Legends of News
Legends of News is a gripping, deeply personal podcast hosted by award-winning broadcaster Dermot Murnaghan, exploring the golden era of television news through the voices of those who shaped it.
With over four decades in the newsroom himself, Dermot invites fellow household names to reveal what it was really like in front of the camera when the world changed in real time.
Through candid conversations, listeners are granted a front-row seat to history: from breaking global events to chaotic newsrooms, unforgettable interviews with world leaders, and the occasional live blooper. As history echoes through current events, these news giants reflect on how the past informs the present—and share where life has taken them now.
Julia Somerville: Accidental newsreader, breaking news, and Rip Off Britain
Nick Robinson: Student journalism, the Today programme, and holding presidents to account
Martha Kearney: From the LBC switchboard to presenting the BBC’s Today Programme
The reality of war reporting and why geography still explains everything
Selina Scott: News at Ten, BBC Breakfast, and dinner with the future king
Kirsty Young: 5 News, Desert Island Discs, and a Life in Broadcasting
John Simpson: ten brushes with death, interviewing dictators and why he still loves the BBC
Carole Walker: Covering wars, the horror of Lockerbie, and interviewing Milosevic
Dr Sian Williams: BBC News, Hillsborough, the breakfast sofa years, and becoming a psychologist
Christa Ackroyd: Breaking glass ceilings, covering the Yorkshire Ripper and the power of regional TV
Gavin Esler on 40 Years at the BBC: Clinton's Early Years, Newsnight and Meeting Dolly Parton
Nick Owen: Five decades in journalism, live television, and sport
Anne Diamond OBE: Behind TV-am’s turnaround, tabloid frenzy and the campaign to save babies’ lives
Sir Trevor McDonald: From offending Thatcher to facing Saddam and fronting News at Ten
Jonathan Dimbleby: Millions tuned in midweek—and it mattered
Joanna Gosling: When the headlines hit home and news gets personal
Jonathan Charles: Dodging Bullets, Facing Putin, and Meeting Mandela
John Sergeant: From War Zones to Westminster and waltzing on Strictly