So it went on. However, it was the constant interruptions by the interviewers that nearly ruined the programmes. Later I played a recording and timed each person as they spoke. It did not surprise me to find that one interviewer spoke for 54 per cent of the time.

Conducting an interview is not like having a cosy chat with a friend. Interviewing somebody demands certain skills, combining objectivity and detachment from the subject interviewed.

Most of all, the interview should evoke the full range of the subject’s knowledge and provide the listener with an idea of the subject’s character and personality. The interviewee should be the main focus of the programme however, with the exception of a few, it is apparently not a concept easily grasped by the present crop of interviewers.