“BREATHE in through the nose for four, hold for four and then breathe out through the mouth.”
Teatime last Saturday and I’m deep breathing along with the radio. It’s the penultimate edition of Colin Murray Coronavirus Call-In on BBC Radio 5 Live (the last episode is on tonight) and with the ending of the weekend government briefing (Boris probably had a barbecue to go to), the programme had even more time to talk about good health, physical and mental, coping mechanisms and coronavirus risk assessments.
Normally, I can’t be doing with call-in programmes. They’re the radio equivalent of fast food; cheap but not very filling. But the pandemic has altered the dynamic somewhat. The idea of the expert is back in fashion and that’s very much the case here with Dr Chris Smith answering questions clearly and succinctly about shielding and coronavirus anxiety.
That said, I suspect Colin Murray is something of a Marmitey presenter. But I’ve always liked him, partly because it’s good to hear a Northern Irish accent on the airwaves (Irish words too; “quare” got a run out on Saturday), partly because beneath the laddish quick wit there is real empathy.
Read More: Weans' World: a childhood in Shettleston
Mental health was just one of the strands of last Saturday’s programme and to hear Murray, who we might normally expect to be talking about football and music, saying that he has been talking to his mates about mental health will cut through in ways that psychologists might not.
And the truth is, as he said, there is nothing wrong with talking about football and music if that is what gets you by. And that was the programme’s message. Be kind to yourself. That and the fact that the new Badly Drawn Boy album is quite good.
Listen Out For: Fags, Mags and Bags, Radio 4, Friday, 11.30am. Sanjeev Kohli and Donald Mcleary return with a new series of their cornershop sitcom.
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