Jim Naughtie bids farewell to BBC’s Today programme
His familiar voice cracking with emotion, Naughtie paid tribute to the show’s listeners, telling them: “You are the programme.”
The programme’s Twitter account said there was “not a dry eye in the house” as Naughtie signed off for the final time.
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Hide AdPresenting with fellow veteran John Humphrys, Naughtie – a former Scotsman journalist – said he had been “woven into the fabric” of the show.
He said that the Today programme will continue but “it is inescapably a moment of change because you can’t sit in this chair, working with such talented and decent producers, without being woven into the fabric of the programme, which I am, with all the presenters down the years - especially Sarah (Montague), Justin (Webb) and Mishal (Husain) in recent times, as well as my old friend here with whom I started and with whom I now finish. I will be giving them my thanks.
“But all of you who listened need to be thanked too. You are the programme, thank you.”
• READ MORE: BBC sorry over Jim Naughtie on-air swear word
Naughtie will continue to appear as a special correspondent for Radio 4, a job he described as a “dream”. He told Humphrys: “It does mean that at 2.58-and-a-half that alarm will no longer go off to get me up and it will also mean, I have to say, that you will have a tidier desk, John.”
One of Naughtie’s final interviews on the show was with former prime minister Sir John Major, who told him: “I will miss you, and I think a lot of other people will in the morning.
“And I will do so because generally you have asked the right questions, mostly you have listened to the answers and also you have done it in an extraordinarily professional way so I hope as you leave you are proud of what you have done.”
Senior MP Bernard Jenkin said it was a “privilege” to be on the presenter’s final show.
Despite his vast experience, Naughtie has made the occasional on-air slip on the live show - memorably getting into an embarrassing mix-up over the name of then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2010.
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Hide AdHe accidentally turned the air blue by replacing the first letter of Mr Hunt’s surname with a “C”.
The on-air stumble sent the broadcaster into a coughing fit, and attracted a slew of e-mails from listeners, both amused and angry.