC Radio 4 Gwyneth Williams said: "Saturday Live is just the right programme to ease listeners into the weekend, and I have long felt the need to extend this Saturday mood for a while longer.
"Fear not, the longer Saturday Live will incorporate the wanderlust spirit of Excess Baggage with John McCarthy and Sandi Toksvig regularly appearing on Saturday Live with travel stories and features,” she added.
Wanderlust's founder and editor-in-chief Lyn Hughes has been on Excess Baggage several times. "This news is terribly disappointing," she said, "It's an intelligent, thoughtful and inspiring programme, that will be sadly missed. We'll all be intrigued to see how incorporating aspects of it into Saturday Live will work. Fingers crossed."
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