Wittertainment sails on Radio Five Live for the last time

Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review is broadcast on BBC Five Live for the final time today – and attention is already turning to what comes next.

Today marks the end of an era, if, by the sounds of it, not for long. Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode will, for the last time, broadcast Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review for BBC Radio Five Live, marking the end of a 21 year run for the BBC’s flagship film programme.

Whilst it sounds like there’s going to be a bit of a send off, it seems a pretty open secret now – not least because it’s been teased by Kermode and Mayo with the subtlety of a Jared Leto acting class – that the show is to regenerate elsewhere. Smart money seems to be on a podcast independent of the BBC at the moment, although I’ve got no insight to offer on that. The witterings will continue, and presumably an announcement can follow once things are wrapped up for the BBC.

The more mysterious element of this is just what will the BBC do with its two hour film slot – adjustable for politics/weather/horse racing/pandemic – on a Friday afternoon? Well, there have been no subtle hints there, save for the reports that afternoon show Drive is to extend an hour. That still leaves an hour in there somewhere, but who or what are going to fill it remains to be seen. The BBC’s film-related material has wavered in recent times, and so we watch what happens next with interest.

As for Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review? We’re told that the social media handles are returning to the BBC, and that the host and the contributor will be starting from scratch. But given the huge audience their witterings have attracted over the last two decades, lots of us will be following them to their new home. Wherever that may be…

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